“Mind gave me the motivation to further help myself and finally be able to pin point what I need and what I need to do to live my life to the fullest. I felt heard and understood, sometimes you just need to talk.”
I am very pleased to present this year’s Annual Impact Report on behalf of the Trustees of Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind. We would like to pay tribute to the continued commitment of CTM Mind’s staff and volunteers in the fight for mental health and wellbeing. We would also like to acknowledge the efforts and leadership of former CEO Julian John over the past ten years, and formally welcome our new CEO Daisy Cole, who brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience into the role.
The last few years have been extremely tough for all. The pandemic, it’s after effects and the current cost of living crisis have all taken their toll on our mental health and wellbeing. Our role in supporting the people of Cwm Taf Morgannwg has never been more important. We still believe in Mind’s mission ‘that we won’t give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets both support and respect’ and we will work tirelessly for the communities we serve.
As is evident throughout this report, our staff and services make a real difference to people’s lives. I would personally like to thank all our funders, grant givers, supporters and fundraisers for their support. I would also like to thank all our Board.
staff, volunteers and trustees for their relentless commitment to listening, and supporting people each and every day, the many acts of unseen kindness, words of encouragement and hope. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of CTM Mind
In the face of adversity it is our duty and ambition to reach as many people as we can, continue to provide quality services and ensure better mental health and wellbeing for Cwm Taf Morgannwg.
Clive Jones ChairmanI was appointed as the CEO of Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind half way through this financial year. It was a privilege to be asked to lead a vital charity, running life-changing services for people with mental health problems in our community.
What struck me most upon joining the organisation was its commitment to continue delivering services throughout the pandemic. This is an achievement which speaks loudly about the dedication of everyone in the CTM Mind team, and the previous CEO, Julian John, to do whatever they could to support people at a time of relentless uncertainty.
The fight for mental health and wellbeing is far from over. The mental health and wellbeing of our communities has never been so important. We are dealing with the after effects of a pandemic that has had devastating effects on people across Cwm Taf Morgannwg - but we are here to make a difference. It is our mission to respond to the needs of our communities and help rebuild emotionally resilient people who can thrive.
This report demonstrates the impact that our services delivered by our dedicated team of staff and volunteers make to the people we support everyday in partnership with our funders, colleagues and friends across the public, third sector and local communities.
Daisy Cole CEO
“I was really struggling with post natal anxiety - I’ve always had anxiety but it sky rocketed when I had my son, I felt isolated because I had recently moved to a new area. My health visitor recommended that I go along to a Mums Matter session run by Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind.
It was really good, because I suddenly realised that I wasn’t the only mum that was struggling and feeling rubbish about myself. I connected with people who were feeling the same and we supported each other and learnt lots of new coping strategies through this course.”
Stacy had been receiving support from our Residential Resilience Project. During a regular phone call check in, she admitted to our Resilience Worker that she was really struggling with her mental health and wanted to end her life, and had a plan in place to do so.
Our resilience worker knew that Stacey needed more than a check-in call and swiftly contacted team members, while speaking to Stacey on the phone. She told Stacey that members of our team were on their way to see her. She also called and briefed the police, so they knew the importance of a rapid response.
When team members arrived at Stacy’s house, the police were already there and found Stacy getting into the bath with razor blades next to it. The team members took over from the police, sat with Stacey and helped her to calm down, as Stacey was initially very agitated and distressed.
Stacy hadn’t taken her medication for weeks because she’d been too anxious
to leave the house. Stacy’s GP was contacted for immediate collection of her medication.
A safety plan was put in place for Stacy and our team arranged for a family member to come and stay with her. We agreed that Stacy would have counselling with our Trauma Informed Counselling team. This took place at a community centre very close to Stacy’s home. We worked with Stacy for 12 sessions. As we uncovered the reasons for her poor mental health and suicide plan, we discovered she had lost a lot of people in her life to suicide and she had experienced severe trauma at different points in her life.
We worked with Stacy on her flashbacks and nightmares that were triggered by previous childhood trauma. We helped her to process what had happened to her and desensitised her from the flashbacks by helping her to focus on all the positive parts of her life.
“To be blunt, if it wasn’t for Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind, I would have gone through with my plan to end my life.”
“Stacy’s outcomes were the best I’ve seen of any client I’ve worked with. She hadn’t left her flat for a long time because of her poor mental health and severe anxiety, but by the end of her therapy she was going shopping on her own, meeting friends at coffee shops, and managing household tasks which had previously dwindled.
She had a stutter which was triggered by low confidence and self-esteem - we worked on this with Stacy and by the end of the 12 counselling sessions, her stutter was almost non-existent. She had completely turned her life around and is in the process of becoming a volunteer with an organisation.”
Trauma Informed Counsellor.
For Stacy’s final counselling session, she agreed to meet our team members at a coffee shop in the town centre. This was a very big step for Stacy and highlighted how far she had come in her journey.
At her final counselling session, Stacy said:
“I feel like I’m me again, found my voice again, more myself. The patience and care I’ve experienced through the whole process has been really positive. I wish I knew about this service a long time ago. I’m so grateful someone was there for me with good understanding and advice, and I now have coping mechanisms that I put into practice myself. All this and more, they saved my life.
Names have been changed in this case study to ensure client confidentiality
During lockdown I fell pregnant with my daughter. My anxiety was through the roof by the time I reached my last trimester and I struggled to attend appointments.
After my daughter was born, the first year was really difficult as we were isolated at home. I had also experienced a lot of trauma. My aunty died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage, I had also found out my brother in law needed a new kidney and pancreas and my father in law needed a liver transplant. All this had happened in a relatively short space of time.
I struggled going back to work and being separated from my daughter, and after a few months had to take time off as my mental health was suffering. This is when I saw the GP and asked for help with my mental health that did not involve medication.
I was referred to Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind’s Active Monitoring service. The service provides self-help tools in the form of booklets that include techniques for managing a range of mental health problems.
With the support of my practitioner
I worked on confidence and self-esteem, loss and grief, and dealing with anxiety. My practitioner helped me to apply the techniques in every day situations and held me accountable by giving me little tasks to do.
We worked together a lot on where my low self-esteem comes from, and she really helped me to let out emotions I had suppressed. I felt my practitioner went above and beyond with her support, and really adapted the service to suit me and what she thought would work best for me.
It was my experiences of this service that led me to apply for a job with Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind’s Active Monitoring service earlier this year.
I am now an Active Monitoring practitioner supporting people every week and I love my job.
From my own experiences I know how important it is to give people the help they need straight away, and provide them with reassurance. I like to give and make a difference to people’s lives and I feel my knowledge,
training and personal experience has led me to this career path.
I am still applying the resources that I learned through the service in my personal and work life, so I really do practice what I preach and lead by example in my work.
Active Monitoring has made me feel confident to cope with whatever life throws at me and has also helped me practice better coping strategies, and being able to empower people to do the same is so rewarding.
“I felt my practitioner went above and beyond with her support, and really adapted the service to suit me and what she thought would work best for me.”
“I worked on the railway line for twenty years, and in 2016 whilst on holiday, my wife suffered what I thought was a breakdown, but it was later diagnosed as a psychotic episode.
To be honest, it was very hard to understand what was going on, I didn’t know anything about this illness. She was put into the Crisis Team, who were brilliant, and the following day my wife was sectioned under the mental health act, which was a shock to my system, and not only that, but I had to try and sort myself out, what was I going to do, and where do I get help from.
I was referred to Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind and introduced to Pam Khan by a social worker. Pam is like a guardian angel in my eyes, because since then, I’ve had so much help and support. She’s always only a call away, if she can’t answer, she’ll get back to me as soon as she can and I’m very grateful for Mind and Pam’s support.”
I contacted Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind following a period of abuse that I had endured at the hands of one of my carers. I have several physical disabilities and rely completely on my carers every day. Following this difficult period, for the first time in my life, my mental health suffered and I reached the point of contemplating suicide. I lived in fear that my care package would be removed if I complained and I didn’t know where to turn.
The help that I have received from Mind has been exceptional. Throughout everything, the advocate has maintained weekly telephone contact with me and it has been reassuring to know that there is someone there for me to contact when I am struggling.
The advocate has actively liaised with other services on my behalf, when I have been at such a low point, I have been unable to face, or cope with any interaction with services. The advocate has liaised with my Care and Support Practitioner and my care team when my package of care was sporadic and I lived in fear of being stranded with no care. She has been at meetings where my care plan has been reviewed and she has been the link between services, which has taken a lot of pressure off me.
The advocate has supported me through the stage two complaints process, when I complained about my experience of using the care services.
She attended meetings with me and the Independent Investigating Officer, which was invaluable because I felt that I was reliving the experience all over again.
It was difficult for me having to work through the final report for the stage 2 complaint, I found it reassuring that there was someone there that I could talk to when I was struggling. More recently, the advocate has supported me to prepare a file to escalate the complaint to the Ombudsman for Wales. Having never experienced anything like this before, I would not have had a clue of where to begin.
The advocate has liaised with mental health services on my behalf when there were issues with my prescription. I have found these things to be overwhelming and I am so grateful for the support that I have received from the advocate.
During this difficult time, there were issues of anti-social behaviour in my local area. There were issues of young boys throwing stones at my windows and I was being threatened by one of
my neighbours. I found that I was living in fear in my own home and this had a further negative impact on my mental health, I was living in a state of constant panic.
My advocate was able to liaise with my housing provider, the local Anti-Social Behaviour Officer and the local Police, to ensure they were well informed and updated to what was going on and how these incidents were affecting me. The advocate was also able to support me at meetings, which I found really helpful.
The advocate made me feel that I was in a safe place and I felt that I could trust her. I felt that she really listened to me and never judged me, she made me feel that I mattered and that means so much. The advocate has been with me every step of the way at a very difficult time in my life. I am very grateful for the support that I have received. I don’t think I would have coped without the support that I have received from Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind.
“The advocate made me feel that I was in a safe place and I felt that I could trust her. I felt that she really listened to me and never judged me, she made me feel that I mattered and that means so much.”
Despite the restrictions in place from the pandemic, our incredible supporters and fundraisers still managed to raise a fantastic £49,547 throughout 2021/22.
The majority of our Fundraising income continues to come through community fundraising activities by our supporters - £34,854, with £244 in Gift Aid. With a further £14,448 coming in through miscellaneous grants and donations.
Tygan Pinch and Coral Morgan completed a Skydive to raise awareness of suicide prevention through the #4TOM campaign. Tygan and Coral were very close to Tom Smerdon, who lost his life two years ago. The girls raised a brilliant £1500 which was donated to us and used to provide talking treatments.
The Covid ITU team from Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board Prince Charles Hospital completed the South Wales 3 Peaks challenge and raised over £3.5K for us!
Darren Wilson raised a staggering £10,000 from his ‘Resolute - Ultimate Virtual Fitness Challenge.’ Darren and 15 people took part in the challenge, which involved doing a fitness challenge on the hour, every hour for 10 hours!
Darren and the 15 challengers raised £5,054 which was then generously match funded by Flyform - a local business. £5K was donated to Mind national and the remaining £5K was donated to us to go towards providing free talking treatments.
I saw the impact that had on me and my family, and also what he must have been experiencing, so I have committed to raising money for mental health so no one has to suffer like he did.”
Ethan Morris raised an amazing £2,134 after completing the Ten Y Fan challenge, the David Goggins challenge and the London Marathon in memory of his grandfather. The money Ethan raised was used to support our suicide prevention work by providing free talking treatments.
“My main motivation for these challenges was my Grandfather. A few years back he took his own life after struggling with anxiety and depression for a long time.
