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Take a mental break, connect with nature

Jul 12, 2021
3 min

Take a mental break, connect with nature

Here at the SPRINT project, we have spoken about the benefits of mindfulness and of connecting with nature through our MST4Life™ programme. But what about when we combine nature and mindfulness? Could this be even more beneficial for our wellbeing than traditional mindfulness? An article recently published by the SPRINT project’s Fiona J. Clarke, along with researchers from the University of Derby, aimed to explore one way of mindfully connecting with nature. That is, a pract

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Mindfulness as Self-Care

May 18, 2021
3 min

Mindfulness as Self-Care

You may well have come across the term ‘mindfulness’ before. But would you like to find out more about exactly what this word means, and why it is an important resource for your health and well-being? We continue our mini-series on self-care resources by looking at the ways mindfulness can boost your resilience. Mindfulness Mindfulness has experienced a surge in popularity, and it is likely that you have heard of it. Before looking at the ways it can promote self-care, let’s

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Gratitude as Self-Care

May 11, 2021
3 min

Gratitude as Self-Care

Last time, we found out how and why it’s a great idea to boost your creativity to support your health and well-being. Let’s add to this mini-series around self-care, by looking at another fantastic resource. Today, we’re talking about gratitude. Gratitude Gratitude is a simple and highly effective resource for your self-care. You can think of this as being thankful. Gratitude also means you are willing to show your appreciation and return kindness to others in your life. Bene

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Creativity as Self-Care

May 4, 2021
3 min

Creativity as Self-Care

Previously on our blog, we looked at two personal resources that can be used to support your self-care: nature connection and self-compassion. Today, we will look at another fantastic resource to boost your health and well-being: creativity. Creativity What do you think of when you hear the word ‘creativity’? Perhaps this might bring up visions of painting, playing an instrument, crafting, baking, writing… There are many ways we can be creative. But why is this an important p

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Sport Psychology in schools, but not as we know it

Apr 28, 2021
4 min

Sport Psychology in schools, but not as we know it

If you’re a regular visitor to our blog, you’ll know that the work we do here at the SPRINT project takes learning from sport psychology and applies this to another setting. Through the MST4Life™ programme, mental skills training (typically used by athletes) is applied to the novel context of youth homelessness. But what about transferring sport psychology techniques into schools? Sport psychology in schools Often when we think of sport psychology in school, we think of part

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Compassion as Self-Care

Apr 15, 2021
3 min

Compassion as Self-Care

Self-care Last time, we introduced the topic of self-care and its importance for your well-being. We looked at how connecting to nature, whether from home or when out-and-about, is an excellent resource for your self-care. This time, we will be looking at another fantastic personal resource than can support your resilience and well-being: self-compassion. What is self-compassion? Self-compassion forms the basis of your self-care. It concerns the way we think about ourselves,

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Nature as Self-Care

Apr 1, 2021
3 min

Nature as Self-Care

Why self-care? At a time when we are faced with the many challenges of COVID-19, it is important to protect our mental and physical well-being. In considering the ways we can achieve this, we can explore what can be done safely, in line with current guidelines. Self-care is a crucial part of improving and protecting your overall health and resilience. The great thing about self-care is that it is under your own control. As we have seen in previous blog posts, mindfulness is a

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Evaluation of MST4Life™ – what did we find?

Feb 17, 2021
3 min

Evaluation of MST4Life™ – what did we find?

MST4Life™ is the first sport psychology, community‐based programme delivered to young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. In our recent paper published in the Journal of Community Psychology, we wanted to find out whether: Young people differed in resilience, well‐being, and mental skills experiences based on their gender, ethnicity, social inclusion status (i.e. engaged in education, employment or training or not – EET/NEET, or unable to work), and learning diffi

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Boost your mental fitness with matchFit

Nov 3, 2020
1 min

Boost your mental fitness with matchFit

Here at the SPRINT project, we recently collaborated with the Street Soccer Foundation on their brand new app matchFit, which has just been launched. This new resource, which aims to support young people to boost their resilience, helps you to develop your mental and physical fitness through the use of mental skills. Acting as a central hub for information, support, and inspiration, the app covers important themes, such as mental health, resilience, motivation, behaviour, and

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Boosting resilience after exam results

Sep 8, 2020
5 min

Boosting resilience after exam results

Getting your exam results and preparing for the next stage of your life, whether this is going into higher education or employment, can be a challenging time for anyone. But combined with the impact of COVID-19, there are now new uncertainties to manage. To help you cope with making big life changes during the uncertainty of these times, we’ve developed a collection of easy to use tools and resources to help you feel more positive and in control – two ways you can improve yo

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NEW policy briefing to support the well-being and employability of marginalised young people

Aug 20, 2020
1 min

NEW policy briefing to support the well-being and employability of marginalised young people

We have launched a new policy brief on our Impact tab (or download directly below) around our Mental Skills Training toolkit trilogy: 3 strengths-based resources co-designed by researchers at the University of Birmingham with St Basils, a West Midlands housing charity, Youth Voice, and homeless charity Homeless Link. You can also view and download the toolkits using the Toolkit tab. The brief outlines how the launch of the toolkits earlier this year is timely, given the proje

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How to commission a strengths-based programme

Jun 23, 2020
3 min

How to commission a strengths-based programme

If you’re a regular visitor to our blog, you’ll know that we recently launched our Commissioning & Evaluation Toolkit, designed to help organisations to support their service users. In this week’s blog, we’re going to look a little bit more in depth at the toolkit, by exploring our top tips for how to plan and evaluate a programme. Commissioning & Evaluation Toolkit This new resource completes our trilogy of toolkits, along with the Mental Skills Training Toolkit and Delivery

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SPRINT team lead Homeless Link webinar

Jun 22, 2020
1 min

SPRINT team lead Homeless Link webinar

On 18th June 2020, Dr Mary Quinton and Ben Parry from the SPRINT project co-hosted a webinar for Homeless Link on meeting the psychological needs of young people experiencing homelessness during and after COVID-19. The webinar was attended by over 70 people across the housing sector and beyond and included the following topics: Why we need to act now to support the mental well-being of young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness Taking a psychologically informed lens

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What can sport psychology teach us about personal development?

Jun 16, 2020
1 min

What can sport psychology teach us about personal development?

Have you had a listen to the SPRINT project’s very own Ben Parry in this week’s Street Soccer podcast? In the podcast, Ben talks about his personal journey towards achieving his PhD and gives us some insight into the life lessons he’s learnt along the way; through taking part in sport and working within the field of sport psychology. He gives lots of top tips on his experiences of self-development through sport, such as setting goals, being self-aware and learning from others

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Pandemic Response 3/3. How to find your reset button using grounding techniques

May 19, 2020
5 min

Pandemic Response 3/3. How to find your reset button using grounding techniques

This week we conclude the mini series on our Pandemic Response. In Parts 1 and 2 we looked at how to remain socially connected during lockdown; and how we responded to the Government on the impact of the pandemic. This time, we’re going to be taking a look at how you can build your resilience while in lockdown, by using what we call grounding techniques. What are grounding techniques? Grounding techniques are mental skills that we can learn and develop. They help us to improv

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Pandemic Response 2/3. Responding to the Government: The Impact of COVID-19

May 12, 2020
5 min

Pandemic Response 2/3. Responding to the Government: The Impact of COVID-19

As part of our mini-series on the Pandemic Response, we have so far looked at the ways to remain socially connected during lockdown. You can read Part 1/3 here. This time, we are going to look at how the SPRINT project team have responded to the Government around the impact of the pandemic. Our response to the Government On 1st May, Professor Jennifer Cumming and Dr Mary Quinton from the SPRINT project submitted a response to The Housing, Communities and Local Government Comm

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Physical distancing not 'social' distancing: How to keep socially healthy during lockdown

May 5, 2020
6 min

Physical distancing not 'social' distancing: How to keep socially healthy during lockdown

When we hear the term ‘social distancing’, we know it refers to keeping a certain amount of physical space between ourselves and others. But just because we are physically distant from others, doesn’t mean that we should be socially distant. Now, perhaps more than ever, it’s important for our mental well-being to stay connected to those around us in our lives. When we can’t do this in person, we can do it virtually. Social connection We’re sure we weren’t the only ones to not

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Commissioning and Evaluation Toolkit out NOW!

Apr 28, 2020
2 min

Commissioning and Evaluation Toolkit out NOW!

Here at the SPRINT project, we are excited to announce the launch of our BRAND NEW strengths-based training resource, the Commissioning and Evaluation Toolkit! This new toolkit is free to download and aims to support commissioners, policy makers and service users to plan, evaluate and implement strengths-based practice in their sector. Completing the trilogy If you’re a regular visitor to our blog, you’ll know that we released two resources at the start of the year, the Menta

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How pre-performance routines can set you up for success

Apr 9, 2020
4 min

How pre-performance routines can set you up for success

It’s the men’s 100 m butterfly final at the 2012 London Olympic Games. On the deck of the 4th lane, Michael Phelps is gearing up for his attempt to win his 15th Olympic gold medal. With under 20 seconds to go, the other seven swimmers are also on their respective decks. What comes next? Those world famous three arm swings! Take a minute to see Phelps’ arm swings and how he went on to win his 15th gold medal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7bj_LUIY7Y&t=286s Chances are

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How to set goals for success

Apr 1, 2020
5 min

How to set goals for success

Do your personal goals set you up for success? It’s worth taking a moment to think about this. A goal is something that you hope to achieve in the future. This could be in the next hour, day, week or even months to come. They are useful when we want to change certain behaviours in our life and there is a lot of evidence that setting goals works. Much of the work we do with young people involves setting goals. We can think of this as like planting seeds for the future. The typ

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