On 9 March QSA hosted an event in central London alongside its delivery partner for This Way Up, Rising Minds, to celebrate a decade of the project and launch a new publication.
At the event we were joined by former participants of our This Way Up wellbeing and resilience programme for people living on a low income, as well as partner organisations and supporters of QSA.
Hearing from This Way Up participants
Central to the event was an interview with two former participants of the programme, Natalie and Paul, who shared candidly their reasons for participating in This Way Up, their experience of the programme and the impact their participation has continued to have.
This Way Up's origins and future plans
Tim Segaller, who devised This Way Up and continues to lead the programme, explained how it was developed, its distinctive approach which combines one-to-one coaching and group mindfulness, and how the programme has continued to evolve including during the challenges and restrictions of the covid-19 pandemic. He went on to set out future plans, including a new 'drop-in' service run by and for previous participants of This Way Up.
"The This Way Up team and I were delighted to celebrate 10 years of the project. It was delightful to see and hear from some of the 500-plus people who have taken part in the programme since 2012.
I personally found it very moving to hear the ongoing positive impact from the programme, and all the amazing things that participants have achieved since. It's testimony to the extraordinary resilience and creativity that everyone has, when the best conditions can be created. This Way Up is about helping to create those conditions of self-appreciation and emotional positivity."
This Way Up's Tim Segaller
Creativity, collaboration, commitment and celebration
QSA's director, Judith Moran, spoke about four aspects of the way QSA works which are reflected in the story of This Way Up:
- Creativity; QSA believes in trying to be creative, which includes finding niches that perhaps have not been addressed, and then innovating in that space
- Collaboration; working with others, as QSA has done with Rising Minds on This Way Up, widens our reach and broadens our vision
- Commitment; enormous commitment is required to build longstanding services, which can deepen in understanding and grow in reputation
- Celebration; we rarely take the time to pause, reflect and celebrate success. It was great to do this at the event, and most especially to celebrate the achievements of people who signed up for and completed the programme
"We should congratulate every single participant at This Way Up, who bravely stepped forward and signed up for the programme,
who entrusted their coaches and mindfulness teachers with the knowledge of where they are now and where they want to be, who attended the sessions, did the homework and found ways to build more hopeful futures for themselves."
Judith Moran
10 years of This Way Up publication
Our new report, launched at the event on 9 March, sets out in detail the rationale, approach and impact of This Way Up. Within this publication, voices of people who have participated in This Way Up over the years are prominent.