National Inclusion Week: Creating Spaces Where Everyone Belongs
September 14–20 is National Inclusion Week — an opportunity to think about what inclusion really means and what it can mean to the people we support.
For those of us working alongside people experiencing mental health difficulties, social isolation, anxiety, low confidence or difficult life circumstances, inclusion is not simply about making sure everyone has access to a service. It is about creating a space where people feel that they genuinely belong and, most importantly, feel safe.
These may seem like small things, but to someone who has been feeling invisible, they can be enormous.
Many of the people who come to our groups and wellbeing sessions have experienced times when they have felt different, misunderstood or somehow “outside” of what society considers normal. They may have withdrawn from friends and family, lost confidence or stopped doing things they once enjoyed. Some may have experienced stigma because of their mental health. Others may simply have reached a point in their lives where they no longer know where they fit.
Sometimes, coming into a group for the first time can feel like a very big step. There can be anxiety about what other people will think:
“Will I fit in?”
“Will anyone talk to me?”
“What if I don’t know what to say?”
For someone who is already struggling with confidence or feeling disconnected, these worries can be enough to prevent them from coming through the door at all. That is why the way we welcome people matters.
A smile. A cup of tea. Remembering someone’s name. Sitting beside someone who is on their own. Noticing when someone is unusually quiet. Giving someone time rather than expecting them to speak.
These may seem like small things, but to someone who has been feeling invisible, they can be enormous.
True inclusion means creating an environment where people don’t feel that they have to perform, explain or justify themselves in order to belong.
Inclusion is more than joining a group
We can invite people into a room without making them feel included. True inclusion means creating an environment where people don’t feel that they have to perform, explain or justify themselves in order to belong. It means recognising that everyone arrives with a different story.
One person may be confident and talkative, while another may sit quietly and listen. One person may want to join every activity; another may need time before they feel able to participate. Someone may laugh and appear full of energy while privately struggling enormously. Someone else may find it difficult to make eye contact, communicate their feelings or trust people because of what they have experienced in the past.
Inclusion means making room for all of these differences. It means not measuring someone’s value by how much they contribute, how quickly they engage or how well they appear to be coping.
The importance of belonging
For many of our clients, connection can be a huge part of their wellbeing journey. A group can become somewhere they recognise familiar faces; somewhere they can have a conversation without having to explain everything; somewhere they can rediscover an interest or strength they had forgotten they had.
It can be somewhere they can laugh, somewhere they can be quiet and somewhere they can simply be themselves.
And perhaps most importantly, somewhere they can begin to feel:
“I am not alone.”
That sense of belonging can be incredibly powerful. It can help people rebuild confidence and reconnect with others. It can provide opportunities to discover strengths and interests, and create moments of hope during difficult periods.
There isn’t one right way to participate.
We don’t all have to be the same
Inclusion doesn’t mean treating everybody identically. Sometimes inclusion means recognising that people need different things in order to participate.
One person may need encouragement, while another may need space. Someone may need information explained differently; someone else may need a little longer to process what has been said. Some people will want to talk about their experiences. Others won’t.
There isn’t one right way to participate. Our role is not to make everyone fit into the same space, but to help create spaces flexible enough for people to be themselves and to feel safe.
Everyone deserves to feel that there is a place for them.
What can we each do?
During National Inclusion Week, perhaps we can all think about the small things we can do to make our groups and communities more inclusive.
We can notice the person who is standing alone. We can make the first move and say hello. We can listen without immediately trying to fix. We can be curious rather than make assumptions. We can celebrate someone’s strengths rather than focusing only on their difficulties, and create opportunities for people to contribute in ways that feel comfortable for them.
And we can remember that every person who walks through our door or joins a Zoom call has something valuable to offer.
Sometimes we may never know just how significant a simple act of kindness has been. The person we welcomed may have been considering not coming back. The person we encouraged to join in may have been feeling they had nothing to contribute. The person we sat beside may have felt completely alone.
We may never know the difference those moments made.
Everyone deserves a place
National Inclusion Week is not simply about recognising difference. It is about recognising people: the people who have found their way to us and those who are still finding their way; the people who are confident and the people who are frightened; the people who talk and the people who listen; the people who know exactly what they need and those who are still trying to work it out.
They all deserve to feel that there is a place for them.
Because inclusion isn’t simply about saying:
“You are welcome here.”
It is about creating an environment where someone can walk through the door and genuinely begin to believe:
“I belong here.”
And sometimes, that can be the beginning of something really important.
We have seen this time and again within Community Connections — through our groups and workshops, and through our partnership with Holistic Harmony, where genuine friendships have developed between clients. Some people have found such a strong sense of belonging that they have gone on to become volunteers, and some of those volunteers have later become Waythrough staff.
That perhaps says more about the power of inclusion than anything else.
“Everyone deserves to feel seen, heard and valued — not for how much they fit in, but simply because they belong.”
