Wellbeing events, workshops and groups
Student Wellbeing provides a programme of events and workshops to support you while you're at uni.
You can drop in to our weekly Get Connected event for information, friendly company and fun wellbeing activities, or attend the popular annual Feel Good Fest in March with hands-on activities and taster sessions for feeling good. Check out Feel Good Week for lots of events happening across the University in May for Mental Health Awareness Week.
When you register with us we will work out a personalised support pathway that may include one or more of our workshops or groups. Or you can contact us for further details of any of the following events.
Wellbeing events
Get Connected - Your Weekly Social Drop In
Hosted by Student Wellbeing and Disability Advice
What is Get Connected?
Get Connected is weekly drop-in designed to support your wellbeing and overall student experience. You will be welcomed into an informal and comfortable open-plan room and will have the opportunity to connect with others through shared activities. You can ask questions about the support available to you in a quiet and relaxed environment. There will always be staff from Student Wellbeing and Disability Advice to provide advice and information and smaller, private rooms available if needed.
Here's what you can expect:
- Info and Advice - There will always be members of staff available to answer any of your questions.
- Games and Activities - Fun and relaxing games and activities - but there is no pressure to take part
- Friendly Faces and Helpful Chats - meet others who are looking to connect in a quieter environment
- Free Refreshments - Hot and cold drinks and biscuits are free to enjoy
When: Every Wednesday (during term-time) 2pm - 4pm
Where: 1st Floor, Uni House
More Information: Eventbrite
Please Note - No booking is required, this is a Drop In event - but if you do want to book using this Eventbrite, you will get email reminders, updates if there are any changes, and it can help us plan for numbers so the biscuits don’t run out!
You're welcome to stay for a few minutes or the whole session. There's no expectation, just a friendly, supportive environment where you can Get Connected at your own pace.
Follow us on Instagram for updates.
Feel Good Fest - 12 March 2026
Every year students, staff, local artists and organisations gather at the University of Portsmouth Feel Good Fest – our free annual celebration of the things that help us feel good.
We will be running Feel Good Fest to Celebrate University Mental Health Day on 12 March 2026 in St Pauls Hall and Chaplaincy. Keep checking back for updates about the event.
You can just drop in, but leave yourself enough time to join in with all the fun and relaxing activities including a variety of crafts, Pets as Therapy, free food tasting, hand massages, taster activity sessions, create your own self-soothe box, lots of information and advice as well as giveaways and raffles.
You can also follow us on Instagram for more info and to stay up to date.
Past Feel Good Fests
Past Feel Good Fests
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Wellbeing workshops
We are hoping to offer Wellbeing Workshops in faculty and across campus in the new academic year. These will be designed to provide practical skills and wellbeing techniques to support you to manage common concerns, such as Exam Stress, Homesickness, Worries about Sleep and Procrastination.
You can also follow us on Instagram for more info and to stay up to date.
If you are struggling with any wellbeing issues and wish to access support, please book an advice session or register with Student Wellbeing.
If you would like more information or to have an informal chat about Wellbeing Workshops, please email wellbeing-admin@port.ac.uk and our admin team will connect you with a practitioner.
You can also go along to our Get Connected weekly social drop-in to ask for more information and have a chat with Student Wellbeing staff.
Wellbeing support groups
Student support groups
Our support groups offer a chance to share and learn from others in similar situations to you.
Our in-person bereavement support group is for students who have experienced the loss of a loved one whether recent or past. We understand that everyone has their own unique experience of grief, and we also know that sharing our stories and getting support from others who have also been bereaved can be really helpful.
We hope by facilitating this group, you can get together in a confidential and safe space to share stories, thoughts and feelings and be in a supportive space where people just 'get it'.
When
The Bereavement support group runs fortnightly on Tuesdays 11.00am - 12.00pm (term-time only).
Where
Chaplaincy Lounge (2nd Floor)
Chaplaincy Centre & Prayer Rooms
St Pauls Road
Portsmouth
PO5 4AQ
If you would like more information or to have an informal chat about this group, email wellbeing-admin@port.ac.uk and our admin team will connect you with the practitioner running this group.
Further information about the start dates for the new academic year will be posted here shortly - please check back in.
You can also go along to our Get Connected weekly social drop-in to ask for more information and have a chat with Student Wellbeing staff.
TransMission is a supportive and relaxed space for transgender, non-binary, gender questioning and gender variant students to socialise together, make new friends and network. This group runs in-person.
When
First Wednesday of the month, 2.00pm to 4pm (term-time only)
Book
If you would like more information or to have an informal chat about this group, email wellbeing-admin@port.ac.uk and our admin team will connect you with the practitioner running this group.
Further information about the start dates for the new academic year will be posted here shortly - please check back in.
You can also go along to our Get Connected weekly social drop-in to ask for more information and have a chat with Student Wellbeing staff.
This is an 8 week skills based course designed with, and for, neurodivergent students. It is jointly run by Student Wellbeing and Disability Advice teams, and is a safe space for both diagnosed and self-diagnosed neurodivergent students to learn skills to support you as you navigate your studies.
If you would like more information or to have an informal chat about this group, email wellbeing-admin@port.ac.uk and our admin team will connect you with the practitioner running this group.
Further information about the start dates for the new academic year will be posted here shortly - please check back in.
You can also go along to our Get Connected weekly social drop-in to ask for more information and have a chat with Student Wellbeing staff.
Student Wellbeing together with Sports and Rec will be offering a new support group for female students focusing on body image. The Body Project is an all-female pilot group that will run for 4 weeks in November 2025 offering a space to talk in confidence about societal pressures around body image.
More details to follow but if you are struggling with these issues and wish to access some support sooner, please book an advice session or register with Student Wellbeing.
If you would like more information or to have an informal chat about this group, email wellbeing-admin@port.ac.uk and our admin team will connect you with the practitioner running this group.
Further information about the start dates for the new academic year will be posted here shortly - please check back in.
You can also go along to our Get Connected weekly social drop-in to ask for more information and have a chat with Student Wellbeing staff.
Setting up a new support group
Would you like to be put in touch with other students with similar circumstances to you?
Sometimes it can really help to know others are facing similar challenges and to share thoughts and coping strategies. But it might be difficult to find them – and that’s where we’d like to help.
Connect with others in the same boat
We can work with you to bring together small groups of students who would like the opportunity to meet, share and support each other around a particular challenge or concern that they have in common.
Are you:
- a student who is the main carer for a family member?
- a student who commutes to university from a distance, rather than living in Portsmouth?
- a student who is estranged from their family?
Challenges like these could leave you feeling isolated when others on your course or who you live with don’t understand.
The important thing to realise is that you’re not alone and that maybe you have something to offer others who feel the same as you. For example, the students who attended our bereavement group said that it was really valuable to meet people with similar experiences and have that group support.
Find a support group
If this is something you think you’d like us to develop and provide, why not get in touch and tell us and we’ll see what we can do to help find others who feel like you. Contact us at wellbeing-admin@port.ac.uk and put ‘It’s not just me’ in the subject line.
Or perhaps you might be interested in an online group?
Would you be interested in attending an online Wellbeing Workshop? Somewhere you could chat with supportive Wellbeing staff, learn some skills to manage your wellbeing, as well as connect with other students - all online?
Maybe you are a Postgraduate Researcher, a Commuter student, or have commitments that make it difficult for you to be here on campus for our other wellbeing groups and workshops?
If you would like more information or to have an informal chat please email wellbeing-admin@port.ac.uk and our admin team will connect you with a practitioner.
Contact Student Wellbeing
Access mental health support and guidance from our friendly team of wellbeing advisers, counsellors and advisers:
Or you can contact us via:
- +44 (0)23 9284 3466
- The Bateson Centre, The Mary Rose St, Portsmouth, PO1 2BL
- wellbeing-admin@port.ac.uk
You can also find us on Instagram
Worried about a student? Whether you're a friend, member of University staff, family member or medical professional you can raise a concern so our service can help.