With mental-health resources becoming harder to come by, the South African Mental Health Foundation hopes to aid the people of Stellenbosch by offering free support groups and mental-health seminars.
Hannah Frattaroli, founder of the NPO, explained that residents of Stellenbosch often struggle to access mental-health support due to the expense. “Stellenbosch University has a centre that offers free therapy sessions to students, but the centre is often clogged-up and students are limited to only seven sessions,” she explained.
“Not everyone necessarily has the financial resources to pay for private therapy sessions.”
Frattaroli saw a need within the Stellenbosch community and therefore decided to start the SA Mental Health Foundation to offer free mental-health support groups to locals.
It also hosts events and seminars whenever they realise there is a need. “In our support groups we realised many students have [difficulty] making friends around campus,” Frattaroli explained. “We then decided to host a friendship speed-dating event to help students with this process.”
The event as speed dating, but for friends, saw students get the opportunity to meet new people who could potentially become their friend, she added.
The last event took place last August, but Frattaroli said the foundation hopes to make it a monthly gathering.
It also hosts other workshops, such as meditation, grounding techniques and journalling, she explained.
The support groups are currently only available in Stellenbosch, but people from surrounding communities are welcome to join.
“For now we only have the resources to focus on Stellenbosch itself, but we hope to soon offer support groups in Idas Valley, Cloetesville and Khayamandi,” Frattaroli said.
- The support groups are hosted every Monday from 18:00 to 19:00 at the CoCreate Hub in Victoria Street. Wellness workshops are hosted every second Wednesday from 17:00 to 18:00 at the hub.
