Spirituality & Faith

Welcome to the spirituality and faith pages. These pages are run by FaithNET, a partnership of organisations that all have an interest in spirituality and/or faith, social inclusion and mental health. Social inclusion means we have a particular interest in empowering people with mental illness to fulfil their spiritual or faith wishes, and also in promoting mental health awareness within places of worship.

We work together to ensure good communication links between spiritual or faith groups and mental health services, so that they can support each other in the roles they play in mental health service users' lives.

We should all be involved in promoting social inclusion because:

• Common mental health problems affect up to one in six of the general population at any one time. Almost everyone will know someone who has had mental health problems at some point in their lives.
• Research has shown that aspects of spirituality are linked with beneficial mental health outcomes and are consistently related to greater life satisfaction, happiness, morale and other indicators of well-being.

What's in this for you?

In this section you will be able to find:

• Services that support welcoming access to spirituality and faith communities for people with mental ill-health.
• Events about spirituality and faith.
• Evidence and policy - Research and guidance from government departments and faith groups on mental health matters and how to improve the community you are involved with be more welcoming and supportive to people with mental ill-health.
• Guidance and tools that can be used to help people think about how to get the best from their involvement with spiritual and faith communities.
• News - stories about people's experiences of spiritual and faith communities in the borough.

If you would like more information about social inclusion and mental health, Develop can also offer you:

• Discussion Forum- A place to ask questions, find support and seek advice on faith, spirituality and mental health and about issues relating to mental health arising in your community. (Available to registered site users).
• Training about mental health a faith and spirituality and about mental ill-health (from handling stress and promoting mental wellbeing and/or recovery through to awareness training about mental illness).

If you would like to join this network please contact Qaisra Khan:
faithNET@developbromley.com

View the national database of faith bridge-building projects