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Mental wellbeing app offering free lifetime access to those involved in trial
Anyone involved in the trial testing the effectiveness of the Thrive: Mental Wellbeing app will be granted lifetime access to the app and integrated therapy services free of charge.
The trial is looking to discover how successful the app, which has 25 Cognitive Behavioural Therapy modules, is in helping people with anxiety and depression.
Thrive is encouraging people aged 18 or over in full-time employment who feel like they could do with some support for their mental wellbeing to take part in the 10-week study.
Participants will be offered support with their wellbeing by the award winning mental health service.
Marnie Merrilees, counsellor at Thrive: Mental Wellbeing, explained: “Thrive want people to join the study and at the end of the study, everybody who participated will have access to the app and the therapy service for as long as they need it, which is absolutely amazing because this is free of charge.
“People will have access to the app and the therapy free of charge by simply participating in the study and following all the instructions that are required.”
Credit: Thrive: Mental Wellbeing
The company was launched back in 2012 “as the first scalable solution” to the UK’s mental health crisis by Dr Andres Fonseca, consultant psychiatrist, and Dr Adam Huxley, consultant clinical & forensic psychologist.
Since then, the business has followed in the footsteps of its name and thrived, gaining NHS approval in 2018.
Companies, charities, insurers and other organisations can partner with the app to offer the services to their employees.
It aims to provide the “whole organisation with the right level of mental health support at the time they need it.”
The app offers cognitive behaviour therapy, mood meter and mindfulness tools as well as an in-app chat so users can seek immediate support.
Marnie, who is a Sport and Exercise Psychologist (CPsychol in training) MBPsP, MSc, PGcert, BSc.Hons, suggests there is increasingly more anecdotal evidence of cold water therapy as a method of improving anxiety and depression.
She said: “Cold water therapy is a fantastic form of exercise and there is significant evidence that exercise is beneficial for reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
“However, we don’t know for certain yet if the benefits of cold water therapy are above and beyond those of exercise in general as more research is needed in this area.”
Credit: Thrive: Mental Wellbeing
Marnie has been working alongside former special forces officer Sol Turk to raise awareness of the advantages of cold water therapy.
Go here to meet Sol Turk – the man who braved a 100-day dip in the North Sea
Marnie added: “[A] benefit of cold water therapy is being able to train your vagus nerve, which is linked to the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the calming part of your nervous system. Training it can help you face stressful situations more adequately.
“Anxiety is a mental health condition that causes excessive fears and worries, and while intermittent bouts of anxiety are natural, anxiety disorders make it difficult to participate in life in a normal way. So when you want to get rid of your anxious thoughts, exposure to cold is a great way to relieve the anxiety symptoms naturally.”
Marnie Merrilees experiencing cold water therapy at Tynemouth beach.
Newcastle’s Liberal Democrats have demanded “urgent” clarity on the future of the city’s main shopping street.
With work on a promised transformation of Northumberland Street yet to begin, the city’s opposition party has called on council bosses to take action on the “increasingly shabby” area. Designs for a major refurbishment of the busy pedestrian route, which Newcastle City Council said would get under way this year, have included installing a series of 50ft lighting pillars, as well as new trees, plants, and seating.
Coun Greg Stone, the Lib Dems’ spokesperson on the city centre, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there were concerns that the scheme may be pushed back to 2024 in order to avoid a negative impact on shops as the festive period nears. In response, the Labour-run local authority confirmed that it does still intend to start the improvements on Northumberland Street by the end of this year and was in the process of appointing a contractor.
Coun Stone complained that the high street’s paving is “looking increasingly tired”, adding: “The council has an important duty to ensure that the city centre’s public realm and the fabric of our major streets are well cared for and attractive for Newcastle’s citizens, visitors, and businesses. We have been told that renovation of Northumberland Street is on the way for several years now but works on Ridley Place and Saville Row have taken an age and there is no sign of work being imminent on Northumberland Street.
“The decision to avoid construction work during last year’s pre-Christmas trading season was understandable, but the window of opportunity for work to be done this year seems to be closing. There is an urgent need for clarity from the council leadership on their vision and delivery plans for city centre improvements.”
He added: “The Lib Dem Opposition is disappointed that the council’s ambitions for Northumberland Street seem to be more tarmac patches than high quality paving and public realm. We continue to have concerns about the Labour administration’s capacity to manage major projects for the city centre and we may be facing further long waits for delivery.”
A dramatic transformation of the city centre has been the topic of debate for years. The city council has long wanted to pedestrianise the iconic Grey Street and initial works to gradually achieve that are ongoing, but controversial proposals to remove all traffic from Blackett Street were shelved last year.
A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: “We are progressing our plans to redevelop Northumberland Street to strengthen its position as the region’s most vibrant high street and encourage higher footfall.
“We are in the process of selecting a contractor to deliver the works and exact details and timescales will be confirmed when this process is complete. The improvements will include full repaving of the street and the introduction of new seating, planting, trees and lighting making it a more welcoming place that can be enjoyed both day and night.
“Northumberland Street is the city’s premier shopping destination, and our plans will reinforce this, setting apart from other streets and creating an attractive destination where people want to spend time.
“The council remains committed to delivering its long-term ambition to transform the city centre into a cleaner, greener, more welcoming place that attracts visitors and investment, and where our residents can feel a sense of belonging.
“The work on Ridley Place is now complete, new street furniture will be installed on Saville Row in the coming weeks and Grey Street should be complete by summer 2024 as planned. The initial works on Northumberland Street will start later this year.”
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Raw sewage was released into open water in Newcastle more than 1,500 times in 2022, figures show.
Storm overflows normally happen when the sewage system is at risk of being overwhelmed – such as after a heavy rain, or during higher levels of groundwater.
In these cases, water companies may need to release excess water and sewage into rivers and the sea, to prevent water backing up into the streets and people’s homes.
This has an impact on the quality of our natural water sources, with some charities alleging storm overflows are being misused and under-reported.
Figures from the Environment Agency show storm overflows were used 1,637 times within Newcastle’s local authority boundaries in 2022, discharging for a total of around 4,724 hours.
All of these spills were from Northumbrian Water’s network.
Northumbrian Water saw 29,697 overspills across its network in 2022 – although 7% of the company’s facilities did not report overspill data last year.
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The government has finally published a list of schools identified with collapse-prone concrete after days of mounting pressure.
The document, released by the Department for Education, showed the start of term had to be delayed at 19 schools – responsible for 11,150 pupils – as a result of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
The list came just before the first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) since the summer recess, where Rishi Sunak told the Commons the government had “acted decisively to ensure the safety of children and minimise disruption to education”.
The Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, also called for Mr Sunak to “come clean over his own role in this crisis”, and publish evidence given to him when he was chancellor on the risks to children’s safety from RAAC.
The list of North East schools affected are:
St James Catholic School, Hebburn, South Tyneside
St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Sunderland
St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green, Gateshead
St Leonard’s School, Durham
St Benet’s Catholic Primary School, Ouston
St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, Darlington
Ferryhill School, County Durham
Each school listed will be closed throughout this first week of September!
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