The World Happiness Project is aiming the fortnightly meetings at the 50,000+ staff working in all sectors of the NHS across the county, including the region’s hospitals, Foundation Trusts, primary care networks, GP practices, local councils and care providers.

A friendly and welcoming online place will be created where staff can meet informally and share their interest in personal happiness, improved mental health and wellbeing in the home, the community and the workplace.

Meetings will provide an opportunity to talk to like-minded people and discuss practical ways to deal with common issues in a fun, informative and inspirational way.

During the initial trial period, guest speakers will be talking about a range of important issues and highlighting some of Dorset HealthCare’s “Here For Each other” staff wellbeing initiatives, that include wellbeing coaching, counselling, psychological therapy and mental and physical health.

They will also be introducing the Action for Happiness: Ten keys to happier living, which is based on a simple mnemonic, GREAT DREAM which stands for:

• GIVING (Doing things for others)
• RELATING (Connecting with people)
• EXERCISING (Taking care of your body)
• AWARENESS (Living life mindfully)
• TRYING OUT (Keep learning new things)
• DIRECTION (Having goals to look forward to)
• RESILIENCE (Finding ways to bounce back)
• EMOTIONS (Looking for what’s good in life)
• ACCEPTANCE (Being comfortable with who you are)
• MEANING (Being part of something bigger)

The start date for the meetings has been postponed. Programme director Gerry Clarke said, “Following the sad death of Her Majesty The Queen, we have decided to delay the launch of our Happy Cafe series of online events for Dorset NHS out of respect and will be rescheduling for Tuesday 27 September.”

For details on ‘Here For Each Other’ Happy Cafes see: https://wellnet.dorset.nhs.uk/events

For further information, please contact Gerry Clarke, programme director, World Happiness Project, telephone 07710 611123 or email: 3gclarke@gmail.com

This post was edited on 12 September. Editor