Head of Student Wellbeing: “A transformative time for wellbeing and mental health”

“I’m excited about the positive change we can make to support student wellbeing here,” says Adam Welstead, Head of Student Wellbeing at the University of Cambridge.

Adam Welstead at Wolfson College

“There’s more work to do," says Adam, "but I think this is a really transformative time for wellbeing and mental health at Cambridge.”

Adam – who became a Wolfson Fellow in February 2023 – is passionate about serving the Cambridge community in his role and believes the Collegiate University has been taking important steps in this area, guided by the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan, launched in 2022.

Key elements of that plan, says Adam, are the University’s ambitions to enhance the accessibility of support services for students, to provide help at the point of need, and to connect students to the best support for their circumstances.

“We’ve seen lots of investment within the Collegiate University in this area, including the growth of a whole network of wellbeing professionals within Colleges. It’s a real priority, and a lot of progress has been made so far.”

Adam works closely with staff who support students across the Colleges, and is forming a newly-created Student Wellbeing Service at the University this year. 

“It’s okay to reach out for support without fear of stigma”

“We want all students to feel informed about the range of support available to them at Cambridge,” he says. “Things don’t have to be really bad for anyone to deserve help, or to have a chat. There are lots of great people here who are dedicated to supporting students.”

Adam has recently been working in partnership with the University’s Communications Team on its “Reach Out” student wellbeing campaign.

“I've been really proud to be a part of the team on this campaign. The team have worked hard so students are aware of the support available to them at Cambridge, and to know it's okay to ask for help without fear of stigma.

“The campaign has also created resources on important areas, such as how to help where any person may be experiencing thoughts about suicide.”

Student and staff engagement with the website, social media and campaign posters across Colleges and the University has supported the impact of “Reach Out”, including a recent “treasure hunt” social event to connect students and raise awareness.

The whole community approach

For Adam, delivering support for students in a preventative way, and reducing the stigma of reaching out, is vital to the whole community.

“The purpose of my role is to support a prevention-focused approach to wellbeing and mental health at Cambridge."

“This theme cuts across my work leading the university's student wellbeing service, collaborating with fantastic colleagues involved in wellbeing support across the collegiate university, and in areas such as mental health communications and training for staff.”

Adam frequently talks about a “whole community approach”, bringing the expertise from across the whole Cambridge community and beyond to help improve the mental health and wellbeing of everyone at the University.

“Cambridge is a community and developing a whole community buy-in, working in partnership with students and staff towards positive change, is really important,” he says. “All of us can play our part in fostering a supportive and mental health-informed educational community. We work regularly with students on this, and I’m really grateful to them for sharing experiences and insights to help us improve our services and campaigns.”

“Fall forward”

Adam has also been a student at undergraduate level, taught and research postgraduate levels, and has worked at universities throughout his career. He initially studied and taught English at the University of St Andrews, before switching lanes and deciding his passion was instead for mental health.

Before coming to Cambridge, he developed a career in the field by completing his postgraduate qualification in cognitive behavioural therapy, supporting students’ wellbeing and mental health, leading teams and working on university mental health strategies.

“One thing I learned over time is that careers are rarely linear. Setbacks and things not going to plan in work or life is actually pretty normal!”

“I used to feel like I was a failure when setbacks happened as a student or early in my career, and it would chip away at my confidence. Over time, though, I learned a lot from this idea of ‘falling forward’. It’s about putting less emphasis on the setback or fall and more emphasis on the getting back up and learning or growing through it. Each fall is then a ‘fall forward’, towards what matters to us. I think it’s an important idea when studying too - so instead of fearing getting it wrong, we can focus more on being curious, taking risks and exploring ideas.” 

Welfare at Wolfson

Adam joins Wolfson at a time when the College has expanded its own Welfare and Wellbeing team, including the introduction of Tania Davies, Deputy Senior Tutor (Welfare and Wellbeing), and Dr Kiran Bhatti, Student Wellbeing Adviser.

“I'm so happy to have joined such a welcoming and inspiring community at Wolfson,” says Adam. “The College's commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging really resonated with me. I'm excited to play my part in college life, and in fostering the culture that makes Wolfson's community and impact so special.”

Discover more

You can find out more about the University’s student support services here and Wolfson College’s Welfare and Wellbeing team here. For urgent concerns, please see crisis information and support here.

You can find more content from the Reach Out student wellbeing campaign here.

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