What is Renew HG1?

Renew HG1 is a community space designed to promote emotional & mental wellbeing for adults and young people living in and around Harrogate run by Harrogate Baptist Church.

Renew Wellbeing Network

We are part of the Renew Wellbeing network which is made up of over 250 + outlets across the UK. The overarching organisation support and encourage churches to open up their locations to the local community.

Why Renew HG1?

Mental health illness was on the rise even before the pandemic and recent statistics show that 1 in 4 people suffer from a mental health problem at some point in their life. Our aim is to explore ways of reaching out to those in our community who are struggling with their mental or emotional wellbeing and provide a space for them to come to and feel supported. Creating a place where our visitors can really feel part of something and belong is at the heart of all our sessions.

Perfect partnership

Partnering with Renew Wellbeing seemed like the best way to achieve this and we have been working alongside them since our first adult session launched in September 2021. North Yorkshire County Council also provided funding to help with the initial set-up costs of the adult project. Our Young People session is currently funded by The North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s Community Fund.

3 key aspects

All our sessions are based on the below:

Through various activities or just promoting a safe place to come our adult space offers companionship and the opportunity to engage with both other visitors and our team of volunteers consistently every week.

For our young people, our weekly space engages with attendees who have been referred by a range of local Harrogate schools and organisations. The idea is to create a unique community with others away from the school environment.

Where possible our sessions remain open for most of the year.

Being present

Our sessions aim to provide visitors with a place to connect and belong.

In our adult session, this takes the form of reflective prayer and Christian meditation to make space for the spiritual aspect of wellbeing. Everyone is welcome to join our short meditations but there is absolutely no obligation.

For our young people sessions, there will be a focused group activity to build confidence and provide tools to enable those who attend to develop emotional resilience. There will also be a table with age-related prayer resources for anyone who might find that helpful.

Being prayerful

At the heart of Renew HG1 is a simple pattern of quiet time for reflection.

It’s also our aim to have lots of helpful signposting information where additional help can be provided if required.

If you work with adults and are interested in finding out more about working alongside us check out our Partnership Info

If you work with young people aged 11 and over get in touch by emailing renewhg1YP@gmail.com

See some of our existing partnerships by scrolling down to the bottom of our Adult or Young People session pages

Being in partnership

It’s important for us to maintain partnerships with other Harrogate mental health and wellbeing services, charities and organisations.

5 Ways to Wellbeing

The 5 Ways to Wellbeing model is used to help shape our sessions. It supports a strength-based approach to prevention.

Our Team

Our sessions wouldn’t run without our staff and volunteers.

Ann Chesworth

Project Leader Renew HG1 and Renew HG1 YP

Ann is the Pastor of Harrogate Baptist Church and heads up both of our Renew spaces.

Zoë Bishop

Communications & Partnerships Co-ordinator, Renew HG1 and Renew HG1 YP

Zoë has over 20 years of marketing experience and is in charge of promoting both of our spaces to the local Harrogate community.

Hilary Dockerill

Sessional worker Renew HG1 YP

With a secondary school teaching background (Geography, Psychology & Learning Coach) alongside a certificate in counselling it’s a pleasure to have Hilary on board to run our sessions.

Ben Hoskins

Volunteer Wellbeing Activity Lead, Renew HG1 YP

Ben is a dual-qualified Social Worker and Psychotherapist. He's looking forward to developing the structured emotional health activity and contributing to the community he grew up in.