Welcome to the latest edition of the Adferiad Partnership newsletter.

Last week was Volunteers’ Week, and this edition of the partnership newsletter has plenty of great stories demonstrating just how important volunteers are to our work. No matter their role, we know you’ll agree that volunteers make a huge difference to the services we provide across Wales, and we’re incredibly grateful to have their support.

This week we are celebrating Carers Week and recognising the invaluable contribution carers across Wales make – we will bring you more news in the next edition of the Newsletter.

As Welsh Government continues to ease restrictions in various areas of our lives, we’re starting to look at how we can begin to safely reopen services. With changes being announced regularly, it’s not an easy task, but we’re determined to do whatever we can to ensure our services are available for those who need them, and we appreciate how hard you’re all working to make this happen.

Finally, we just want to take this chance to remind you that we’re here to support you. If you’re struggling, or concerned about anything, particularly as government advice changes, please do discuss it with your manager who will help find a solution.

Clive, Alun & Karen • Adferiad Recovery to feature on S4C

We are delighted to have been offered free advertising on S4C to raise awareness of our Beat the Odds Campaign. Beat the Odds has been developed by CAIS and Living Room Cardiff as an effective service for people with gambling problems which is available to people throughout Wales, and we know that there are many people in our community who would benefit from this support. The opportunity to raise awareness of the work we do, and let people know how to get in touch with us through the advertising on S4C is hugely appreciated. It's important to us that our community knows we are here for them and they are not alone. It's fantastic to see the power of advertising being used in such a positive way!

• Using art to stay positively healthy •

Dylan, who has been receiving services from WCADA’s SWITCH project has written this article to share his experiences and how he’s been using art to stay positively healthy:

“I have suffered badly with different mental illnesses, such as severe depression and anxiety, psychosis and Borderline Personality Disorder, for the last six years. Due to me trying to self-medicate to change my mood, I discovered quick fixes to help make myself feel better, often resorting to taking substances to help me escape and feel more in control. I had a scary experience, where I almost died from taking too much of what I thought was a good thing.

“This was my wake-up call - I needed to seek help and support with my substance misuse issues, which resulted in me engaging with WCADA’s young person’s service SWITCH. I have not used substances for the last two months and recognise that by using drugs, I was trying to escape the past, and in fact it was making my problems worse in the end. I am now on the path to recovery with my substance misuse issues in the past, and my mental health and wellbeing my priority for my future. I continue to use all support available to stay positively healthy by utilising a combination of my therapy, medication and personal self-care practices.

“I have been creating art, centred on mental health awareness for the last couple of years now and after talking to WCADA about it, shared my imagery for Mental Health Awareness Week to help others who have felt like I have. I used these new skills to start my own clothing brand dedicated to spreading positive awareness and share my creative little doodles on my Instagram page (@growthroughcommunity); I have built an amazing and positive community on there. My hope is that I help others to feel less alone, know their worth and to feel accepted in our society and it is great to know that I am making a tiny positive difference in the world. I have struggled with suicidal thoughts in the past, so this art therapy outlet helps to keep me going and helps to have a purpose, an identity, and a goal in life.

“My future aspirations are to become a public speaker to share my personal story and experiences through my mental illness journey. I am aiming to become a volunteer with the young person’s peer mentoring project for children and young people in WCADA when I finish treatment. I hope to continue to grow my online community and create further art and inspirational pieces to help give something back.”

Dylan Sparkes

• Congratulations to Hafal volunteer and campaigner Jo Roberts!

Jo Roberts is a service user campaigner and one of Hafal’s longest-serving volunteers who has championed the rights of Hafal’s Members for decades. In fact it was down to Jo’s campaigning that the Mental Health Act Code of Practice for Wales prescribed a holistic care plan for secondary mental health patients.

Jo was put under Section 37/41 of the Mental Health Act way back in 1989. We are delighted to report that after more than thirty years, on 23 April this year, a Tribunal finally discharged Jo from the Section!

Jo said: “For the first time in half a lifetime I feel as if I’m a normal member of society. I feel free.”

Huge congratulations to Jo from everyone – we are absolutely thrilled for you and we look forward to continuing to work with you on improving rights for people in Wales who experience serious mental illness and their carers.

Read more about Jo Roberts and her Blog here.

• Great feedback on CAIS Crisis Project

As you will have seen in previous newsletters, the team at CAIS have been successful in securing funding for a new crisis project delivering food parcels and utilities top up cards to vulnerable people affected by Covid-19. This week they were delighted to receive this feedback from Arianne Caloe, Community Development Officer at Wales & West Housing:

“I have worked with the fantastic staff at CAIS and their sister support agencies for a number of years, and as always, they have “nailed” this project, that may I add is NOT their niche area of support!!

“CAIS secured funding from the Steve Morgan Foundation to enable their staff to provide food parcels and pre-paid gas and electric top ups to our residents that have been affected by Covid-19. “The level of support for our residents at WWHG has been overwhelming, the staff at CAIS have gone over and above to ensure service levels have been smashed and needs have been met within record timing (on most occasions within a few hours of the initial referral).

“Not only have the provisions of food, gas and electric been achieved, some of our residents are now looking at avenues of support within the core values and channels that CAIS provide.”

• Big THANK YOU to volunteers at Time to Change Wales!

Time to Change Wales is a national anti-stigma campaign delivered by partners Hafal and Mind Cymru. Hafal coordinates the Time to Change Wales Champions element of the campaign which sees an army of volunteers with personal experience of mental illness sharing their stories with a wide audience in order to reduce stigma.

Time to Change Wales marked Volunteers Week 2020 by celebrating the fantastic work of those who give their time to our campaign. Indeed, without volunteers, there would be no Time to Change Wales – they are the very heart and soul of everything we do!

As a team, we are continually overwhelmed and humbled the courage and bravery of our volunteers in choosing to share their lived experience of having a mental health condition with others, in the hope that others might not struggle in silence or face the same stigma/discrimination. Whether they are delivering an anti-stigma talk, writing a blog, having a conversation with someone about mental health, simply sharing/liking a post on social media or helping spread the message that ‘it’s okay to talk’ in one of a number of other ways, each volunteer’s contribution helps to inspire, educate and challenge old ways of thinking, which drives Time to Change Wales forwards in its mission to end the stigma and discrimination that so often surrounds mental health. This is why we call our volunteers ‘Champions’!

We celebrated Volunteers Week with a special edition of our Champions newsletter. The newsletter included a blog from TtCW’s Program Manager, Lowri, thanking Champions for everything they do, highlighting that ‘It’s not an underestimation to say that Time to Change Wales champions really do change lives’. You can read the blog here: https://www.timetochangewales.org.uk/en/personal-stories/volunteers- week-2020-heartfelt-thank-you/ . We also heard from several Champions, old and new, who talked about why they chose to volunteer for Time to Change Wales, the experiences and opportunities it has given them as well as the positive impact it has had on their own mental health.

We heard further volunteering highlights and success stories (as well as a few funny anecdotes!) during our Champions Coffee and Chat – a virtual meeting we have held weekly during lockdown. Not only was this a chance to say thank you ‘in person’ to Champions, but it also gave us the chance to share some statistics with them which helped to highlight and to quantify the impact of their volunteering – in the past 12 months, for example, our Champions had collectively engaged with nearly 7,000 people at over 350 events!

As we reflect on the work of our Champions, it’s clear that Time to Change Wales isn’t a programme that works with volunteers, the campaign is our volunteers, and we will always was be thankful to them.

• Cyfle Cymru: Shelby overcame agoraphobia to become an invaluable volunteer

Shelby Peppard was referred to the Neath Port Talbot Cyfle Cymru team in September 2018 by her Work Coach at the Job Center, in order to build up confidence and self-esteem. At the beginning Shelby was extremely shy and anxious and suffering from agoraphobia, and struggled to even leave the house.

Initially, Shelby worked with a Peer Mentor in order to establish routine and build up her self-belief. Once Shelby was ready she was referred to an Employment Specialist. Shelby was interested in looking for volunteering opportunities and to have a CV created. With the support of her Employment Specialist, Shelby completed various accredited courses and had a CV created. With this new found confidence Shelby was able to take the next step and uploaded her CV onto Indeed and agreed to apply for employment opportunities. Shelby applied for work in the Care Sector; however, with childcare commitments and public transport links being scarce, it made things difficult. But this did not deter Shelby, or the Employment Specialist for that matter, and they both set about looking for other opportunities and Shelby begin volunteering with Cyfle Cymru.

Once Shelby started to volunteer and was introduced to the wider team, she fitted in straight away and everyone could see what a bubbly, thoughtful and competent member she was! Throughout her time at Cyfle Cymru Shelby has been an invaluable member of the team, from undertaking general administration to supporting Peer Mentors in facilitating groups. More recently Shelby has been volunteering with Cyfle Youth Mentors, which focuses on supporting younger individuals to volunteer in various activities such as making packs for the homeless community and she is currently supporting the work at the local Food Bank. Shelby is an invaluable member of the team who has blossomed into an irreplaceable volunteer, and hopes to one day become a member of staff – thank you Shelby!

• Celebrating Carers Week 2020 at Hafal

This week is Carers Week 2020 and despite the lockdown, this important week is our calendar has been marked across Hafal’s networks.

The summer edition of the Mental Health Wales journal which was published this week in a Carers Week 2020 special which explores how we can continue to recognise the invaluable contribution carers across Wales make.

Inside the journal you can find more information on Carers Week 2020 and its 2020 theme of ‘Making Caring Visible’. The journal also features an update on the Social Services and Wellbeing Act, plus we catch up with five carers about the challenges they face in their caring roles and we present ten top tips for caring written by carers. You can download the journal here.

To celebrate Carers Week we also asked carers to highlight their role as part of the “Making Caring Visible” theme. Here’s what they had to say (images link to YouTube):

See many more Hafal Carers Week vlogs here: https://www.hafal.org/2020/06/making-caring-visible-in-2020/

For more information on Hafal’s services for carers visit: https://www.hafal.org/services/carers/

• Volunteers extend a helping hand for the homeless community in Wrexham

At the Soup Dragon project, volunteers assist in the preparation and handing out of meals to service users. Our team includes students, retirees, people who work full time, and people who have experience of using our services. What unites them all is the will and desire to make a difference. Providing a nutritious meal in the first instance not only ensures service users have a balanced diet but provides a route to engagement with individuals. The Soup Dragon is a critical pathway that provides access to individuals who lead chaotic and transient lives and acts as a bridge to reach the most socially excluded in the community. Not only are we able to ensure the wellbeing of homeless individuals with a nutritious meal, we are able to provide appropriate and rapid support and advice tailored to their individual needs.

Our dedicated volunteers regularly give their time to help provide a service to the homeless and roofless community of Wrexham. Volunteers gain a valuable insight into the lives of service users and furthermore they gain experience and knowledge of working for a busy charity with several locations around North Wales. The benefits of volunteering at Soup Dragon include personal development, gain new skills and experience as well as utilising existing skills, improving employment prospects, meet new people, increase confidence and improved emotional wellbeing.

We rely on the support of our volunteers to deliver our services and would like to take this opportunity in thanking them for continuing to give their time and expertise so freely every day of every week. Through voluntary work, they are helping us to empower change in our people and in our communities.

• Michael and Maggie explain why they volunteer for CAIS

Michael’s story

“My name is Michael, I’m a volunteer for CAIS. I have been volunteering for some time and I love it, I’ve gained confidence volunteering. It’s given me the chance to try something new as well as learning new skills. I’m currently doing my NVQ in Advice and Guidance. It’s a lovely warm and welcoming environment, everyone is helpful and have a genuine interest in your wellbeing, I’m also volunteering with the peer mentors which is the field I want to work in. Now that the coronavirus has happened, I’m volunteering delivering emergency food parcels and gas and electric top up cards. I can’t tell people how much I get out of volunteering: it’s amazing. You get to meet people you would never have normally met, which increases your confidence; you feel that you make a small difference, you feel part of the community and for me, have fun! I would recommend volunteering to everyone - it’s so good for your wellbeing, I feel a new man. So, come and volunteer you won’t regret it.”

Maggie’s story

Maggie has been a regular volunteer at Soup Dragon and Wrexham One Love Choir since June 2019. Her main duties involve managing the lockers and assisting in the preparation and serving of food at mealtimes.

During the Covid-19 pandemic Maggie has continued to volunteer every day, helping pack takeaway meals as part of our outreach response service. The takeaway meals are delivered to service users who have been placed in temporary accommodation through the local authority. Maggie has been in recovery for five years. When asked why she wanted to volunteer she said.

“I started volunteering for CAIS after several years in recovery. Volunteering is a great opportunity that enables me to give back to the community and reminds me of where I come from, as I was in a similar position myself before my journey in recovery.”

CAIS relies on the support of our volunteers to deliver our services and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for continuing to give their time and expertise during this unprecedented time. Through volunteering, they are helping us to empower change in our people and in our communities.

• Woody’s Lodge

The Positive Pathways Programme is an Armed Forces Covenant Fund that supports activity-based projects for veterans which can have a positive impact on mental health. As a Strategic Partner, Hafal supports veterans charities to apply for funding and then mentors the successful projects. Woody’s Lodge in West Wales is a social hub which guides veterans to the help and support they need to re-engage with their families and communities. Their vision is to create an inviting meeting space for those who have served within the Armed Forces and Emergency Services, where they can receive expert support and advice as well as the chance to connect with new and old friends and family.

Woody’s Lodge update

Spring has arrived at Penlan Farm with all the beauty of the countryside coming to life, which provides an ideal setting for those veterans with PTSD or other mental health conditions to participate in mindful activities. The group uses farm buildings, a workshop and farmland at Woody’s Lodge to deliver a respite, training, a drop-in centre and holiday venue for veterans and their families across the UK, mirroring a pilot project in Hay-On-Wye.

The current Covid-19 restrictions prevent us from offering activities for now, but the hard work continues to prepare the area and once the restrictions are relaxed/removed we will be able to offer a range of facilities to other veterans agencies, service users and families for a secluded and extremely mindful experience. Woody’s Lodge looks forward to providing a mutli-agency site that can be utilised to improve the quality of life for many.

• Cake competition winner!

The eagle eyed among you will remember in our last newsletter, that CADW CAIS shared details of their competitions for May. The Bake-Off competition was a huge success, and after much deliberation, here is the winning bake!

Well done to Sue Jones, Admin Assistant, Cyfle Cymru (pictured)!

Following on from Bake Off, and the on-going Grow the Biggest Sun Flower, a new competition has now been launched for the month of June. If you, your volunteers or family members have taken up old hobbies in Lockdown, this could be the competition for you! Whether you’ve been knitting, flower arranging,sewing, drawing, painting or doing any other kind of craft, we would like you to share your efforts with Cadw CAIS.

Please submit your entries to the Cadw CAIS facebook page or by emailing [email protected] by Friday, 3rd July 2020.

• Hafal partners with the Football Association of Wales to promote wellbeing during lockdown

Cymru players have joined Hafal to make the Welsh public aware of some simple steps to maintain their wellbeing through the coming months.

Working in partnership with the FAW we have come up with five helpful tips for keeping well which you can find here: https://www.faw.cymru/en/news/you-are-not- alone/?fbclid=IwAR3T7qg9_Xq-5xR-pUrAFuoXllhqAGIhld62MXN- FFjGNTjkz6hEj3hD7gM

…and you can watch an FAW interview with Hafal’s Kane Roberts here: https://www.facebook.com/FAWales/videos/230472898252987/UzpfSTEzMTIzMjE4 NjkwMzE2MDo0NjI4MDczNTIzODg1NjQ4/

Of course, working in partnership with the FAW has highlighted how important maintaining physical health is to maintaining mental health – and vice versa! We look forward to working with the FAW in coming years to highlight this holistic approach to health… #TogetherStronger

• A short tribute to Cen (Cartŵn) Williams (1946 – 2020)

Cen was there at the very beginning, telling us small band of merry men and women, what piece fitted where and how to make sense of the instructions; he even donated his own settee and two easy chairs, which countless people have rested their weary bones on during initial intake and assessment; he suggested we set up the ‘Friends of Living Room Cardiff’ and was its treasurer and constant source of fundraising ideas and inspiration; he designed countless posters for us and tickets for various events over the years; his unique style of cartoon drawing populated our bilingual Recovery Training Manual – as it did, Golwg the Welsh popular weekly magazine - explaining some of our recovery approaches far better than words ever could; he was an extraordinary leg-puller and had a fantastic and very wicked sense of humour; at every task he was asked to do, he complained bitterly that he didn’t have the time or the resources to do it, whilst always achieving it to the very highest standard and with a wry smile on his face.

Cen was a teacher par excellence and taught children and young people throughout Wales the true value of art and the joy of creativity; he loved playing and watching football more than anything and would argue and discuss the intricacies and the finer points of the beautiful game till the cows came home; we played together in Clwb Cymru Cymraeg Caerdydd’s 1st X1 back in 1970 - he would brag that I, as the goalkeeper at the time, was the only player on the field not to score a goal during one memorable match; his hard work helped set the solid foundation for Clwb Cymric which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, and which has welcomed young Welsh men and women to the capital city and helped them, through participating in sport, to settle down make friends and integrate; his interests and energy, which were always directed towards everything that was good and valuable in community, was a constant source of admiration; he was a friend to many during difficult times and he always had time to chat and joke with everyone. He was my dearest friend – he supported me through thick and thin; he loved the Living room – was its biggest cheerleader – and he loved everyone who entered its doors and embraced recovery.

I thank God for Cen’s life. He discovered the secret of happiness – which was to become a “giver” instead of a “taker”. But his kind of “giving” was extra special – it was the kind of giving that had no price tag to it – the giving of himself for somebody else. And he did it on the understanding that no one should ever come to know about it. Well, I’m sorry Cen, but I’ve had to break that promise to you, just to let the wider public know the remarkable love and compassion and the goodness that you embodied and which emanated so richly and freely from you. Knowing you has been one of my life’s biggest privileges. Rest in peace my dearest of friends.

Wynford Ellis Owen

Please note that while we are doing our very best to deliver our services across Wales during the coronavirus outbreak, including by digital means and by phone/video conference, this is no substitute for the face-to-face delivery of services. We look forward to delivering our services in person following the lockdown as we know how important this social interaction is to our clients across Wales.