Summer Trip Thursday 30th July 2015 Southend ÂŁ20 per person Contact the office for tickets
We are looking forward to Summer now although looking out the window it does seem rather wet and grey and not at all balmy. We have been working very hard making changes that ensure we can represent service users and provide services that are helping people and supporting people to help themselves. There are some new things happening so read on and join in. Come and meet us at one of the groups or come and volunteer and get involved. We recently had our AGM, and we have some new Committee members who will be wanting to meet members to ensure that EMU remains the mental health service users voice for Enfield. We have started some new groups and changed some old. We are looking to recruit new volunteers and our training sessions are soon running. We will be arranging some social events for the coming months. We have updated our web page so please have a look on www.emugroup.org.uk This was paid for by a donation from ex students of St Ignatious School who played a very valiant rugby match in memory of their chemistry teacher Ziggy Domogala. We also have a Twitter account and a Facebook page so lease friend, follow or like us! One of the reasons we have done this is to allow us to send out information in different formats and to let you know what is happening and available at EMU or in Enfield or Nationally. We are also conscious that money needs to be spend wisely to ensure we can continue. It would help us if those of you who can access email could opt to have their newsletter sent by email instead of post. To do this please send an email titled NEWSLETTER: Damian.loukas@emugroup.org.uk Sara
Dear Volunteer and Supporter,
I Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you have done for EMU voluntarily . We appreciate people that have given their time and talents that help this charity to go on, and help us to grow as a strong presence in the community. Without that presence which volunteers help us to build, our fight against the stigma of mental health would be weaker. As it is the volunteers brave and courageous acts that after recovering or in recovery that strive to help others , strengthen EMU as an organisation.
As you will know I came in to post in September, and I myself having experienced being a volunteer for various organisations including EMU know how important it is that volunteers feel valued, respected and heard.
I also wished to say if there is anything I can do to help please do not hesitate to contact me. My details can be found below. Your more than welcome. Once again thank you for all your hard work.
Kind Regards and Very Best Wishes Damian Loukas
Some changes to our services Complimentary Therapy: We do have a waiting list for services and need to make it clear that we provide 6 sessions for free. We ask you to fill in a base line survey at the beginning of the service and then an exit survey when you have finished the course. We use this to reflect with you if the sessions were of benefit and what other services we can help you to engage with to support your well-being. Counselling: We have 2 counsellors on placement with us, you can self-refer and we will do an assessment with you to see if our service is suitable for you. The counsellors are under supervision and will work with you for 6 sessions. At the end of this time you and they will decide what the next step might be. We do ask for a donation of ÂŁ5 per session for this service to cover our costs in providing this. With both services we ask that you think carefully about engaging with the service. If you feel you are not ready but might be later on we can keep you on the waiting list. If you do not attend 2 sessions in a row we withdraw the service and suggest you go back on the waiting list until you are in a better position to engage.
PEER SUPPORT
Peer Support on the wards at Chase Farm Hospital is really rewarding, we are told our presence on the wards has empowered service users and provided positive role models.
We are able to relate and build trust with service users on the acute wards having had experience of them ourselves. Service users are able to trust us and open up. Comments that we have received are that we give them hope that they too can get well and many have expressed an interest in being trained to do Peer Support and voluntary work when they leave the hospital.
On visiting the wards we have provided new games, books, newspapers, clothes and some toilettes. Noting that the basketball court had not been used for about a year we bought a pump for the wards so that the flat basket balls could be pumped up and they could go and play outside in the sun. This has been very beneficial especially for Sussex ward as their smoking court yard does not really get the sun and the exercise is really good for them. We are thanked by them and they are always so very pleased to see us.
Ward managers have remarked on how beneficial Peer Support is and want to have more sessions with Peer Support workers. Sean Edwards ward manager on Suffolk ward Chase Farm Hospital has written: “Having
Peer Support Workers on Suffolk Ward for the last 2 years, I feel the patients have benefited from good work. Having workers with lived experience of mental illness able to spend quality time with inpatients can in still hope and optimism, help facilitate their recovery. I feel the scheme promotes recovery values and there should be more sessions than once a week on acute wards”
Patient quote “ I felt like I had a link to the outside world and there was someone who
cared. I thought if they can be well so can I and I looked forward to their visits”.
Continued on next page
From the Peer Support Volunteer Perspective As Peer Support Workers -we have the ability to establish rapport quickly, - being fully trained we have awareness of how to maintain appropriate boundaries and remain safe. -We are non-judgmental toward service users, having a greater awareness of what it is like to be unwell - We have the ability to draw on personal recovery experience and relate to service users with empathy and compassion. We are able to sign post them to different organisations that they can get support from including EMU but also other organisations outside of the borough of Enfield. Peer support promotes choice, self-determination, and empowerment, and increases confidence. Richie “Peer Support is great, we are recognised as EMU, we build up a bond with patients
and they open up to us. We let them know about EMU and what Emu offers. Patients are very pleased to see EMU Peer Support Workers. It would be great if we could get Peer Support in the community I’m sure it would be a success.” Sue “Peer Support means to me a success in my life. A move forward to learn and grow
and EMU has given me confidence which I can share with the patients” One of the important things we do is liaise between service users and hospital staff, improving communication and giving them feedback. As Peer Support co-ordinator I attend monthly Acute Care Forum meetings. I have been able to relay the feedback and concerns of the service users on the acute wards and be able to help to improve their conditions. I have found a lot of respect from the staff who attend these meetings they are keen to listen and give support and make changes where possible. I personally find these meetings very rewarding and get a real sense of achievement. Working on the wards we have all found the work rewarding, which is reciprocal with the service users, we are approachable, relating in a conversational, friendly, trusting way. Being able to be empowered as well as empowering service users helping with their recovery, gives one a sense of wellbeing and purpose. All this is very valuable in moving towards keeping people well within the community. We all feel dedicated to doing Peer Support and believe strongly in the benefits to service users and ourselves, We would like to continue working at Chase Farm Hospital and would like to expand and be able to go on Dorset and Summer Villa wards. We are hoping with funding we can move towards additional Peer Support in the Community to help the transition after discharge and to help people to keep well and avoid crisis. Shelley Graham, Lead Peer Support worker
Introduction To Mindfulness Mindfulness is becoming very popular in mental health settings now. To learn more I went to an event in Barnet run by a network called Eclipse.
They say that mindfulness is ‘all about learning to direct our attention to our experience as it unfolds, moment by moment.’ This is in contrast to how we often spend our time, finding it hard to focus on the here and now. We are often distracted by other things – phones, people around us, background noise. Mindfulness is about concentrating on the present rather than worrying about what has happened or might happen. They say ‘it trains us to explore and respond skilfully to whatever is happening right now.’
Jon Kabat Zinn, who is credited with bringing mindfulness to a Western audience, said ‘you can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.’ If you would like to learn more they recommended a book called ‘Mindfulness – A Practical Guide To Finding Peace In A Frantic World’ by Mark Williams.
Suzanne
New Group We will be running a new group from June. Tuesday Tea at 2 –3.30pm (cos we love alliteration in the office) At Park Avenue Centre We will be replacing the original Speakers Corner to provide
Tea and coffee and cake (of course)
Speakers
Activities
Signposting and Information
Advocacy
Training
Self-help and well– being
Launching on the 2nd June 2015
Support Groups Evening Support Group This is a group for anyone who would like to meet other people dealing with a mental health issue. People are able to talk about their mental health and what is happening in their life. The group is friendly and supportive. We have a break part way through for refreshments. Some people come to the group regularly, others come from time to time when they feel they need extra support. You are welcome to come to a group and see if you like it. If you would like to speak to me before coming to a group please give me a ring – I work afternoons. contact Suzanne.collins@emugroup.org.uk
Afternoon Depression Drop-in A regular drop in held on the 2nd Monday of the month at 2-4pm. Coffee, tea and chat. Access to therapies, counselling and support strategies. Mindfulness techniques and a safe space to speak openly with other people who are experiencing the same feelings.
Depression Alliance Self-help group supporting people with depression. Access to counselling and support and strategies. Held on the 4th Wednesday of each month from 7-9pm at the Lancaster Centre.
Over 65 Thursday Club Thursday Club, for members who are over 65 years of age, continues to meet each Thursday afternoon at the Lancaster Centre. There are a mix of activities, quizzes and monthly art and music sessions to challenge you. Refreshments provided.
LGBT Support Group This is a safe place for people form the LGBT community who are experiencing mental health problems. Signposting, information and referrals to support services and a chance to socialise with the main group for film nights, social events and chat, We meet on the 4th Tuesday of every month from 6.30-8.30pm.
Richie’s Football Group. Tuesdays - 4.15p.m. - 5.15p.m. Enfield Playing Fields. Donkey Lane. EN1 3PL. Opposite Enfield Town FC.http://www.emugroup.org.uk/
E.M.U. Office: 0208 3666560 Mobile: 07760 434405 £1.00 per session.
Have fun, make friends and keep fit.
Assertiveness Training "too nice for your own good" Starting 13th July 6.30pm start at the Lancaster Centre
This course is designed to help you explore and understand issues around assertiveness. A practical assertiveness training course delivered by a MH professional and co-facilitated by service users, The course is designed to leave the participants feeling more confident in their ability to handle every day situations and feel better about themselves when setting personal boundaries or making needs clear. We will be covering areas such as
Setting boundaries for others
Presenting clear messages
Gaining increased confidence
Tools you know you can use
Handling difficult people and situations
Practicing The Art of Saying No
6 session 1 hour 30 minute sessions for £20 per person for the course. Limited places please contact the office to register.
Other Very Important Dates
Speakers Corner :Weds 27th May 2-3.30pm Coping with Low Mood by Helmi Van Leur
Community House, 311 Fore Street, Edmonton, N9
Speakers Corner:Weds 24th June 2-3.30pm Speaker tba Community House, N9 Service User Forum Friday 3rd July 3.30-4.30pm For anyone using community mental health services in Enfield Community Mental Health Centre, 5860 Silver Street, EN1 3EP chaired by Suzanne from EMU.
Volunteer Training—contact for dates Introduction to EMU and Service User Groups Mental Health Awareness Volunteering rights and responsibilities Personal Development Goals and a Celebration!
GET YOUR WALKING SHOES ON & JOIN OUR SPONSORED WALK
EMU are having a sponsored walk and would love you to be involved We will be meeting up on The 20th June at Lancaster centre at 2pm making our way to Enfield Town Park then back again this is an easy walk, no hills about 30 mins there and 30 mins back. All are welcome for this fun day out. If you would like to purchase an EMU T-shirt to proudly wear on the day and keep.as your own, please let us know as soon as possible as it would be cheaper doing a bulk order. Those that take part will receive a certificate to say that they have successfully taken part and a special thanks from EMU If interested pick up a sponsorship form from the office beginning of May or ring for more information on 0208 3666 560 Look forward to seeing you all on the 20th June
'Review of 'Madness at Midnight'. (Extracted from my daily journal entry of February 18th 2015.) As I was on the point of doing at the close of yesterday's entry, and I guess that time is of the essence in this regard if I should return it as is my intention to EMU's little library later today,
I will now try to sum up my feelings about 'Madness at Midnight' by Bianca Benjamin, although having said that, I feel very poorly qualified, and am not sure that I can offer much.
But I am clear that what came across most strongly for me in this at times sublime, but mostly horrific, tale, are on the one hand, the author's daring curiosity, and wish to make sense of what she is going through, and on the other, the sheer intensity of experiences often so painful and terrifying that no one could conceivably have wished them upon him or herself; a rollercoaster of such stupendously vertiginous peaks and troughs as to make the acute rock faces of the Dolomites seem akin to the humble grass slopes of the downs of southern England, and to render my personal experiences of psychosis, which I had hitherto thought quite arresting, very pale and mundane indeed.
If there are a couple of questions I would put to Ms Benjamin they are firstly, how did you make a distinction between certain profoundly unsettling and intense experiences and what you considered to constitute your periods of psychosis; ie, there seem to be a lot of things you went through that might strike one as truly mad, but which you chose not to include under this head (could it be that you felt that to do so would have somehow diminished the sense of authenticity of certain experiences that you have felt to have been seminal moments in your personal history?), and secondly, do you think you would have gone through nearly so much horror had you not taken such an interest in the occult, and in particular Carlos Castaneda?'
Dettol Disaster: When My OCD Started When I was 8 I spilled Dettol Couldn’t get the- smell off my hands I fell into a panic And my mum didn’t understand
I became scared of being poisoned Or dying a horrible death My heart would start beating faster I felt alone and scared
Mum shouted at me Dad took her side Nobody ever listened to me The story of my life
I became scared to use toxins I couldn’t bear the smell I thought that I would be poisioned And die and go to hell
Its like living a nightmare Going round and round in my mind I just want it all to stop So I can get on with my life
Volunteer Roles
GROUP FACILITATORS We are looking for someone with lived experience of OCD or Bi-polar Disorder or Depression who feel they can share their expreiences of their recovery journey to help support other. As facilitator you will: 路
Listen to the experiences of others and be able to empathise
路
Share experiences
Treasurer Needed! Admin and Receptionist
Our small but vibrant Committee needs a Fi-
We need a receptionist for occasional
nance eye! Experience or
evening duties, Thursdays and Friday
interest in mental health
mornings.
an advantage but not a
Or are you hoping to move into an administration role? Have skills you feel might need refreshing? We can offer you training and support and a friendly office to work in.
necessity (only MH service users can be Trustees but you can be coopted). Looking to add to your CV, time to spare. We really need your skills and experience.
Clarendon Recovery College Clarendon Road, London N8 0DJ Tel: 020 8489 4872 Fax: 020 8489 4879 www.haringey.gov.uk
Advertisement for VOLUNTEER HEARING VOICES GROUP FACILITATOR
The Hearing Voices Group at the Clarendon Recovery College is a self-help support group for anyone who is hearing, seeing or sensing something that others around them aren’t. These experiences can include all five senses, hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch.
We are looking for someone with lived experience of their own voices/visions, etc, to facilitate this weekly open group. As facilitator you will:
Listen to the experiences of others
Share experiences
Share coping strategies among the group
Seek any further training that might help improve delivery of the group sessions
The group meets every Wednesday, 2-3pm, in the Wellbeing space next to our café. The Clarendon supervising worker will support you in your role and provide weekly de-briefing time after the session as and when you request it. The Clarendon Recovery College will support you to attend any suitable training, as funds permit, in addition to the London Hearing Voices Network free group facilitation training which we will arrange. We are members of the national Hearing Voices Network and the London Hearing Voices Network. Volunteers receive a free sandwich lunch and travel expenses.
To appy for this role please contact the above number.
BlueCircle IT BlueCircle IT is an independent I.T. consultancy company based in Enfield providing IT support & consultancy for small/medium sized businesses. Having recently worked with The
EMU Group at The Lancaster Centre assisting them with their new website and email setup, we would be delighted to offer our services to any other groups needing IT support within the North London area. Some of the main services we offer are: Hardware & Software Sales (servers, PCs, printers etc.) Network Support & IT Consultancy (advice on how best to structure your network, how to keep the network secure, and recommendations on the best /latest IT solutions, antivirus programmes & data backups) Website & Email Hosting
If you would like to find out more, then please do not hesitate to contact us, we’d only be too pleased to help. Jonathan Mann
BlUECIRCLE IT ● Jonathan Mann +44[0]7957 634023 ● jonathan@bluecircleit.co.uk ● www.bluecircleit.co.uk
Contact Details
EMU Lancaster Centre 53 Lancaster Road Enfield EN2 0BU
0208 366 6560 info@emugroup.org.uk Volunteer or admin : damian.loukas@emugroup.org.uk Outreach, advocacy and information: Suzanne.collins@emugroup.org.uk Peer Support: Shelley.graham@emugroup.org.uk CEO: Sara.litchfieldbrown@emugroup.org.uk
Complementary Therapies
ing fields
Football 4.15pm Enfield play-
(from June)
Tea at 2pm at Park Ave
Complementary Therapies
ing fields
ing fields
Football 4.15pm Enfield play-
(from June)
ing
6-8.30pm
LGBT Group
playing fields
EMU Representatives Meet- Football 4.15pm Enfield
Complementary Therapies
Week 4
Football 4.15pm Enfield play-
Depression Drop-in 2-4pm
Complementary Therapies
Complementary Therapies
Complementary Therapies
Week 2
Week 3
Complementary Therapies
Complementary Therapies
Week 1 Tea at 2pm at Park Ave
Tuesday
Monday
7-9.00pm
Depression Alliance
only)
House(May and June
2pm @ Community
Speakers Corner
7.30pm
Support Group 6-
Wednesday
Over 65 Group 1-4pm
Over 65 Group 1-4pm
Over 65 Group 1-4pm
Over 65 Group 1-4pm
Thursday
Friday
Summer 2015