Newsletter December 2016
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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, Birmingham 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 Library of Birmingham . 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 Erdington. 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. 3 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.