Resources and websites
Looking after yourself and your own mental and physical wellbeing is important so we've listed some helpful information sources for you
Reading Family Information Service (FIS) provides a wealth of information for families in Reading, offering advice, guidance and support on family matters. Click the button to go straight there.
We’ve also listed a few suggestions below for an at-a-glance view of local and national sources of support.
- Qwell: is a free, online mental health and wellbeing service available for parents, families and school staff in Reading. You can access online counselling seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 12-10pm weekdays, or 6pm-10pm at weekends. It’s an anonymous service and simple to use with an appointment booking system, chat functions, a range of forums and lots of other helpful information and support for you to access here, on this website.
- Get Berkshire Active: lots of useful material and ideas to support your physical and mental wellbeing and for being active at home.
- Every Mind Matters: expert advice and top tips on how to look after your mental wellbeing post lockdown
- Heads Together: Signposting to a number of organisations if you need support with your mental health.
- ParentWise – a helping hand for parents and carers: As a parent or carer, your wellbeing is linked with that of your child. As children get older and become more independent, it can be hard to always know what’s happening for them, or what issues they might face. This government campaign website has information to help you.
- Mind: Has great information, advice and support on mental health and wellbeing. They also offer useful guidance on creating a Wellness Action Plan if you’e working from home.
- The NHS Change4Life webpages have lots of ideas and inspiration for managing your wellbeing, including recipes and activities for the whole family
- Action for Happiness: ideas and inspiration to look after ourselves and each other – actions for a happier, kinder world.
- Click: offers relationship support from experts and the community.
Wellbeing apps
CALM: App for Mindfulness and Meditation. (Available on iOS, Android & Web)
Breathe2Relax: relaxation app trains you on the “belly breathing” technique that has proven benefits for your overall mental health. (Available on iOS and Android)
Stress Check by Azumio: deep breathing exercise to promote calmness and can bring your heart rate down in five minutes. The app provides instant feedback with breath and pulse monitoring and tracks long-term progress. (Available on Android)
Happify: a way to make a game of all the positive psychology tricks you know might work, but make you feel kind of silly when you actually do them. You’ll start by taking a quick test that assesses the areas of happiness you should work on. Then, you’re presented with a few “tracks” that can help get you to your goals. (Available on iOS and Android)
SAMAPP: to help you understand and manage anxiety. (Available on iOS and Android)
PACIFICA: daily tools for stress, anxiety, and depression alongside a supportive community. Based on cognitive behavioural therapy & mindfulness meditation. (Available on iOS, Android & Web)
Thrive: Feel Stress Free: different tips to help you relieve stress/anxiety, including meditation, deep relaxation, self-hypnosis, and more. (Available on iOS and Android)
BASE: designed to help manage stress and anxiety. By learning more about how and why we experience anxiety at different times and in different situations we can be less fearful. (Available on Android)
Smiling Mind: app to help you launch into a regular practice of mindfulness meditations. (Available on iOS and Android)
Wysa Happiness Chabot: build emotional resilience by talking to you about your situation. Over 60 psychologists and 10,000 users have provided specific inputs to shape how Wysa helps them. (Available on iOS and Android)
I love Hue: When you feel like you have no control, this app can help sooth you by creating simple visual harmonies from mosaic tiles. (Available on iOS and Android)
Anxious Minds: a charity that was set up by sufferers of anxiety and depression, to provide free support to all suffers of anxiety and depression. (Available on Android)
Worry Watch: a journaling tool to log instances of worry, fear, and anxiety and also add the outcome of each situation. It’ll provide a comparison between expectation and reality to help reduce anxiety over time. (Available on iOS)
What’s Up? Anxiety App: uses CBT and ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) methods to help you cope with Depression, Anxiety, Anger, Stress and more. (Available on iOS and Android)
WellMind: your free NHS mental health and wellbeing app to help you with stress, anxiety and depression. Includes advice, tips and tools to improve your mental health and boost your wellbeing. (Available on iOS and Android)
Cove: Free, personal music journal to help you with your emotional and mental health. Trusted by the NHS. (Available on iOS)
Reflectly: A personal journal and diary driven by AI to enable you to deal with negative thoughts, make positivity louder and to teach you about the science of well-being. (Available on iOS and Android)
Happy not perfect: Backed by science, designed for you – your go-to place for everything you need to look after your mind in a fun new way. (Available on iOS and Android)
