Following their recent announcement that Table Talk for Wellbeing is now available to preorder, The Ugly Duckling Company‘s Sharon Lanfear recently asked Renew Wellbeing’s Ruth Rice a few questions about wellbeing.
Ruth Rice is the founder of Renew Wellbeing, and one of the co-writers of Table Talk for Wellbeing. We asked her a few questions about the background of this game and how it fits in with her work.
What are the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing?
The 5 ways to wellbeing are widely used by a variety of services and community groups. Developed by The New Economics foundation with the Government’s Foresight report in 2008 it was found that Connecting, Keeping learning, Getting Active, Taking Notice and Giving were all good ways to attend to your wellbeing. This gives us all a shared language across care systems and faith and community groups to talk about wellbeing which is a really positive way to engage in discussion about our mental and emotional health. We all need to be looking after our wellbeing and finding ways to share good habits with one another.
What is Renew Wellbeing, and how does this game fit in with it?
Renew Wellbeing is a charity helping churches to set up quiet shared spaces where its ‘OK not to be OK’. These are simple community spaces where anyone can attend, bring a hobby/ share a hobby, and join in simple prayer rhythms if they choose to. They are spaces for people of any faith and none, run by local churches in partnership with mental health professionals. Table Talk for Wellbeing would be a great resource for any renew centre helping good discussions emerge around the table in a natural way.
For those not able to set up a Renew space the Table Talk cards could be a wonderful resource to help us have meaningful discussions in online forums and in small gatherings . This resource could be a great way to connect church and community as we navigate these difficult days and find shared language around our mental and emotional wellbeing. With smaller groups allowed there would be an opportunity to play table talk in homes, cafes, pubs and churches as we help each other reconnect.
Why is there a picture round?
The picture round in this pack focusses on emotions, and is an extra to the great questions that those who are familiar with Table Talk will have learned to love. The pictures give a chance for a more open-ended discussion, for us to form our own questions, talk about emotions or keep it light hearted. The questions and pictures are designed to promote good chat about wellbeing and the picture pack will make sure this is available to anyone of any ability.
Table Talk is fun to play as well as encouraging good honest chat — every church needs this pack. Probably every home does too, certainly we would love to see every Renew centre playing Table Talk for Wellbeing!
Table Talk for Wellbeing can now be preordered here.
