Newsletter December 2016

Information for all Staff, Service Users and Volunteers. Welcome World Mental Health Day Celebrations Once again we have been very On the 10th October, we were excited to celebrate World Mental busy since our last newsletter and Health Throughout our Organisation. We had the pleasure of being we hope you enjoy this festive edition. invited to a number of workplaces and events cross the city, in order that we could help to promote mental health awareness. We Please remember it is important visited Price Waterhouse Coopers, City University and that everyone gets to see and read the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. the Newsletter . If you would like to be added to the mailing list for Our Recovery Service at Beechcroft hosted a series of planned future editions, please let your service manager know. events. The Choir with no name came to Beechcroft and encouraged staff and service users to have a sing-a-long. During If you would like to make a the same week, they hosted a Harvest Festival contribution to our Newsletter, & Halloween themed Drop-In Community Event, please let a staff member know, which over 100 people attended. The DICE event remember this newsletter belongs to us all and will value your input. featured live music, an art exhibition, massage, hot soup, with a roll and spooky fairy We welcome any comments or cakes! suggestions for improvement. May I also take this opportunity to The week of events was wish everyone a wonderful rounded off with Zabin Christmas and Happy New Year. Rahim, Head Office Regards Receptionist, cooking a wonderful lamb mince Rev Canon Frank curry with rice and naan, Longbottom, ably helped by service users in the Beechcroft Chair kitchen. Everyone who took part felt that World Mental Health Day was an important celebration and enjoyed taking part in all of the activities.’

We were also granted permission, to formally archive 50 years of our history at The .

If you are interested in the history of Birmingham Mind, then you can request our file, from the Archives Team on the 4th Floor, at the Library ( Ref MS 4861) 1

By Emma “Kindness in Mind” Marks

As part of Acts of Kindness /Interfaith and Anti-bullying week (13th -20th Nov) , Community Development staff, Colleagues from Beechcroft and and Volunteers from Birmingham Mind held an event called “Kindness in Mind” at the Zellig gallery on Friday 18th November. There was a Human library; where instead of a book you could take out a person for a conversation. It was an opportunity for people to be able to communicate with others from a variety of different communities asking questions that they may normally have felt too afraid to ask. We had 12 great “books” who kindly volunteered their time. They included an eclectic mix of provocative titles such as “registered blind”, “living with Bi-Polar” , “Transgendered Lesbian” and “Voice Hearer”. Many thanks to Thesis Kwawang for coming up with the idea of holding a Human Library,

sharing her knowledge and resources from her previous experience with this and for all her support on the day. Other activities included some crafting an art display from “2 art guys” and music from the Friday music group at Beechcroft . Some people were also lucky enough to get some free cake from Yumms Café. As well as promoting good mental health by providing opportunities for acts of kindness and connecting with others there were also resources available at the event from Birmingham Mind and National Mind. It was a really well attended and received event. Of the 40 1:1 conversations held over 95 % of the “readers” said that the experience changed their view about speaking more openly about prejudice and discrimination. 100 % of “readers” rated their experience as either good or excellent. This event was run in partnership with the “loveyourneighbour” campaign which aims to promote tolerance and respect for all the citizens of Birmingham. For more information on this campaign visit www.loveyourneighbour.org

Executive Update

During the last couple of months we have held our AGM, an Executive Meeting, a Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting and a Clinical Governance Committee meetings. Below is the highlights from all three of this.  AGM was held and we welcomed three new trustees – Brendan Geary (formally a co-opted Trustee, who was appointed Treasurer and Company Secretary), Sharon Willis and Kyle Raffo  We also said a fond farewell to Jennifer Marsh who was a long standing trustee that as many of you will know was a core champion of user involvement within Birmingham Mind  Sign off of the Strategic Plan that is published  Discussion on our work on young people  Presentation from CDW service  Risk Register  Business Case for our involvement with Ardenleigh  Medium term financial strategy  Analysis of trends and actions taken re Complaints in the last 6 months.  Usual reports to all committees including Service Self Assessment forms, Complaints & KPI’s.

New Opportunity with BSMHFT We are working with BSMHFT on an exciting venture to provide a more Recovery focused service to people who normally would stay on their Rehabilitation wards. BSMHFT have put in significant capital expenditure to redesign a number of the houses that are on the Ardenleigh site in . The service will consist of two assessment houses and then a mix of 2 people sharing a house or individual flats. In total there will be 25 people.

We will have a team of 14 Recovery Navigators that will work alongside – and under direction of – the clinical teams although we will have a manager who will carry out supervisions and appraisals etc. Many people will be subject to sections of the mental health act and so it is a very different service than we are used to providing. BSMHFT want to work with us as they recognise that we are the experts in providing recovery focused care and support and senior managers and trustees are satisfied that this service will not compromise our values. Indeed this is the very client group that Birmingham Mind was set up to support over 50 years ago, getting people out of long stay psychiatric hospital into better accommodation.

This is a very new venture for us and we really want it to work. We know there may be hurdles with working with/under direction of clinical teams but it is an exciting new service for Birmingham Mind and an opportunity for our staff to increase their skills and be part of a ground breaking service. This has never been done before nationally and we don’t under-estimate the challenges but we have a strong commitment from the Trust and if we can make the team strong with internal staff swapping into it then it would be a great starting place for us.

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By Michelle Chan Do you fancy Walking Football?

Come and join the team who play on Monday & provide support and engagement with the majority of Thursday at Shard End Wellbeing Centre. It says it in players being men, we raise the issues/awareness of the title...‘Walking Football’ for all those who don’t know men’s health. We have a support session after each the game, is played like the normal football game but match so the group can talk about things in general and with a much slower pace. This formulation allows less any concerns they have. For example if they identify any active, people with mobility problems or those who suffer specific any specific health issues we can bring in any mental health problems to come together and be clinicians to do a talk so they can ask questions or get active. some signposting information of place to get help in a The sport has changed some of the lives of these men very informal way as part of working with the who come every Monday and Thursday afternoon. community. Walking football at Shard End Wellbeing Centre (WBC) The Shard End Walking football team play regular started as a hobby/ interest of one of the staff members, matches within Birmingham with other walking football who completed the training and referee courses which groups and there next one they will host at the Wellbeing th was funded by the Wellbeing Service at Birmingham City Centre on 14 December playing 4 teams. So come Council. along to support the team or why not get involved yourself For more information please call Shard End The group has grown over time from recruiting 2 Wellbeing Centre on 0121 464 5485 or contact a member members to begin with to now 16 players who come on of the Community Development Worker a very regular basis once or twice a week. Team [email protected] or 0121 Birmingham Minds CDW Team has been a part of this 608 8001. project working in partnership and working to support the group with both mental health and wellbeing. We Having Fun Raising Funds !! Staff, Volunteers and Service Users at Beechcroft took part in two prominent charity appeals to raise money. Friday 30th September was Macmillan’s Coffee morning, a national campaign to raise money for Cancer support. Staff and Service Users put on their baking gloves and managed to bake chocolate fudge cake, brownies, coffee and walnut cakes, coconuts cakes, cookies, salted caramel cupcakes, fruit cakes and Viennese whirls with service-user lead Eileen McCabe’s strawberry cake proving the most popular! Throughout the day, staff, service users, visitors, support staff from Newtown and many others kept popping up to the stall and walking away with a cake or two! The total raised, including Gift Aid, was a fantastic £250, which will go towards helping those with cancer. Children in Need took place on Friday 18 November and there was a food stall at Beechcroft selling hot and cold food, snacks, cakes and chocolate, with Eileen’s strawberry cake once again disappearing quickly! The total raised, including Gift Aid, was £100, which will go towards helping children across the UK. Both events were well supported and service users felt better knowing that they had helped

raise money for charity. Our next event will be Red Nose Day, Comic Relief on Friday 24 March 2017, watch this space!!!

External Training Here’s what Training Manager Mike Jeffries and the increasing number of trainers we work with have been doing since September: Sandwell MBC: The delivery of our three year contract to deliver Self Harm awareness and mental Health awareness & Wellbeing training for Sandwell MBC continues. We are now well into year two of the contract having delivered 6 of the 9 Self Harm awareness courses and 8 of the 11 Mental Health Awareness & Wellbeing courses so far. Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) 2 day course: Is the new name for what was the standard 2 day MHFA training course and since the last newsletter we have delivered the course to staff at Black Country Housing Group (Rescheduled to November) as well as delivering the first two of our open access Adult MHFA courses at our Graham Street Head Office. A total of 24 people attended across the two open access courses including teachers/HR managers/ Bank Staff/ Fire Service employees amongst others which is fantastic for our first two courses organised this way and shows that Birmingham Mind continues to play a strong part in the movement to get Mental Health First on to the same legal footing as physical first aid. Please see the dates below for our first three courses in 2017! During December we are also delivering the new format of the course for the Student Services Centre at the which will take the number of participants we have trained in this type of MHFA training in the last part of 2016 over 50! Adult MHFA Lite half day course: Since September we have delivered this course once for Action for Children and twice for Xoserve Ltd as well as once for the Unite Trade Union (Huge thanks to Liz Sewell from Dudley Mind who delivered this one!), which means we have trained more than 70 participants in this form of MHFA training (This means Birmingham Mind will have trained more than 120 people in one form or other of MHFA between September – December 2016!). Youth MHFA: For the first time in 2017 we will offer the Youth version of MHFA training which is specifically for those people that teach, work, live with or care for young people aged 8 to 18 years! Our open access MHFA courses in 2017: All at 17 Graham Street. Adult MHFA st nd  Tuesday 21 & Wednesday 22 February 2017 st  Monday 20th & Tues 21 March 2017 st nd  Wednesday 21 & Thursday 22 June 2017 Adult MHFA Lite: Wednesday 8th February 2017. Youth MHFA th th  Wednesday 5 & Thursday 6 April 2017 th th  Monday 18 & Tuesday 19 September 2017 Please tell everyone you know about these courses and help us train more and more Mental Health First Aiders in our communities – Email [email protected] for more info Please note there is a charge for attending these courses, we are aiming at an audience of people whose employer will pay for their place on the training. You can book a place on any of the above courses https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/ birmingham-mind-8397773786

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External Training The other work we have been doing ……... October:

 John Bristow delivered a presentation to a conference of Unite representatives (Which led on to the MHFA Lite course mentioned previously).  Mike Jeffries delivered a presentation on Suicide Prevention for Police Negotiators.  Mike also presented at CBRE construction on World Mental Health day (10th October) and attended a MHFA event launching the new Adult MHFA materials on the same day.  Mike was a speaker at the “Mental Health in Schools” conference in Birmingham.  Mike delivered two separate presentations on different days to staff at Birmingham Passport Office.  Mike delivered a session on Mental Health & Exam Stress at Studley High School.

November:  Mike delivered presentations at Handsworth Grammar School and University of Birmingham School in Partnership with Envision.  Mike delivered a staff mental health awareness session at Al-Hijrah School.  Mike delivered a presentation to Cole Heath Learning mentors who work in schools. We have also received training enquiries at an unprecedented rate from lots of different employers and industry’s from Local Authorities to the Aerospace Industry in the last few months! Going for Gold We have once again being awarded the Gold accreditation for Investors in People, successfully meeting 197 evidence requirements of the framework. This is ten more than our last accreditation in 2013 which is extremely impressive. This is a Birmingham Mind wide achievement as we are only able to achieve such high standards by all of us working together towards our vision. We should all be rightly proud of such high level recognition and, as a senior management team, we will ensure that we take forward the suggestions and recommendations that have been made to ensure that we are continuously aiming to improve and build upon what we have in place. We will have regular progress meetings with the Investors in People team over the next couple of years and our next formal accreditation will take place in July 2019 which will be against the new Generation 6 standard. Across the organisation many people were involved directly and indirectly in this achievement and it is particularly heartening that the key feedback was around how knowledgeable staff were about our core values and how embedded our values are in everything everyone does. The assessor felt that the values described to her reflected the sense of pride that people felt in working for Birmingham Mind and everyone, without exception, was able to articulate in their own words what the values of the organisation meant to them. She also made special reference to how warmly she was welcomed by everyone at Birmingham Mind which is a credit to all of you and was particularly impressed with the amount of development that had taken place since her last visit. A special thank you to those of you that were formally interviewed and to Michael Wrigglesworth (HR Advisor), for overseeing the process.

A Thank You to our Volunteers at Birmingham Mind We’ve been fortunate over the last 12 months to have had the support provided to us through corporate and non corporate volunteers. Not only have people helped to clear up overgrown garden space, decorate rooms in some of our residential homes but also provide support to our staff and service users at our different premises across the city. So we would like to take an opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of our volunteers who have supported us 2016 and to wish you a wonderful festive season and happy new year. If you would like to become a volunteer for Birmingham Mind, please contact Andrew Nicholls on 0121 608 8001

Service User Survey 2016 A huge THANK YOU to all of our service users who took the time to complete and return our 2016 service user survey. We received more than 200 completed surveys, with some final surveys still to come. We will be busily evaluating all of the responses and collating a final report summarising all your responses. A copy of the Final Report will be made available in the new year. Once again, many thanks for your support.

Fundraising Success for 2016 We’ve been fortunate over the last 12 months to have had a number of individuals and organisations, raising funds for us in 2016, from corporate coffee mornings, to race runners and even someone shaving off their hair!!

Without all these wonderful people, we would not be able to continue to support the work that we do and this year we have chosen to spend our fundraising pot, supporting projects specifically offering Mental Health Support to young adults across our city.

We would also like to extend our thanks to individuals, who have forth coming fundraising events in 2017.

If you would like to know about our fundraising projects or how you can fundraise for us, then please do get in touch! Finally we would like to take to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of our fundraisers who have supported us 2016

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There are many festive activities happening at Beechcroft this December, including a Festive Drop- In Community Event on the 15th December, which will feature;

 Carol singing

 Christmas crafts,

 Art exhibition

 Refreshments

 To meet and talk to external support organisations. Also there will be a Christmas Disco on the 21st of December with food and dancing. There will be more activities and special one off sessions on the Christmas week, and these will be included in our Christmas timetable (due out early December), so please contact Paul Bow at Beechcroft [email protected] if you would like a copy.

Spotlight of Success

Following our Staff Conferences and consultation with the Staff Forum it has been agreed that in each Newsletter we will shine our Spotlight of Success, on our teams in each Newsletter. In this edition we shine on North Team here is their story…...…...

Name of your team: North Locality Team—Support Services Numbers of people in your team: 10 What does your team do? North Team… A year in the new model This year the North Team have been busy networking and making links across the North of the city, we have a North Connect meeting every Tuesday evening and will be working in partnership with the Sanctuary from December 2016; a member of the North Team will be there every Monday morning to offer support to our service users in that part of the city and make further links in that area. We have been involved in many community events which include Conker Island, The Sanctuary Castle Vale, Perry Common and recently at Northcroft, Erdington. Our Support Workers have embraced the new model and are now ready to split into two smaller groups within the team, they will then concentrate on smaller areas of North Birmingham in order to offer support that is appropriate and localised for that area. Our aim is to offer a good quality localised service in deprived areas such as and and we are working towards this goal. We would like to thank the North Team and the remainder of Support Services for their support and dedication this year.

9 Long Service Award Celebration Event 2016

On Friday 16th December, Birmingham Mind will be hosting their annual Long Service Award Celebration Event . This wonderful event, will be attended by both Birmingham Mind staff and service users. The Long Service Awards will be presented by our Chair, Frank Longbottom and CEO Helen Wadley. Julie Carnell 10 Years Service

10 Years Service If you would like to know more or attend this event, Ruel Chin please contact Jane Moore on 0121 608 8001 Rehanah Bhika 10 Years Service

Birmingham Mind would like to congratulate all of the Nyathesis Kwawang 10 Years Service following employees on their achievement... Jaswinder Paneser 10 Years Service

William Clarke-Lewis 25 Years Service Deborah Pearsall 10 Years Service Lynda Stanton 25 Years Service Leigh Robinsn 10 Years Service Shelagh Munro 25 Years Service Sharon Clarke 5 Years Service Gail McCarthy 25 Years Service Saeed Majeed 5 Years Service Sharon Matthews 20 Years Service Jenni Davis 20 Years Service Maria Holloway 5 Years Service Lynne Enright 20 Year Service Angela Jones 5 Years Service 20 Year Service Pat Motzheim Christopher Boyce 5 Years Service Sheryl Armstrong 20 Years Service Michelle Walters 5 Years Service Linda Burden 20 Years Service Manoj Chopra 5 Years Service Helen Wadley 20 Years Service 5 Years Service Evelyn Windsor 20 Years Service Uroy Kelly Michael Davis 20 Years Service Kefilla Munir 5 Years Service

Doreen Cole 15 Years Service Ibrar Uddin 5 Years Service Cheryl Yardley 15 Years Service Stephen Lewis 5 Years Service Elaine Quigley 15 Years Service Owen Harris 5 Years Service Melanie Fearon 15 Years Service Shakeela Rashid 5 Years Service Andrew Nicholls 15 Years Service Callum McGuinness 15 Years Service Nafisa Ashfaq 5 Years Service Danny Buskin 15 Years Service Rachel McNair 5 Years Service

Having a hard time this Christmas? We’re here to help. Please talk to a member of staff.

Here Are Some Supportive Places that are open on Christmas Day:

 New Heights, St John’s centre, 108 Warren Farm Rd, Birmingham B44 0QN are open and offering Christmas Day dinner 0121 384 2333.

 If pre-booked, Baptist Church, Trinity Hill, B72 1TA are offering a Christmas Meal for a small

contribution 0121 355 5088.

 Birmingham Christmas Shelter offers Food, Hot Drinks & Entertainment during Christmas Week. St George's Hub,

Great Hampton Row, Newtown, Birmingham B19 3JG 07846 299336

New Starters Leavers

We welcome the We say goodbye to… following people…  Dominic Leadbetter - Head Office  Amandeep Sambi — ESOW  Heather Braithwaite - CDH  Breze Serugamba—Residential  Robin Goater - Head Office  Jacquline Perkins—Support Services  Taljeet Bains - Support Services  James Oladoja — Support Services

 Justine Wightman — Support Services

 Kiran Chauhan-Sahota—Recovery Services Tweet is Sweet  Kiran Heyer—Support Services Don’t forget you can follow us on Twitter  Ruth Galvin—Head Office @Birminghammind  Shah Nawaz—Pershore Road @trainbrummind  Thomas Fisher—Support Services Go on, give us a Tweet!!  Tina Belle - CDH

We would like to wish all of our Service Users, Staff and Volunteers a wonderful festive period. Please remember to keep yourself safe and….  Drink sensibly  Eat well  Be active  Get involved  Stay in touch  Relax  Sleep

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Reg Charity No: 1003906.

Company Limited by Guarantee No. 2024372

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Community Development Head Office Recovery Services Worker Team 17 Graham Street Beechcroft Centre Studio 114 Green House Hockley 501 Slade Road Birmingham Erdington Gibb Street B1 3JR Birmingham Tel: 0121 608 8001 B23 7JG Birmingham Fax: 0121 608 8006 Tel: 0121 237 3761 B9 4AA Fax: 0121 608 8006 Tel: 07801 130 652 Home Support Service Suite1, 1st Floor, Alma House Residential Care Esteem Team Newtown Shopping Centre *Ludford Road Suite1, 1st Floor, Alma House , 0121 683 885 Newtown Shopping Centre Birmingham *Sycamore Lodge Aston, B19 2SS 0121 337 6280 Birmingham Tel: 0121 359 1151 *Pershore Road B19 2SS Fax: 0121 333 5925 0121 415 5684 Tel: 0121 359 1151 *Charles Davies House Support Services 0121 523 8880 Every Step of the Way Suite1, 1st Floor, Alma House Room 107 Newtown Shopping Centre Wellbeing Hub New Wing Aston, Birmingham Beechcroft Centre The B19 2SS 501 Slade Road Frederick Street Tel: 0121 359 1151 Erdington Birmingham Fax: 0121 333 5925 Birmingham B1 3HS B23 7JG Tel: 0121 608 8001 Tel: 0121 262 3555

Fax: 0121 382 7190

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FOOD BANKS IN BIRMINGHAM Foodbank clients bring their voucher to a foodbank centre where it can be redeemed for three days emergency food. Volunteers meet clients over a cup of tea or free hot meal and are able to signpost people to agencies able to solve the longer-term problem. The below agencies are registered foodbank distributors and hold foodbank vouchers which are given directly to an individual or family in crisis who then collects the food parcel from the foodbank

The Trussell Trust—Birmingham Central Foodbank 121 Camden Street Hockley B1 3DJ 0121 236 2997 Wednesdays & Fridays 10am – 1.30pm

Erdington Foodbank Erdington Six Ways Baptist Church, Wood End Road, Erdington, Birmingham B24 8AD 07775 465 062

Aston & foodbank St Matthew's Church 63 Wardlow Road Nechells, Birmingham B7 4JH 0121 359 0801

Stechford foodbank All Saints Church, Albert Road, , Birmingham, B33 8AU 07811 350 778

Great Barr foodbank St Bernard's Church, Broome Avenue, Birmingham, B43 5AL 0121 357 5399

Kingfisher foodbank Auckland Hall, 25 Sunbeam Close, Smiths Wood, Birmingham, B36 9JR 0790 203 0134

Sparkhill foodbank 6a Bard Street, , Birmingham, B11 4SA 0121 771 0464

Smethwick foodbank Holy Trinity Church, Church Hill Street, Smethwick, West Midlands B67 7AH 07527 962092

Quinton & Oldbury Foodbank St Boniface Church, Quinton Road West, Quinton, B32 2QD 07969434928

B30 foodbank The Church 24 Pershore Road South Birmingham B30 3EJ 07582 143 972

Walsall North foodbank Pelsall Methodist Church, Chapel Street, Pelsall, WS3 4LN 07582 869895

WHERE TO GET A FOODBANK VOUCHER You can obtain a voucher from Birmingham Mind, Beechcroft 501 Slade Road, Erdington B23 7JG, or alternatively at any of the organisations below:

 Birmingham Settlement, Money Advice Centre, Units 4-7 Alma House, Newtown Shopping Centre Birmingham B19 2ABdebt advice centre based in Newtown - Tel no: 0121 250 3000  Citizens Advice Bureau (Birmingham City Centre), Ground Floor, Gazette Buildings, 168 Corporation Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 6TF. Tel no 08444 77 1010 (landline) or 0300 330 0650 (mobile only)  Newtown Customer Services, New Aston House, Newtown Shopping Centre, Newtown, Birmingham, West Midlands, B19 2SW. 0121 216 3030 (City council switchboard)

Local Children Centres including;  Limetree Children centre, Heathfield Rd, Birmingham, West Midlands B19 1HJ. 0121 675 2530  Soho Children’s Centre, 21 Louise Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, B21 0RY. 0121 675 1890

Vulnerable women projects including;  Birmingham & Solihull Women's Aid, Ryland House, 44-48 Bristol St, Birmingham, West Midlands B5 7AA. 0121 685 8687  Anawin, 228 Mary St, Birmingham B12 9RJ. 0121 440 5296  Safe project, Various locations across Birmingham, call 0121 440 6655.

Housing support including;  Trident Reach, 2nd Floor, Bradfield House, Popes Lane, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 4PA. 0121 226 5800  Support  Midland Heart, 20 Bath Row, Birmingham, West Midlands B15 1LZ. 0870 607 0300  Integrated Family Support Workers,  Birmingham Social Services 0121 301 2830  Karis Neighbour Scheme ( If you live in the and Area), Wellspring Centre, Church of the Redeemer, Birmingham, West Midlands B16 9AG. 0121 456 3212  Ladywood Project (Ladywood Community and Health Centre), Ladywood Health & Community Centre, Street Vincent Street West, Birmingham, West Midlands B16 8RP. 0121 464 8630  Ladywood Community Money Advice 0121 250 0765

Drug addiction recovery services including;  Swanswell, 191 Corporation St, Birmingham, West Midlands B4 6RP. 0121 233 7400  Nacro, 148-150 High St, Birmingham. 0121 250 5250  Aquarius, various locations 0121 414 0888  Changes UK, 15 Larch Croft, Chelmsley Wood, West Midlands B37 7UR. 0121 788 2093  Safe project, Various locations across Birmingham, call 0121 440 6655.  St Basils (Youth homelessness) 120 Heath Mill Lane, Dertitend, BIRMINGHAM, B9 4AX. 0121 772 2483  Midland Heart Homeless services (Adult homelessness) 44 Bradford Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6HX. 0345 60 20 549  Job Centres, contact your job centre  Probation Services, contact your probationary worker  (Temporary Accommodation Team) 0121 216 3030 (City council switchboard)  Royal British Legion, 2nd Floor, , 81 New Street, Birmingham B2 4BA. 0808 020 8080

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FOOD SERVICES IN WEST MIDLANDS

Birmingham Christmas Shelter St George’s Hub Great Hampton Row (off Great Hampton Street) Newtown Birmingham West Midlands B19 3JG 07846 299336 23 December to 28 December Fri–Weds: Open 24 hours (from 10am on 23 Dec to 10am on 28 Dec) Age 18+ mixed; Bed for up to 150; Dogs on a lead welcome Bus service 46/46a from Bull Street stops outside St George's. Buses 16, 74 and 79 stop in Great Hampton Street. CODES: AH FF

Centrepoint Streets Project The Warehouse 26R Carters Green West Bromwich West Midlands B70 9LW 0871 717 7284 Mon–Thurs: 10am–4am Support services for young people, asylum seekers and refugees, homeless and disadvantaged people. Soup kitchen and respite centre. CODES: AH AD CL DA F FF

Coventry Jesus Centre (The Bridge Drop-In) 7 Lamb Street Coventry West Midlands CV1 4AE 02476 550033 Mon: 10am–1am (reception) Tues–Fri: 9am–4am Sun: 9am–10:30pm Friendship and help to people of all faiths and none. Support groups, skills classes, community cafe, and a drop-in for those in vulnerable accommodation or other particular need. Bond guarantee scheme. CODES: AH AC BS BE BA CL DA ET F FF FC IT LA LF LS MS MD OW TS

SIFA Fireside 48-52 Allcock Street Birmingham West Midlands B9 4DY 0121 766 1700 Mon–Fri: 9am–1am (nurses on Tues & Fri; chiropodist on Thurs) Sat & Sun: 10:30am–11:30pm One-to-one help, accommodation and support for people dealing with alcohol issues; counselling; resettlement and tenancy support; training opportunities; help for people on probation. Help with making phone calls to benefit offices, utility companies, job centres, landlords, doctors etc. You can also get help accessing emergency accommodation. CODES: AH A AC BS BA C DA ET FF LA MS OW TS

FOOD SERVICES IN WEST MIDLANDS

The Choir with No Name (Birmingham) Carrs Lane Church Centre Carrs Lane Birmingham West Midlands B4 7SX 07794 100938 Thurs: 6:30pm–8:30am (rehearsal and dinner) Choir for people who have experienced homelessness, with upcoming gigs around Birmingham and further afield. Free dinner after rehearsal each week. No prior singing experience or talent required! Women particularly welcome. CODES: FF LA MD

The Leaf Network Birmingham West Midlands 0844 586 5710 Sat: 6:30pm–7am (Outside Waterstone, the corner of High Street and New Street near Bullring) Food and drink from a group of Muslims organisations (Islamic Society of Britain, Plain Islam, The Leaf Network and Unity FM) serving everyone in society. CODES: FF

Wolverhampton Asylum Seeker Refugee Services (WARS) 1st Floor, Roma Parva Building, 9 Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton West Midlands WV1 4NB 01902 311554 Tues: 2pm–4:30am (women-only advice) Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 10am–1am Mon, Thurs, Fri: 2pm–4:30am (appointments) Helps asylum seekers and refugees in the areas of housing, education, employment, benefits and family reunion. Volunteering project gives asylum seekers and refuges a chance to improve their employment prospects by gaining valuable experience. CODES: AH BA CA ET FF

Birmingham City Mission 75 Watery Lane Middleway, Bordesley, Birmingham B9 4HN 0121 766 6603 Services for homeless and disadvantaged people. Free food, clothing, meals, general advice and emotional support. Furniture store with clothes and household items. Mobile advice services. Visit elderly, housebound people offering practical help and spiritual advice. Run lunch clubs for elderly people. Monday-Friday 9-5 Buses 96, 97, 17, 590, 56. Bus stops 5-8 minutes walk.

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FOOD SERVICES IN WEST MIDLANDS

CODES: AH: Accommodation/housing advice, AD: Advocacy, A: Alcohol workers, AC: Art classes, B: Barber, BS: Bathroom/showers, BE: Bedding, BA: Benefits advice, CA: Careers advice, CL: Clothing store, C: Counselling, DA: Debt advice, DT: Dentist, DW: Drugs workers, ET: Education/ training, EF: Ex-forces, EO: Ex-offenders, F: Food, FF: Food (free), FC: Foot care, IT: Internet access, L: Laundry, LA: Legal advice, LA: Leisure activities, LF: Leisure facilities, LS: Luggage storage, MS: Medical/health, MH: Mental health, MD: Music/drama, NE: Needle exchange, OL:

Further Advice Christmas can be a hard time for many people but there are many organisations open and available for you to meet and talk to over the festive period.

Samaritans Birmingham - If something's troubling you, get in touch: Telephone our branch: 0121 6666644 (Branch)

National telephone: 08457 909090 (UK)

Email Samaritans: [email protected] (UK and ROI)

Visit our branch: Samaritans Birmingham13 Bow Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B1 1DW

Usual hours open to receive callers at the door: Monday 10:00 - 22:00 Tuesday 10:00 - 22:00 Wednesday 10:00 - 22:00 Thursday 10:00 - 22:00 Friday 10:00 - 22:00 Saturday 10:00 - 18:00 Sunday 10:00 - 22:00

Facilities for visitors with disabilities: Callers are welcome to come and see us on our ground floor, but at the moment our building is not wheelchair-friendly. We are raising funds for disabled access.