Here at The Fire Fighters Charity, if there’s one thing we believe in, it’s that you have to make time for yourself and actively engage in your own personal sense of wellbeing. In short, we believe in self care.
But the notion of self care isn’t something that comes easy to many of us. Especially in the fire and rescue service where you’re so used to putting other people’s needs before your own.
We’ve said it once, we’ll say it a thousand times. Self care isn’t selfish. In fact, taking time out for yourself on a daily basis, and finding the balance between what you need and what others need of you is so important to your wellbeing.
So this Self Care Week, we’re taking time to make time, both for ourselves and for you. Throughout the week, we’ll be sharing resources, articles and videos all designed to encourage self-care. So keep your eyes on our social media channels and website, where we’ll be sharing things.
To kick things off, we thought we’d share some steps you can take to make time for yourself. You can dip into any of these when things feel overwhelming, or you just want a pick-me-up.
Your mental health
Being able to take time for your own psychological wellbeing is so important. So if something is affecting your ability to feel happy or balanced each day, possibly the best thing you could do for yourself is to talk to us. Call our Support Line on 0800 389 8820 or make an enquiry online. We can continue to provide help remotely, through a course of either online or telephone counselling, depending on your preference. We can also support you in accessing services in your local community.
We have a huge library of mental health resources that you could browse, which you can find here.
Recommended links
- An introduction to Tai Chi
- Why self-care isn’t selfish
- Listen to our Health and Wellbeing podcast
- Guided relaxations
- Good sleep hygiene in our older years
- Your mental health and you
- How could mindfulness help you?
- It’s good to talk
- Why is routine so important for our mental health?
- Five life rings to throw to someone struggling
- Sleep better, feel better
- Are you lonely?
Physical health
It’s important not to neglect physical injuries or conditions, and if something is bothering you, don’t suffer in silence, we may be able to help. Our physical teams continue to offer video consultations through Attend Anywhere to those beneficiaries seeking physical health support, with remotely-prescribed activity programmes where appropriate as our practitioners have ongoing conversations with you to support your progress. We also have a huge library of physical health resources for you to browse, which you can find here.
Recommended links
- The wonder years: how to age healthily
- Healthy food habits to practise at all times
- Do you take your balance for granted?
- Manage your lifestyle and make long-term change
- How we can be with you when we can’t be with you
- Why is gardening so good for us?
- Exercises you can do from home
- Bowel cancer, know the signs
- Chair-based exercises
- How much do you know about food labelling?
- The natural high of endorphins
- How to fit in 150 minutes of weekly physical activity
- Looking after our body when we come out of lockdown
Your social wellbeing
It’s safe to say 2020 has thrown up many unexpected turns, which, for many of us, have had an impact on our overall sense of wellbeing. Self care means also taking steps to ignore those areas of your life that are affecting your daily life, rather than letting things pile up until you feel overwhelmed.
Our Welfare team are available as usual offering social welfare support, and our Living Well Groups have now shifted online to enable anyone to link in for a social chat.
Recommended links
- Preparing for whatever winter throws at us
- Caring for our carer community
- Are you approaching retirement with mixed feelings?
- Resist the short-term thrill of online spending
- Welfare support during the coronavirus
- Five ways to make your money go further during a pandemic
- Are you caring for someone with Alzheimer’s?
- Welfare Team on what friendship means to them
- Could you benefit from food vouchers?
- Practical advice for dealing with bereavement
How we help
If something is affecting your ability to take care of yourself, speak to us. We’ll find a solution that is the best possible fit for you, as individual as you are.
Ensuring you have access to the right support, provided in the right way, and at the right time. This is the cornerstone on which our support philosophy is based. We know that everybody is different, that no two injuries are the same and that no two people may be affected in the same way by incidents they experience.
So we treat every one of our beneficiaries as individuals, taking time to fully understand your mental, physical and social needs, whatever the primary reason for your reaching out for support. This simple philosophy underpins everything we do to support you. Read more about our approach to support here.