Half price discount for students attending wellness-weekend

Students across the country have been offered a half-price entry for a weekend focused on mental and planetary wellbeing. 

Educational charity ‘The Eden Project’ will host a packed programme of events on January 28 and January 29, which aim to encourage the conversation around wellbeing, both as individuals and as a global community. 

This will be the charity’s first-ever ‘wellness-weekend’. It is called ‘Reclaim’. 

The weekend will take place at The Eden Project’s building in Bodelva, Cornwall. 

Students wanting to attend the weekend will have a discount automatically applied when purchasing a student ticket on the website. 

Dr Julie Smith, a clinical psychologist, online educator, author and content creator, will partake in the weekend on Saturday 28 January. 

In November 2019, Dr Julie started uploading TikTok videos with clear, engaging advice on the topic of mental health as a way to reach a wider audience who might not be able to have access to therapy. 

She now has more than five million followers across her social platforms and in January 2022 published her number-one bestselling book, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? 

Julie has appeared on a variety of programmes, and is also a regular on ITV’s This Morning and BBC Radio 1 Life Hacks. 

Jonny Benjamin MBE, an award-winning mental health campaigner, author, filmmaker, and public speaker, will feature as a guest speaker on 29 January. 

At the age of 20 Jonny was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar. 

He later began making films on YouTube about the condition that have been watched by millions of people. 

Jonny now speaks publicly about living with mental illness and has written articles and given various interviews on TV, radio and in print around the world to help educate and break stigma.  

He has also written three books and produced and presented documentaries on BBC Three and Channel 4 about mental health. 

His 2014 social media campaign to find Neil Laybourn, the stranger who talked him out of jumping off a bridge when he was suicidal, went viral and led to Jonny becoming a prominent spokesperson about suicide. 

In 2018 Jonny co-founded the youth mental health charity, Beyond, together with Neil.  

Each year, they hold an annual wellbeing festival for schools and colleges, as well as giving grants to provide mental health support for young people across the UK. 

A ‘Climate Anxiety Q&A Panel’ will take place on 29 January also. The panel will bring together a group of influencers recently involved in Eden’s Climate Positive social media campaign. 

Those taking part will include: 

• Leif Bersweden, author of ‘Where the Wildflowers Grow’ 
• Ameila Twine, founder of ‘Sustainable Fashion Week’ 
• Jasmine Isa Quereshi, wildlife journalist 

For those who would like to take part in the event digitally, both Johnny Benjamin’s talk and the Climate Anxiety Q&A Panel will be livestreamed via TikTok Live, Facebook and YouTube. 

Other activities taking place at Reclaim include the opportunity for visitors to partake in free journaling workshops run by Emily Wheeler of Strength in Feathers. These intimate workshops offer an opportunity to explore the benefits of putting thoughts and feelings down on paper. 

The ‘Mediterranean Biome’ will be filled with the sounds of relaxing music from musicians Webmoms, Isak’s Island and Brooke Sharkey. 

A vintage kilo sale, to discourage the purchasing of fast fashion, will be available with Falmouth-based Wild Pony Vintage and Urban Apparel. 

In the Rainforest Biome, a series of pop-up talks will feature members of Eden’s Explainers team interacting with guests on the global trade in wild plant ingredients. 

Throughout the weekend, a wide range of wild ingredients will be highlighted, including baobab, brazil nuts, shea butter and liquorice.  

There will also be opportunities to partake in Pukka wild tea tastings in the Bamboo House within the Biome. 

The talks have been curated by Eden alongside TRAFFIC, a leading non-governmental organisation working on wildlife trade in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. 

Kate Francis, Eden’s living theatre producer, said: “We are incredibly proud and excited to be hosting our first ever wellness weekend, Reclaim.  

“We hope to provide an inspiring and welcoming programme that will highlight the importance of prioritising both our personal mental wellbeing and the health of our planet. 

“There will be a vast variety of activities on offer over the weekend, some fantastic speakers and something for everyone.” 

Kate added: “We hope our visitors enjoy themselves and in doing so, may take home ideas or tools they can use in their own day-to-day lives.” 

To book tickets, click here.