Helen Bainbridge

body

Mental Health Awareness Week 2019 - body image

It's Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year the focus is all around body image. It's something that affects us all - we might not all identify with having negative body image, but we all have a view on the way we look. And no matter

spring

Spring

I really enjoy spring. I like winter too, but there's something about seeing the first trees in blossom and the first daffodils come out that I find really encouraging. Spring means new beginnings, new life, bright colours, and driving home from work in the evenings whilst it'

Time Trek

Time Trek

Time Trekkers! We hope you've been having a restful half term. Ours has seen the latest Time Trek event. Along with more than 40 primary school aged children, as well as young leaders and volunteers from many of our Hitchin churches, we hopped into the Professor's

mental health

Blue Monday

Is it just me, or does Christmas feel like a really long time ago? I don't know how we're half way through January already. Many would tell you that means Blue Monday is coming up. Or we've just had it. Or it's

expectations

Expectations

How do you feel about expectations? To me, the word seems pretty negative. We talk about unrealistic expectations, which only end in disappointment. We talk about managing expectations, not letting others run away with an exaggerated impression of what we can achieve. And then there are those expectations others hold

wellbeing challenge

Wellbeing Challenge - take a screen break!

How many times each day do you find yourself reaching for your phone, or opening social apps? Do you ever find yourself opening a social media app and then realising you'd only just closed it? If social media isn't your thing, how about email? YouTube? Netflix?

zero waste

Zero Waste

So, how did your zero waste challenge go? Did you learn anything, surprise yourself? Or did you forget entirely that we'd ever challenged you to go zero waste? I kind of cheated on this one - I've been trying to live with less waste for a

creativity

Creativity

When did you last do something really creative? What activities help you use your imagination? What does creativity mean to you? I think creativity can sometimes feel a bit exclusive - like you're either a creative person, or you're not. Maybe you can't identify

Hitchin Girls' School

It's a process, not an event - remembering Mary

Hitchin Girls School was filled with kindness on Wednesday as students remembered their friend, Mary, who sadly died two years ago. Through the sadness, her friends gathered to spread positivity and selflessness as they recalled the wonderful person she was. Around the school, interspersed with purple ribbons, were Post-It notes

wellbeing challenge

Wellbeing challenge - word of the day

Velitation. Frugivorous. Grok. Panchreston. Neatnik. Just a few of the new words the team have come across this month. Don't test us what they mean, though! It's been good fun finding out new (and often pretty obscure) words to add to our vocabulary, even if we&

ambassador

Exciting news!

In 2017 we ran the pilot of our Phase Ambassador programme, and this academic year we have been working on getting the full young leadership programme up and running. Our young leaders have helped us in all kinds of ways so far including exhibiting for Phase, leading at Time Trek,

wellbeing

Wellbeing challenge - Veganuary

How's your Veganuary going? Kieran asked me that very question earlier today. Unfortunately, I was eating a tuna sandwich at the time! I wonder whether you took part? If you did, what were your reasons for taking part? Did you learn anything from it? I am aware that

ambassador

What's been happening - Ambassador programme

It's been an exciting term on the Phase Ambassador programme. For those who don't know, it's our young leadership programme and it's designed to train and value our fantastic young volunteers. Anyone who attends senior school in Hitchin can be an Ambassador

wellbeing challenge

Wellbeing challenge - check your habits.

Habits are amazing! Don't believe me? I take it that when you left home this morning, you remembered to put your shoes on without even thinking about it. (To be fair, I forgot to take my shoes to the gym today but I was at least wearing another

wellbeing

Have you got your priorities straight?

What things in life are truly important to you? Is it your family and friends, your faith, your favourite sports team? Now if you are really honest, does your biggest priority take up the biggest chunk of time in your week? Now, I don't subscribe to the school

Bible

How well do you know the Bible?

Perhaps you've read the Bible from cover to cover, maybe you have a quiet time every day - or maybe you've never so much as opened the Bible before. It might be that you believe that every word of the Bible is direct from the mouth

ambassador

Ambassadors progress

Phase are been incredibly blessed to have an amazing team of volunteers, not to mention our young leaders. In January, we began piloting the Phase Ambassadors Programme to recognise these wonderful young people, to give them training and experience and to better involve them in what we do. As I

wellbeing

Bullet journalling

I wonder if you are a technology person, or if you prefer paper and pen? Do you use a diary, or is your life recorded on an online calendar? In most circumstances, I am a technology person – even as a teenager I had a Palm (blast from the past?) and

spiritual

Boost your spiritual wellbeing

What do you find most helpful in developing your spiritual wellbeing? I hope that many of you have been joining us throughout March, on our spiritual wellbeing challenge – but it’s also Lent, so I’m aware that you may have been doing other challenges too. For example, I’ve

change

Goals and rhythms

Where do you want to be in ten years’ time – or five, or even one? What do you want to have achieved by then? Is there any area of your life where you are desperate to see change - where you would be disappointed to look back in ten years

Holding Nothing Back

Holding Nothing Back - banter and biscuits!

It’s my turn to talk about what has been happening recently, so I thought I’d fill you all in on developments at Holding Nothing Back. It’s been an exciting few months, and there’s more in store this term. At the end of last term, we had

Young leader

Phase Ambassadors

Who has invested the most in you? Can you think of someone who saw potential in you, who took time and effort to help you grow? Is there someone you can think of who was instrumental in helping you achieve? For me, it was my church youth leaders and my

Faith

Holding Nothing Back

Do you ever have big questions? What are some of the questions that you’ve never quite managed to find answers to? Holding Nothing Back question and answer sessions are aimed at allowing the students in our groups to ask the big questions that are on their minds – the things