5 Ways to Wellbeing MK
Give...

Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.

Giving is the ability to cope with life’s problems and make the most of life’s opportunities. It’s about feeling good and functioning well, both as individuals and collectively.
Even the smallest act of giving or kindness counts, whether it’s a smile, a thank you or a kind word. Larger acts of giving or kindness, such as volunteering at your local community centre, or joining a community group can improve your mental wellbeing and help you build new social networks.

Feelings of happiness and life satisfaction have been strongly linked with active participation in social and community life. Helping, sharing and giving are likely to be linked with an increased sense of self-worth and positive feelings.
Giving to others and co-operating with them can stimulate the reward areas in the brain, creating positive feelings.
Helping and working with others can also give us a sense of purpose and feelings of self-worth.
Giving our time to others in a constructive way helps us strengthen our relationships and build new ones. Relationships with others also help mental wellbeing.
Volunteering in Milton Keynes
There are a range of opportunities to volunteer in Milton Keynes. The following links provide details of volunteering opportunities in a range of settings from libraries, heritage and culture, outdoors, and caring.
Volunteering in Milton Keynes is for everyone, whatever your age or situation. Whether you have a short amount of time, are looking for a one off opportunity or something more regular to get your teeth into.
www.ncvo.org.uk is committed to supporting, enabling and celebrating volunteering in all its diversity with resources for all aspects of volunteering.
You can search through one million opportunities to volunteer at national web-site vcconnect.org.
Links to find out about giving

- NHS Choices – give for mental wellbeing
- Mental Health Foundation – benefits of caring for others
- Mental Health Foundation – Doing good does you good: A pocket guide to helping others.
Last Updated: 8 January 2021