Part of our vision is to enable Wales to become a more compassionate, kinder and fairer and more sustainable society. Our Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) project sets out to explicitly enhance the compassion element of our vision.
We’ve been involved in a research project with the University of Derby since 2021 working on a small scale to introduce Compassionate Mind Training in Education. Now we think there is potential for these training programmes to help communities throughout Wales become more compassionate, reduce stress and alleviate burnout and be kinder to ourselves and others. Working with Professor Frankie Maratos from the University of Derby, we are scoping these possibilities with a view to a wider roll-out of the programmes – more information coming soon.
We’ve trained over 70 people from various sectors – education, social work, community work, health, justice, and more in CMT-Adults to test out the potential for helping us all become more compassionate to ourselves, to others and to be more open to receive compassion.
Download the information leaflet from the University of Derby:
Here are some of the comments our groups told us about the potential they think CMT has for our communites in different sectors:
“I can pause and reflect before responding to challenging situations, allowing me to act with clarity and balance.“
“I like to think I was compassionate and kind to others already, but the course helped me to realise the importance of being just as compassionate and kind to myself – I realised this in turn enriches my ability to help others.“
“I am calmer, pause to reflect & so I am more equipped to deal with various events in a positive way.“
CMT for children and young people
We have also been involved in the research on CMT for pupils, Wellbeing: Our Brains Our Bodies (WOBOB). So far we’ve taught Y5 and Y6 the full programme and some of our groups who have trained to teach WOBOB are trialling the programme with older young people.
You can get a sense of how the programme was received by Y6 pupils at Garnteg Primary here. We’ll be sharing more information as more of us get the chance to teach WOBOB in different environments.
Here are some more of our groups:
