Mental Health & Wellbeing Support for Festival attendees

In response to the urgent need to address the wider industry's responsibility, to support the mental health of those people who work in our industry, and address the underlying causes, Sheffield DocFest has partnered with experienced Mental Health Practitioners to provide free Wellbeing checks during this year's Festival.

The Wellbeing team will offer a discreet 20-minute bookable appointment (free of charge) to Festival Passholders who would like to take the opportunity to discuss current wellbeing concerns. They will offer appropriate professional advice based on the information shared during the appointment.

This appointment will take place in a private space, and appointments will be treated in strict confidence (in line with NHS best practice).

To take advantage of this opportunity, simply click on the link below:

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ3V1vhrn9_KGplK6rldaQtHG5weXsEhgVOBjKQoWFk7Hu8Lh0RVEHv5Uf-ONXzGCnU7ioOALtWT

Appointments are up to 20 minutes long and free of charge; and are available to all festival passholders.  This is a limited service and attendees are advised to book early.  

The Wellbeing Team will be based at the Delegate Centre - 10 am to 2 pm (Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday).  Please come and say hello - you may not need a wellbeing health check, but you may have an important question.
For all enquiries, please email: wellbeing@sheffdocfest.com or call +44 114 276 5141

Meet the Wellbeing team

Mark Knowles  - Wellbeing Practitioner

Freelance film industry Mental Health & Wellbeing Facilitator.  My previous working life was predominantly in NHS Mental Health/Wellbeing and Psychological Therapy Services.

In 2019 I retired from NHS practice and returned to study film at Sheffield Hallam University.  This was an opportunity to explore roles which combine Film and Mental Health that allowed me to give  something back; as well as help move forward the mental health improvement agenda in this industry.

I have worked professionally with Heather across 17 years on many projects, including the delivery of innovative and novel ‘Drop-In’ and ‘Pop-Up’ style Wellbeing Clinics in many different settings.  We are experienced practitioners and highly skilled in screening for common problems such as Depression; Anxiety, and Stress.  We offer people the opportunity to speak confidentially; we use bespoke and NHS industry standard screening tools and other materials.  We are simply here to help, with no catch or hard sell afterwards - we aim to help clarify what’s bothering you; share evidence based information; and clarify any options that maybe appropriate moving forward.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wellbeingfacilitatorspecialistmentalhealthfilmsupport 

Heather Stonebank - Wellbeing Practitioner

Heather is an experienced mental health professional passionate about improving access to psychological support and promoting wellbeing. She began her career on acute mental health wards in 2006, later working in substance misuse services before training as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) in 2008. Since then, she has played a key role in advancing the PWP profession and delivering evidence-based low-intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Heather has led regional initiatives to enhance best practices, workforce development, and service improvement, and worked nationally with NHS England on quality improvement in NHS Talking Therapies, Dementia, and Early Intervention in Psychosis. Currently a Clinical Programmes Manager in the Regional Mental Health team, she supports service development and champions high-quality, accessible care. Heather is passionate about storytelling and creative spaces to support resilience and wellbeing in high-pressure environments. She’s excited to collaborate once again with Mark after 17 years of shared commitment to mental health.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-stonebank-47b41566/?originalSubdomain=uk