A brief history of oxfordshire mind

A Brief History of Oxfordshire Mind The First Forty Years Jane Hope

Oxfordshire Mind’s mission Promoting good mental health through the provision of high quality services with active user participation; and through lobbying and campaigning for positive change.

Oxfordshire Mind provides: A cross-county network of community resource projects, five supported housing projects, an evening telephone crisis line, an information and advice service, a regular support group for relatives and carers, and a programme of therapeutic groups.

Our values: Oxfordshire Mind’s work is based on belief in . . .

Valuing the knowledge and expertise of mental health service users Working alongside people to help them realise their potential The importance of striving to make mental health services more human Acknowledging and challenging discrimination and stigma The importance of community and the benefits of mutual support

Published by Oxfordshire Mind 2007 Copyright Jane Hope 2007 Oxfordshire Mind Registered Charity Number 261476 Registered Company Number 4343625 www.oxfordshire-mind.org.uk

Cover illustrations Stages in the development of ‘Held Safely in Mind:’ commissioned artwork by Mary Smith celebrating 40 years of Oxfordshire Mind.

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CONTENTS Foreword by John Copley, Chair of Oxfordshire Mind Introduction Chapter 1

Where Did We Come From?

A bit of background

Chapter 2

From OMHA to Mind, from City to County How we got our name

Chapter 3

The Early Years and the Dark Days of 1973

Chapter 4

The Relatives’ Group Oxfordshire Mind’s longest running service

Chapter 5

The Rat Hole Taking over 125 Walton Street

Chapter 6

Living with Mind The Housing Service

Chapter 7

From Acorns and Unicorns to Community Resource Projects The Day Service story

Chapter 8

It All Began with Tranquilliser Withdrawal The Therapeutic Groups

Chapter 9

Roundabout Oxford to the Website A source of information

Chapter 10

Calling For Support The Crisis Line

Chapter 11

Do We Really Need a Director?

Struggling with growth and change

Chapter 12

From Washing Up to Decision Making Working with service users

Afterword Dates and Milestones: History at a Glance Sources and References

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FOREWORD Walter Pitkin's book "Life Begins at Forty" was published back in 1932; the title remained in everyday use long after the book's content was forgotten. As far as our organisation is concerned, life began in 1967 rather than in 1995 when the term "Oxfordshire Mind" was first coined to better reflect the growth of services.

Jane was commissioned to write this brief history as part of the events celebrating our first forty years. Within the pages, Jane has carefully drawn together not only most of the significant events and their dates, but has also included something of the spirit of the organisation.

It is a tribute to all involved over the years that the organisation has not only survived the many challenges along the way, but has steadily grown and strengthened.

Many thanks Jane for this important record.

John Copley Chair, Oxfordshire Mind

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INTRODUCTION It has been both hard work and a lot of fun to write this History of Oxfordshire Mind. I worked for Mind for twenty years, from 1982 to 2001, first as Day Care Development Worker and later as a Day Service Manager. Those years were a time of rapid change for the organisation and a very rich and fulfilling time for me. So in writing this history I have drawn on my own experience and memories as well as reports, minutes of meetings and other documents, and I think this will be obvious to the reader. I could not have written it in any other way.

Neither could I have written it without the help of friends and colleagues who have shared their memories with me. Throughout the 40 years many people have played a part in the story of the organisation: committee members, service users, carers, workers, volunteers, colleagues and friends from other organisations. Naturally some people appear in this History and others do not, but those not mentioned are no less valued.

Much more could have been written, and people who know Oxfordshire Mind will have their own memories and perspectives. I hope these will be stirred as they read it.

Thank you to everyone who has reminisced with me and to everyone who has shared the life of Oxfordshire Mind. A special thank you to Tony Evans for taking time to read it all through and for giving me helpful and thoughtful suggestions.

Enjoy reading it!

Jane Hope, September 2007

This is a history and not a description of services. If you want to know more ab out the services run b y Oxfordshire Mind you are welcome to ring the office on 01865 511702 or visit the web site www.oxfordshire-mind.org.uk.

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1 WHERE DID WE COME FROM? A bit of background The organisation we now know as Oxfordshire Mind was launched at a rd meeting in the Town Hall on Monday April 3 1967. The Oxford Times reports: “Mental Health a Growing Problem. New Association Formed. Nearly 300 people filled Oxford Town Hall to vote into existence the Mental Health Association (Oxford Area).� The new association, chaired by Mr. R. B. McCallum, Master of Pembroke College, was part of a growing number of local groups affiliated to the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH).

The NAMH was established in 1946. It was formed by the amalgamation of four mental health organisations: The Mental After Care Association, The Central Association for Mental Welfare, The National Council for Mental Hygiene, and the Child Guidance Council. This merger was recommended by the Feversham Committee on Voluntary Mental Health Associations, which reported in 1939.

In Oxford itself, a local voluntary association affiliated to The Central Association for Mental Welfare had existed a long time before this. Formed in 1913, the Oxford Voluntary Association was started at the invitation of the Mental Health Committee of the City Council. These were the days of the Mental Deficiency Act and members of the Association were mainly engaged in supervising and visiting individuals on behalf of the Mental Health Committee.

The Feversham Committee recommended very different roles for the new NAMH. These were to include: educating the public in an understanding of mental health, organising preventive measures, promoting care, treatment and after-care, and the training of personnel.

In the 1960s there was a gradual reorienting of mental health services away from institutional care to the community, and it became clear that the statutory services could not meet all the needs. It was at that time that many local mental health associations sprang up in England and Wales with encouragement from the NAMH. At the historic meeting at Oxford Town Hall in 1967 the formation of the new association was an acknowledgement that mental health is a community not an institutional problem. The need for the association was spelt out by one of the speakers, Mr. Timothy Raison, editor of New Society. He suggested some positive things they could do: reabsorb ex-patients into the community and give them confidence, combat ignorance and prejudice, persuade the authorities to repair the glaring weaknesses in the statutory services, and start social clubs. Sound familiar?

An yone interested was encouraged to send their name and address and a minimum of 5 shillings subscription to the Hon Secretary.

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2 FROM OMHA TO MIND, FROM CITY TO COUNTY How we got our name The first name held by the organisation was Mental Health Association (Oxfordshire). It later became the Oxford Association for Mental Health, in line with other local groups. It was formally registered with the Charity th Commission on August 27 1970.

The National Association for Mental Health (NAMH) itself did not adopt the name MIND until 1972. In 1971 a campaign was launched called MIND, under the leadership of campaign director David Ennals. The aims of the campaign included raising awareness of mental health issues, the improvement of services, clarification of policy and the attraction of new funds. This was the first time the NAMH had held a major public education and fundraising campaign and it was so successful that in 1972 they adopted MIND as their new name. The new logo depicted a dove with the name MIND in capitals.

In Oxford we stuck with Oxford Mental Health Association for some while longer, eventually adding ‘Affiliated to National MIND’ to the headed paper and reports. The first time this appeared on an annual report was in 1978.

When I started as the organisations’s first paid worker in 1982 and set about meeting a wide range of people, it seemed easier to refer to the organisation as Oxford MIND. People had heard of MIND and it gave the discussions a context and status. Several others in the organisation took up this unofficial nd name change until at the AGM on Ma y 2 1985, it was agreed that Oxford MIND should become the official name. Elizabeth Leyland, at the close of her report as Chair says, “Finally we move into 1985 with a new name, Oxford MIND. This both acknowledges our affiliation to MIND, is quicker to write and say, and I hope will bring us plenty of useful work in the years ahead.”

National MIND changed from using capitals to the lower case ‘Mind’ in the 1990s. Oxford Mind eventually did the same.

It was mainly the development of Day Services in the county during the 1990s that led to the next change of name. There were already three county projects: Open Door in Abingdon (1984), Midway in Banbury (1987) and Outlook in Witney (1988). Midway and Outlook had their own management committees affiliated to National MIND, but the new services in many of the other market towns were independent. There was an informal supportive network, but eventually all the day services wanted to belong to MIND and to identify with MIND policies and beliefs. West Oxfordshire MIND handed over the management of Outlook to Oxford in 1991 and in 1994 the management of all the county Day services, with exception of Abingdon and Banbury, was included in the new Service Agreement. Given all the work outside the city, the name Oxford MIND was now inappropriate. st At the AGM on October 31 1995 there was a special resolution to change the name. Two names were put to the vote; MIND in Oxfordshire, and Oxfordshire

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MIND. Just one brave person voted for MIND in Oxfordshire and 19 for Oxfordshire MIND. But it was not that simple. In our enthusiasm we had inadvertently forgotten the existence of Banbury MIND! Understandably they objected to us claiming the whole of Oxfordshire. There was much correspondence between Banbury and Oxford, National Mind and the Charity Commissioners, to solve the problem. In the end our ‘area of benefit’ was more clearly defined at the AGM of 1996. The constitution now read “the area of the Association shall be the County of Oxfordshire excluding Banbury and district”.

Banbury were satisfied with this and it was agreed that the geographical boundary should be drawn at the B4031. To make things clearer they st changed their name to North Cherwell Mind on September 31 1998.

Eventually they agreed to a merger with Oxfordshire Mind in 2002. The management of the Abingdon service was taken on in 2007.

In the early years the headed paper was plain with just the words in black across the top. Then the MIND bird appeared, flying off the new name. In 2003 Oxfordshire Mind took on the new squiggly line that is now the national logo.

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3 THE EARLY YEARS AND THE DARK DAYS OF 1973 Right from the start Oxford Mental Health Association was very acti ve in all sorts of ways. A support group for relatives was formed in 1967, and in June 1975 a working party was set up to begin looking at a ‘Hostel Project’. Another group was charged with reviewing provision for the mentally ill in Oxfordshire.

Keen to raise awareness about mental health, OMHA arranged public talks and seminars. These included in 1974 ‘The Psychiatric Problems of Ageing’, and a ‘Symposium on Employment of the Mentally Ill’, and in the winter of 1975-76 three talks were given at the Friends’ Meeting House on the theme ‘Mental Health and the Family’.

For fundraising there were jumble sales, coffee mornings, a stall at the June Fair, tin shaking outside Marks & Spencer, and in 1979 a ‘Splendid Vintage Gramophone Party’ arranged by Angus Sibley and held at Corpus Christi College.

But there were downs as well as ups. We discover one of the downs in the Annual Report of 1977. Former Chairman Bob Walsh is thanked for “the rescue operation he mounted when he became Chairman in the dark days of the Association in 1973.” But what were the Dark Days about?

“Oxford Mental Health Row” heads a report in the Oxford Times of February nd 2 1973. The report goes on: “The Oxford Area Mental Health Association has been thrown out of the National Association following a row over organisation which split the committee last year. ‘We are continuing as an independent body under our present name, which is a registered charity’ said Mrs Ruth Yorke, the Association’s club secretary. NAMH suspended the Oxford Association’s affiliation last January following a row when 7 members resigned. A statement from the NAMH said on Tuesday, ‘The Council has kept the situation under review for the past year, but has now reached the regretful conclusion that disaffiliation is the proper course.’”

Unfortunately all the people on the committee at the time of the disaffiliation have either died or are unable to help. No minutes of the meetings can be found, so we cannot be completely sure what the row was about. It is thought by some to have been about a conflict between those who wanted to campaign for the improvement of services for individuals, and those who wanted to work in a more general way. But the e xact truth remains a mystery.

The disaffiliation clearly caused some disruption, but under the chairmanship of Bob Walsh some healing began. In the Annual Report 1974 -75 he states, “It is clear that the difficult period of a few years ago is now over and the Association is able to consolidate its position, view its objectives and plan ahead with some confidence.”

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At the Executive Committee on Feb 23rd 1977, Barbara Tregear took over as Chair and it was her work that enabled the Association to be re-affiliated.

Barbara was Volunteers’ Organiser at Littlemore Hospital and knew the scene well. In her first report as Chair (Annual Report 1978) she writes, ‘I believe very strongly that improvements to the services for the mentally ill can only take place by co-operation between the Health Authority, Social Services and voluntary action. Satisfactory co-operation between the hospitals and the M.H.A. in Oxford could only occur if our Association became affiliated to MIND. This was the task I set myself.’

Another key player was Edith Morgan, Deputy Director of National MIND. She th met with the Executive Committee on January 27 1977 and spelt out the seriousness of the situation. It is reported that she said: “Re-affiliation isn’t a mere formality. This is the only time an association has been disaffiliated.”

One of the requirements for affiliation was to show that relationships in the committee were harmonious. Another was to show that OMHA had a programme of work in place. th In a letter to Barbara Tregear dated July 13 1977 Edith Morgan declares that she is satisfied that progress has been made. She writes: “I can understand the eagerness of your members to be re-affiliated to MIND and I have said many times that my aim is to have a vigorous, affiliated association in Oxford, th which shares in MIND’s policy and work programme.” The Executive of 24 Jan 1978 passed a resolution to apply for re-affiliation.

A few years later Barbara Tregear went to train as a Social Worker at Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes). In 1979 she wrote an essay in which she talks about her experience of OMHA: “To achieve recognition, delicate political negotiations were necessary; ….. closer links with the hospitals had to be established and a satisfactory working programme had to be begun …It is also important that (this developing organisation) acts as the local representative of the national organisation.”

Re-affiliation finally took place on February 10th 1978. To celebrate, the Association held “a marvellous party for members, ex-patients, social workers, th doctors, Radio Oxford and all our friends on 14 April with bagpipe players and Scottish dancing.” (Annual Report 1978).

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4 THE RELATIVES’ GROUP Oxfordshire Mind’s longest running service Some of the founding members of OMH A were relatives of patients of the two Oxford psychiatric hospitals, and it was this experience that drove them to be part of the new Association. Joan Gentle, Gwen Douglas, Magda Polanyi and Grace Sutton will all be remembered for their commitment and energy in the beginning and for many years, both in the Association and the Relatives’ Group.

In ‘Making It Happen’ Joan Gentle writes of the beginning: “The mother of a young man who had been in and out of a local psychiatric hospital attended a meeting of the Oxford Mental Health Association. After the meeting she suggested to the Hon. Sec. that it would be helpful if a support group for relatives of people being treated by the psychiatric services could be formed.

The response was positive and immediate.” So the Relatives’ Group began in December 1967 and has been going ever since. The first meeting was held in a private house; later the group met at The Friends’ Meeting House in St. Giles and in 1999 they moved to 125 Walton Street.

The group was advertised regularly on Radio Oxford, but mainly spread by word of mouth and soon there were nine members. Those who could not attend were given support by phone. “We have one small discipline,” wrote Joan Gentle in 1987, “only one person to talk at a time, until tea at 3.30pm.

Then general conversation breaks out, no less, for there is so much to talk about and always will be.” A great deal of laughter and humour was shared as well as serious discussion.

In the early years of the group the needs of the relatives were not given much attention at all by those working in the psychiatric services. Therefore one of the aims of the group was to develop a better understanding between relatives and hospital staff. They found a champion in social worker Mary Hope. Through the patients she worked with at Littlemore, Mary came to understand the problems faced by relatives and decided to support them in th the hospital. The OMH A Seminar held on Jan 24 1978 had the theme ‘The Needs of Relatives.’ Mary took copies of this paper to Dr. Harris at Littlemore and as a result a successful meeting was held with the Relatives’ Group later that year. In 1982 Mary also helped arrange meetings with Dr Geoff Pullen and Professor Gelder.

Oxford MIND also helped to raise awareness of the needs of families by publishing ‘Relatively Speaking’ in 1986. This came from Paul Reading’s MA research on the subject of mental illness and the family. As the years have gone by relatives, or carers, have played an increasing role in the review and development of mental health services and their experience and views are respected and valued.

The group felt it would be helpful to have regular professional support and in1979 they were joined by Millicent Williams, a retired social worker. Millicent

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Williams attended regularly for many years and was greatly valued. Gwen Douglas writes in her report of 1985: “We meet in the Garden Room at 43 St. Giles and I always feel soothed and uplifted by the beauty of the surroundings. Millicent Williams sits, a sort of mother figure, in the corner and we are free to ask her questions.”

However the real strength of the group lies in the mutual support that the members give each other. For 40 years it has been there welcoming people and sharing experiences. It is still going strong and has a steady flow of new members.

“The Relatives’ Group, by bringing one into contact with others in like circumstances, makes one feel supported and less lonely. And we all make good friends. It is truly a therapeutic group,” wrote Gwen Douglas in 1985, and 16 years later Jean and Barry felt the same; “It is such a relief to be in the company of people with whom it is possible to share problems and fears, knowing that having had similar experiences, they will at once understand.”

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5 THE RAT HOLE Taking over 125 Walton Street 125 Walton Street is an excellent place to have an office. It was once a Victorian house and has kept some of that character. There are interesting nooks and crannies, sash windows and sloping ceilings. It is friendly and sunny and people keep their doors open so there is a sense of everyone working together. From the offices on the top floor the winter evening sunsets spread across the sky behind the chimney pots. And nearby is a wonderful array of coffee shops and bakeries. Almond croissants, cappuccinos, and baguettes are all readily available. Food has always been an important part of the Oxfordshire Mind tradition.

It was Margaret Sloss, Chair of OMHA from 1979 -1983, who dubbed the first office ‘The Rat Hole’. At that time all we had was the small room now used for photocopying, furnished with two small desks and a typewriter.

It is because of the shop that we have the office. In 1978 OMH A decided to open a Nearly New Shop in order to raise funds for a Day Centre. In those days many local associations, under Minds Matter (Trading Acti vities) Ltd., ran ‘Nearly New Shops,’ which operate on the basis that people bring good nearly new clothes and share the money 50-50 with the shop.

There was a long search for premises. “We have had never a dull moment, with hope and despair in equal measure, but it is good to be able to report that our hard work has been rewarded and we hope to have obtained premises for an excellent shop which we hope to be able to open for business in the autumn” said Margaret Sloss in her Annual Report. The reward was 125 th Walton Street and the shop opened on September 18 1980.

For the first few years the shop spread up from the ground floor and occupied what are now the main office and the Reading Room, (the meeting room).

Those very useful cubby holes were once filled with neatly folded clothes. The Reading Room too had deep shelves for ample storage and an archway led between these two rooms.

The lease of the building was held by Minds Matter (Trading Acti vities) Ltd. but they were able to sub let. So in August 1981 OMHA moved into the Rat Hole. Age Concern (Oxford) rented the rooms on the top floor. At first the office was run by volunteers and was open for business on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10.00am – 1.00pm.

The one manual typewriter was eventually supplemented by a Gestetner Duplicating Machine in 1982. This cumbersome method was used to produce early leaflets and Mill magazines. Age Concern kindly let us use their photocopier, but when they left in 1985 we were stuck. Eventually the Tudor Trust provided funding for our first photocopier and by 1988 we had an electric typewriter and Amstrad PC 1640. Now of course everyone in the building has their own computer and their own phone. When new furniture

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was required in the 1990s, the two Mrs. Hopes had an excursion to the Army Surplus Store in Eynsham to buy desks. Mary Hope remembers polishing them to make them look as good as new in readiness for the arrival of Smitty Snowden, the new Administrator.

The first full time Administrator (then called ‘Organising Secretary’) was Christine Bailey who was appointed in 1983, followed by Jo Langton in 1986.

It was in 1986 too that the office opened for four days a week and a second room was taken on. Jo writes in the annual report of 1987: “Since June 1986 the office has been open four days a week and this has led to an increased number of visitors coming to the office... looking for support, information, and perhaps the most important part of all, someone to sit and listen without interruption.” 125 was clearly becoming well known as the headquarters of Oxford Mental Health Association. th But there was still not enough room. One worker wrote on July 9 1987, “I went to the office and found I couldn’t work because ECL and PR were having a meeting. Worked in Rigsby’s [café] instead.” Gradually over the ne xt few years we took over more and more of the rooms, sometimes just for meetings and interviews, but eventually for offices as staff numbers increased. The shop moved out of the big room on the first floor and at last we had a room specifically for meetings. Lynne Lawrence writes in 1993 in her Chair’s Report, “The Executive Committee and a whole host of other groups now meet at Walton Street in great comfort in a nicely re-furnished room on the first floor. We have called it the Reading Room in memory of Paul’s mother and to mark our appreciation of her donation to Oxford MIND.”

Big changes are ahead. The University, who own the building, now have plans to redevelop the site. It now seems inevitable that Oxfordshire Mind will have to move out of the ‘Rat Hole’ and find a new home.

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6 LIVING WITH MIND The Housing Service Apart from the Relatives’ Group, Housing is the longest running service and it was the Relatives’ Group that encouraged OMH A to think about it. They were worried that as they grew older they would not be able to look after their sons and daughters, and were keen to make some provision before that happened.

A working party for what was called ‘The Hostel Project’ was set up in 1975.

Leading members of the group were the stalwarts Grace Sutton, Gwen Douglas and Joan Gentle.

The aim of the project as described in the Annual Report 1975-76 was “To provide secure sheltered accommodation for chronic mental patients, who need some supervision and support. We wish to help those who have lived at home until the illness or death of parents, as distinct from patients coming out of hospital for the first time.” The working party had a very useful meeting with Mr. Helmut Leopold, senior nursing officer at Littlemore Hospital. He gave the project his support and promised regular visits from psychiatric nurses and help with assessments.

So it was that a few years later, after many discussions about the nature of the project, the appointment of Trustees, and a great deal of fundraising, a house in Parker Street, East Oxford, was purchased. It opened on October th 17 1977 as a Group Home for five people. In 1979 the house was named Yorke House in memory of Ruth Yorke who died in 1976. She was the first honorary secretary of OMH A. The next milestone came a few years later. Social Worker Mary Hope recalls a visit to one of her clients who was living in a bed-sit on the Iffley Road. She was horrified by the squalid conditions in which her client was living and by the disrespectful way she was treated. In that moment Mary decided that something should be done and that OMH A should take some responsibility. st Others were feeling the same, and on May 21 1983 OMHA hosted a conference on the ‘Long Term Housing Needs of the Recovering Mentally Ill.’ There was a full programme of speakers from a variety of organisations, including Chris Heginbotham, Director of National Mind. Six years later, on a hot day in June 1989, Mary Hope found herself wearing a pair of yellow Marigold gloves cleaning the bathroom in a house in Regent Street in readiness for the first residents of the East Oxford Houses Project.

Between the conference and the yellow Marigolds was a lot of hard work matched by drive and commitment. A Housing Working Party was set up after the conference and OMHA was able to employ Julia Barrell as Housing and Project Development Worker. Julia carried out a survey and her report ‘Housing Needs of Mentally Ill People in Oxford’ was published by Oxford MIND in 1985.

As the report showed, in those days housing options in Oxford were very limited. The Group Homes Organisation provided accommodation mainly for

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older people but there was a big gap in provision for younger people with a serious and enduring mental illness. So by 1986 the ideas had begun to take on a definite shape. In the Annual Report Mary writes “We feel it is now time to try to establish a new housing project. One of the groups most in need, and one which we could help, is single people who experience difficulty finding and retaining suitable accommodation. So we are now in the process of drawing up specifications of a bed-sit project which will be presented to a number of local agencies to seek support and funding.”

By 1987 the support of Cherwell Housing had been assured and eventually they purchased two houses in Regent Street. These were converted to bedsits for 11 people. The first house opened on June 12th 1989 with House Manager Veronica Young in harness. The second house opened on October th 13 . Veronica was joined by Jeanette Gaunt and later by Julie Ecclestone. It was an exciting new venture for Oxford MIND. The East Oxford Housing Project (EOH) has been established for so long now that it is easy to forget how innovative it was at the time. There had been nothing like it in Oxford before. One of the basic aims of the service was to offer people a place that was their home, where they could stay as long as they liked and return to after time in hospital. They had a say in how things were run in the house and made decisions ranging from cleaning rotas to house rules. Eventually they participated in meeting new residents and in appointing staff.

Residents were expected to take responsibility for their behaviour too, but the two house managers were there to offer both practical and emotional support.

They provided an unobtrusive presence, based in their self-contained office.

Veronica Young recalls that in these early days they were very idealistic and maybe a little naive. They had a lot to learn, especially about how to select residents best suited to the project, and they came through a few difficulties and dramas. However, despite some changes and refinements, the core beliefs that inspired EOH are still at the heart of Oxfordshire Mind Housing today.

After EOH was established there was rapid development. A Housing Development Group was set up in October 1992 with leading lights Veronica Young, Julie Ecclestone and Mary Hope on board, joined by people from other agencies. Eventually they found funds to employ a Housing Development Worker from 1995 – 1997. This was Mary Fletcher Louis, who worked with the group and carried out the necessary explorations and groundwork.

So during the 90s and beyond, Oxfordshire Mind developed a range of projects, with different levels of support in response to different needs. They developed partnerships with different agencies such as Oxford Citizens’ Housing Association (OCHA), and the City Council, and kept pace with the changing political and financial world.

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A run through of some of the properties taken on by Oxfordshire Mind shows the rapid growth of the service: 1992 The New Internationalist Flat, 1996 Regent House and Daubeny Flat, 1997 Micklewood House, 1998 Western House and associated properties, 2001 Florence Park and 2003 Temple Cowley houses. This range of properties includes different levels of support and there is a floating support service for people in their own homes.

As the housing service grew, so did the team of workers. By 1997 the size of the team demanded a proper staff management structure headed by a Housing Manager. Veronica Young came back to Mind in September 1997 to be the first to fulfil that role. There are now 10 housing workers, an administrator, two team managers and a senior manager.

And what about Yorke House? In 1996 it needed some serious structural work so the project was closed and the residents were settled elsewhere. In 1997 it was leased to Ealing Family Housing Association through OSLA (Oxford Social Lettings Agency) and used as accommodation for refugee families.

Finally, in July 2004, Yorke House was sold. This was a sad moment for some people who had seen it in the beginning, but the sale is providing OM with much needed funds to relocate the central office, so in a way, Yorke House lives on.

Roy Overall, a CPN who supported Yorke House, recalls that his role included doing lots of the decorating, DIY job s and gardening. He saw his tool kit as part of his CPN equipment.

‘When the furniture arrived, we could not get the sofa through the door. We had to ask a neighbour to b ring the sofa through his garden and then heave it through the window. When it had to b e replaced we had it sawn into three pieces in order to get it moved out of the house.’ Veronica Young .

Housing Committee Minutes 9/1/95 “The cat continues to prove a b it prob lematic and is due to b e re-housed if her difficulties persist after 17th January.”

A very wide range of topics come up on the Housing Committee Agenda: Council Tax, Cats, Call Out, Carpet Cleaning, Cookers, Confidentiality, Conservatory Roof, Closing of Yorke House and Cricket in the Parks.

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7 FROM ACORNS AND UNICORNS TO COMMUNITY RESOURCE PROJ ECTS The Da y Service story We must not forget the Sunday Club, which started in November 1981 at the Isis Centre in Little Clarendon Street. It was a small social gathering for people who had been inpatients who were isolated at the weekends and was run by volunteer Janet Shepherd. The Sunday Club closed after about a year but OMH A was dipping a toe in the day service waters.

Day services were very thin on the ground in Oxford in the 1970s. There was virtually nothing in the community except a few social clubs around the county that had been started by psychiatrist Ben Pomeryn. One of them, named after his dog, was called The Geo Club. Other services were based in the hospitals.

OMH A began to take an active interest in the need for day services in 1978.

At the AGM of that year the speaker was Lady Avebury from National Mind, who gave an inspiring talk and stirred them into action. A working party was set up immediately. It was chaired by psychiatrist Peter Agulnik and included social workers Eleanor Snow and Deidre Eddison (now Jalie), Elizabeth Leyland from the Community Health Council, and Margaret Sloss from the Oxford Council for Voluntary Service. In December 1978 OMH A took part in a Radio Oxford phone-in programme on the need for a day centre.

So by the AGM of 1979 the Association was clearly committed to the provision of a day centre, and hosted a conference ‘Day Care for the Mentally th Ill’ on May 10 1980. One of the speakers was Dr John Hall, who spoke about different models of day care. At the time he was Principal Clinical Psychologist at Whitchurch Hospital Cardiff, but later became District Psychologist at the Warneford Hospital, and was very supportive of the Association. The result of the conference was that OMH A became very aware of the complexities of the subject and the choices to be made. The conclusion was that “A good deal more thought is required” (Annual Report 1980).

The good deal more thought led to what turned out to be a creative solution.

The search for a day centre was abandoned and it was decided to employ a Day Care Development Worker instead. Funding was found for a two year post.

Margaret Sloss was now Chair of the Association, and I was appointed as the th Day Care Development Worker on January 18 1982. My work was overseen by the Day Care Development Committee, chaired by Dr Peter Agulnik. They met in an elegant and sunny room in Margaret Sloss’s house in Woodstock Road. Serious discussions took place over bowls of Margaret’s delicious brown lentil soup. “Right Jane, let’s start with your report” said Peter Agulnik, just at the moment of taking the first sip.

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The first months’ work were spent getting to know the mental health scene and finding out what people thought was needed. Several memorable lunchtimes were spent sitting in the Phoenix Unit at Littlemore or Cook Ward at the Warneford. I met with a lot of enthusiasm and support from a wide range of people and built working relationships that lasted for many years.

It did not take long to see that young people (18-40) with a major diagnosis had the greatest need for a service, so the Mill was set up to give them a nd space which was their own. It opened on November 2 1982 in light and spacious upstairs rooms in the Methodist Church in Jeune Street.

It is important to record that all the plans for the Mill had been thought through by a working party, a sub-group of the Development Committee. It was an interagency group and a good example of commitment to working in partnership. The membership included Geoff Pullen (Consultant Psychiatrist), Nick Welch (Head Social Worker at Littlemore), and Roy Overall (CPN). Their support was invaluable.

On the first day of the Mill a small group of volunteers and I waited nervously, hoping to hear footsteps coming up the stairs. Would anyone come? The coffee bar was set up and the urn was boiling. And then at last in came Martin. A report of the first few weeks records “First day six people. Second day seven people. Sense of enthusiasm and very relaxing atmosphere.

Mostly sitting round drinking coffee, eating sandwiches, playing piano etc….Third week. 13 different people had come out of 19 referrals.”

Over the next weeks and months the Mill developed a life of its own and OMH A went on a steep learning curve. We had started the Mill believing in certain things but without the answers to all the questions that arose. We worked instinctively and agonised afterwards. The main thing we hoped to do was to provide a social base that offered people choice, responsibility and participation. From the start the Mill ‘members’ as they were called, were invited to plan activities, make the rules and take responsibility for chores.

From the Mill’s early experiences and mistakes came many of the practices and principles that Oxfordshire Mind still works with now.

Because the Mill was set up for a specific group of people there had to be a way of positively discriminating in their favour. So the Mill had a simple system of introduction. However, it soon became clear that the need was wider, and after this all new day services were open access. The next project for OMHA was Acorn, but before that Open Door was set up in Abingdon in 1984 by Caroline Siwy who was temporarily employed by OMH A under a Manpower Services Scheme. th Acorn opened in Cowley Youth Centre, Barns Road on April 30 1985, ‘For anyone suffering from anxiety, depression, loneliness, or needing someone to talk to.’ It grew rapidly and as early as June the same year Prue Sykes was appointed as the first Co-ordinator.

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Acorn was very different from the Mill in that as well as having an informal drop-in space it also offered a programme of groups where people could learn skills to help themselves. Another aim was to build up information about local facilities and help people to access them. The decision to include groups came from a strong link that developed between myself and psychologist Ann Hackmann. There is more about the partnership that developed from this in the section on therapeutic groups.

Next came the projects outside Oxford city and there are two threads to the story: Outlook, and the rest. Outlook is interesting because it started in Wintle Ward at the Warneford. There was a time when we had ‘Sectorisation’, which meant that a hospital ward was linked to a specific area of the county. Wintle was linked to West Oxfordshire. A Wintle Ward Community Development Group was set up in 1986 and Paul Reading was a member. In 1987 Oxford MIND employed Day Care Development Worker Jane Wiltshire on their behalf. She was under my supervision, and Outlook opened on June 14th 1988. th The other bit of the story began on January 20 1988 over lunch at the Lamb and Flag. Paul Reading came up with the idea of setting up a Mental Health Development Agency for the county, which would both develop day services and provide mental health training. Out of this came the idea of employing a Development Worker in each area of the county. The fact that this became a reality was largely due to the imagination of Jean Carr, the Mental Health Lead in Social Services. She took up the idea with enthusiasm, agreed to pay for two posts and persuaded the Mental Health Unit to pay for two more. So a very practical partnership between Oxford MIND and Social Services began.

The first two workers (Julia Barrell and Jane Wiltshire) were appointed in 1989, followed by two more (Val Wilson and Barbara Hayes) in 1990. They were employed by Social Services and supervised by Oxford MIND through me. This was an energetic and creative team and in the next few years there was a rapid growth in the development of day services throughout the county.

The Director of Social Services, Ian White, expected a day centre to be set up in each market town, and £15,000 per centre was allocated from Joint Finance.

There was a map of Oxfordshire on the wall of the Day Service Office in Walton Street. Green spots showed work in progress and red spots where the services had opened. Between 1990 and 1995 the spots came thick and fast as day services opened in Carterton, Thame, Chinnor, Wantage, Kidlington, Didcot, Bicester, Wallingford, Chipping Norton and Henley. They were all based more or less on the Acorn model. Oasis, the women-only day service in Oxford, was started from a women’s group in Acorn with the support of Director Hilary Caldicott. Most services were open for two days a week and were co-ordinated by two part-time workers.

In 1991 the Development Workers set up a County Day Services Network to provide informal support and some training for all day services based in the community. But more was needed. It had proved impossible to recruit and sustain local Management Committees for the Centres and more and more of

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them wanted to join Oxford MIND. Eventually management of most of the county day services was written into the Service Agreement. And on th September 12 1994 along came Nicky Clargo as County Administrator. In 1999 Linda McDiarmid became Day Service Manager alongside me.

This story has mainly been one of expansion and development, but there was a very difficult time in 1999 when cuts had to be made. This was a very painful experience and it took time for the storm to be weathered.

In the beginning the term ‘day care’ was used but by the 1990s it had changed to day service. From the start the service has tried to respond to different needs and challenges. Examples include benefits advice, Black and Minority Ethnic outreach work, the Thame Café, Carterton Family Support, the Opportunities Project, and out of hours services. In July 2007 ‘Community Resource Projects’ became the new title. This reflects the plan to shift the balance of provision “to enable more work on reaching out to people who don’t currently use day services, and more work linking with mainstream community resources.” (July 2007 Development Plan).

What about those names? It is not true that the Mill was named in honour of Alan Grist (for the Mill) who was the Minister of Jeune Street Methodist Church. It was just a nice name that sounded a b it like a coffee bar. Acorn came from a lot of agony over Sunday lunch. Dead Parrot Centre nearly made it, b ut Acorn seemed appropriate in the hope that it might grow into a mighty oak. The rest of the names (some b etter than others) were chosen mainly b y the first group of service users in each place. Part of the reason names were needed in the county was that at first each centre was independent and did not yet b elong to MIND. They needed to estab lish some kind of local identity.

Now of course they are called Mind in Didcot, Witney, or wherever, and that makes a lot of sense.

“The Acorn Christmas Lunch is looming large. Eighty people and two small ovens. It’s b een said that when modern aerodynamics are applied to the bumb leb ee, they prove decisively that it ought not to b e able to get off the ground – and yet it does fly, with lightness and grace. If that seems true of many things at Acorn, it must be b ecause Acorn consists of the people who belong to it, and people who are supporting and encouraging each other can do surprising things.” Prue Sykes, Annual Report 1988

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8 IT ALL BEGAN WITH TRANQUILLISER WITHDRAWAL The Therapeutic Groups In September 2005 the Oxfordshire Mind Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Groupwork Programme entered the prestigious NIMHE (National Institute for Mental Health) award, and in May 2007 was included as a Positive Practice Example in the NHS Report ‘Commissioning a Brighter Future: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies.’ This recognition comes from many years of a strong and successful partnership between Mind and the NHS Psychology Service.

The partnership was forged in 1985 with the beginning of Acorn. Ann Hackmann (psychologist) and Jane Hope (Day Care Development Worker) together had the vision of a community setting for the delivery of high quality therapeutic groups. At the time Ann was working one day a week to look at ways in which the Psychology Service could become more accessible and community based. Working with MIND was a perfect opportunity. Joan Kirk (Head of Adult Psychology) and John Hall (District Clinical Psychologist) saw Acorn as an opportunity to e xtend their services beyond the hospital and to reach a wider range of people. They willingly backed the idea by committing psychology time and expertise to the project.

The first group was the Tranquilliser Withdrawal Group held every Tuesday afternoon in the upstairs room. In 1985 the prescription of minor tranquillisers (the Benzodiazepines, like Valium and Ati van) was more common than it is now, but doctors were beginning to realise how addictive they are and were helping people to come off them. Tranquilliser Withdrawal Groups were starting up all over the country and National MIND joined in the campaign. At the Warneford, psychiatrist Pepe Catalan was engaged in research about tranquilliser withdrawal and was keen to set up a group in Oxford. So with his blessing and with expertise provided by psychologists Ann Hackmann and Jane Weekes, the Tranquilliser Withdrawal Group became the first group to be run jointly by Acorn and the Psychology Service. The group was run by the psychologist, accompanied by an Acorn worker who was learning the ropes (the Apprenticeship model). We were fortunate in having people in the volunteer team who brought some experience with them and who were keen to develop their skills.

Psychologists have worked with Mind almost continuously since that time.

The commitment and enthusiasm of the NHS Psychology Service has ensured that even during times of financial constraint the partnership has continued. And evaluation of the groups over the years has demonstrated that the combination of informality with skill and expertise has been successful.

Acorn has always run a wide ranging programme of groups including some that are very relaxed and low key. These include the Sharing Group, Coping with Christmas, Chatty Art, The Friendly Group, Gender Groups, Relaxation and others. But gradually the Acorn team began to develop skills in running a programme of core groups using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

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These were Anxiety Management, Coping with Depression, Assertiveness and Self-Esteem. In 1989 at a study day at the Warneford attended by people from all over the country, Acorn was used as a Case Study for looking at CBT in a voluntary setting. Acorn staff shared in both the presentation and the learning.

As the years went by considerable expertise and experience in CBT was built up in the Acorn team. This was achieved partly through direct training, but mainly through using the ‘Apprenticeship’ model. One Acorn worker, Dheeresh Turnbull, had a special interest in CBT and spent a year doing more intensive training. He was then able to contribute to the training and support of the others. Training has also been provided through CBT supervision from the ‘Mind’ psychologist and the regular groupworkers’ support group that has been run for many years by Mick Kain.

In 1997 money from the Charities Aid Foundation and the PYE Trust enabled the Groupwork Service to extend into the county. The Apprenticeship model was used again and Acorn workers spread their expertise by co-working with county workers. In 2002 the wider service was consolidated by psychology time being moved from Acorn to the whole of Oxfordshire Mind. There is now a significant county service. In February 2006 psychologist Denise Barulis, Patrick Taylor and Mary Smith (a group participant) gave a presentation to an NHS seminar on the Oxfordshire Mind CBT programme.

Currently Psychology Service time comes to Oxfordshire Mind through the Complex Needs Service and as well as groups in Mind services and other community venues, a pilot project was launched in Bullingdon Prison in March 2006. Oxfordshire Mind now has eight experienced groupworkers, with others currently learning the ropes, and offers introductory CBT training to other organisations through the Basics Training Programme.

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9 ROUNDABOUT OXFORD TO THE WEBSITE A source of information Mental health services are like a jigsaw puzzle and guidance is needed to find the pieces and fit them together. From the start OMH A saw that providing this guidance would be a useful role they could play. Early Annual Reports provide details of one or two services, and in 1974 a working party was set up to examine the needs and resources of the whole of Oxfordshire. Their findings appear at the back of the 1974-75 Annual Report as an appendix, entitled ‘Provision of Mental Health Facilities in Oxfordshire’. It includes four pages of both statutory and voluntary services – clinics, clubs and some accommodation. This was the start of the development of Oxfordshire Mind’s renowned information service.

In the early years a publicity subcommittee was responsible for thinking of ways of spreading information. They bought exhibition stands and produced fact sheets, which they displayed in libraries, schools and colleges, and at the Little Clarendon Street Fair. These fact sheets included information about mental health, local resources, and the activities of OMH A. As the office at 125 became known, the need for information was clear. Jo Langton writes in 1987: “We are called upon by nurses, students, researchers and even writers, for general information about services available in the Oxford area for the mentally ill and their relatives…. Owing to the increasing demand for this service we have now made up an information pack which contains our leaflets, annual report and other interesting information about what is on offer locally.” Collecting and sharing information of all sorts was also part of the newly developing day services.

Two other things played a part in the development of Oxfordshire Mind’s role as a major information provider. One was Roundabout, and the other was Good Practices in Mental Health (GPMH).

‘Roundabout’ was a small leaflet which I produced when I started as Day Care Development Worker in 1982, and which I updated every few months. When I began looking at needs and resources, I found quite a lot going on in the community that many mental health professionals were unaware of. So Roundabout listed community mental health and other supportive services and was circulated to GPs, Social Workers, Community Psychiatric Nurses and so on. At one time in its life it was reproduced in the Occupational Therapy department of Littlemore Hospital.

In January 1987 a letter appeared in the Oxford Times, written by Nick Mould.

“Sir – in response to the questions asked by your correspondent Dr. Margaret Maison about occupational and leisure facilities for people leaving psychiatric hospitals, I would like to direct your readers’ attention to the new edition of Roundabout, a booklet produced by Oxford MIND, which lists support groups and places to go for social contact in Oxford. It is free and can be picked up from Acorn, Cowley Youth Centre, Barns Road, between 10.00am and 3.00pm Mondays to Thursdays.”

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The Good Practices in Mental Health project had started earlier. In1980 OMH A was part of a group convened by the Community Health Council to produce a document on this very topic, as part of a national fact-finding project. It was updated in 1982 by volunteer Mrs Elma Richard, into a ‘stylish loose-leaf book’ and circulated to mental health professionals.

In 1987 Oxfordshire Mind accepted a grant from the Social Services Mental Health Development budget to employ a part time worker to update the guide once again. The worker appointed was Jeanette Gaunt. Her brief was to collect information and compile a guide on mental health services and organisations from both the voluntary and statutory sectors. The result was the red and yellow guide. There is one copy left in the Mind office.

The first Housing Guide was launched in 1991, and the comprehensive ‘Mind Guide to Mental Health Services in Oxfordshire’ in 1996. It was updated in 1999, 2001, (the orange one, ‘pretty hard to miss and designed not to get lost on a coffee table’) 2003 and 2006.

So important is good reliable information in the mental health world that the City Locality Planning Group found funds to set up a Mental Health Resource Centre which would be an independent service dedicated to the provision of mental health information of all sorts. Pat Tope was employed by Oxford MIND in 1991 to set up the service. It began in 1993, camping in 125 Walton Street at first, and officially opening in Paradise Street in February 1994.

Since then Oxfordshire Mind and the Resource Centre (Oxford Mental Health Matters) have worked in partnership, leading to the joint Oxfordshire Mental Health Information project (OMHI). OMHI has a phone line open five days a th week and a website www.omhi.org.uk (launched on May 15 2007) that provides an online database of mental health and community services in Oxfordshire.

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10 CALLING FOR SUPPORT The Crisis Line Oxfordshire Mind has been very good at taking on new projects, holding the money and employing staff so that they can get started. The Mental Health Resource Centre (now Mental Health Matters) is a good example. However Oxfordshire Mind has no wish to run every service that is needed. This was especially true in the late 1990s when the organisation was trying to consolidate after many years of rapid growth. So there was resistance to taking on the management of the Crisis Line. However as we know, the Crisis Line stayed and is now a much valued service provided by Oxfordshire Mind.

The Crisis Line was set up as a direct result of pressure from users of mental health services and their carers. They had been calling for this and other out of hours services for a long time. In 1996 a new interagency Mental Health Campaign Group was set up and Hilary Caldicott, Director of Mind, was a member. This group supported the idea of the Crisis Line and put pressure on Health and Social Services Commissioners. At the end of that year a bid to Social Services for the cost of employing a part-time co-ordinator was successful.

So that the line could start as soon as possible Oxfordshire Mind agreed to employ the first co-ordinator. In May 1997 Steve Williams was appointed. He soon recruited and trained the first volunteer team and the line was open to callers at the end of August that year. Initially the line was open only at weekends, but later it expanded to include evenings too. Now the line operates every evening from 7.00pm to 1.00am for 365 days a year.

One of the reasons Oxfordshire Mind did not want to take on the line permanently was the belief that it should be seen as independent from major service providers. In 1999 the Crisis Line moved out of 125 Walton Street and Steve Williams wrote in the Annual Report, “Many of our callers are Mind users, of course, and we were anxious to make it clear that while we are attached to Mind in terms of management, we have a very separate role.

Some Mind users have spoken to us on the Line, concerned about confidentiality. So the move from Walton Street into a more anonymous site has been a very helpful one.� So that this independence could be built on, discussions were held with the Resource Centre to see if it could be managed by them. This did not work out. Neither did the attempt to establish it as an independent charity. Eventually, in 2000, Oxfordshire Mind agreed to take on permanent management of the line. The way the line has been run, including the Confidentiality Policy, has meant that callers feel confident in the independence of the service, despite the fact that it is managed by Mind.

In the same year, funding was found to employ a part time promotion worker to help make the line more widely known. This was Jen Cothier who later became the Crisis Line Manager.

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Volunteers who work on the line are given training in basic listening skills and mental health issues and receive regular supervision. They come from a wide range of backgrounds including service users. They are available to listen, talk through problems, offer practical suggestions, and give information about services.

Jen Cothier writes: “’Thanks for Listening’ is the best feedback we get, it’s very satisfying.”

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11 DO W E REALLY NEED A DIRECTOR? Struggling with growth and change It is a December evening in 1981 and a general meeting of OMH A is in progress in the cosy lounge of the Chair’s house. At one end of the room the Christmas drinks await. The people gathered there are mainly relatives and volunteers. It is lively and companionable and just like any gathering of a small voluntary organisation. The very first paid worker has just been appointed.

Fast forward to Oxfordshire Mind’s Spring Meeting in May 2007 where about 100 people crowd into a packed hall. There are relatives, service users, workers, volunteers and mental health professionals. The organisation now has 66 paid workers, a Director and a Senior Management Team.

There have been many ups and downs and painful moments in this journey.

Like all voluntary organisations OMHA began in response to needs. But when they decided to take on day care and employ a worker they did not envisage becoming a major service provider. And suddenly they were, or so it seemed.

It was hard for the organisational structures to keep pace.

In the early years of service provision when there was a small working team, things were very simple. Workers were accountable to the Executive Committee, the Chair of the organisation was in touch with everyone and the Treasurer held the purse strings. Wages were low, being linked to government schemes, contracts were short term and pensions had not been thought of. But as more workers were employed and more services established, things had to change. In 1986, three year funding was obtained from Social Services for the first time. At the AGM of that year the Treasurer, (Alan Hughes) pointed out, “longer term support means a broader view of our responsibilities including conditions of employment of staff.”

The next year, in response to the rapid growth of the organisation, a series of workshops was held, facilitated by Paul Reading and Charles O’Brian from Oxford Polytechnic. At the time Paul was on a year sabbatical and was working with OMHA. These workshops were called “Now and in the Future”. A wide range of issues was covered and one of the suggestions was that MIND should employ a “coordinator, director, or manager whose brief would also include fund-raising and campaign work” (Annual Report 1987).

As momentum gathered to create the post of Director the organisation was also struggling with different ways of managing communication and decision making. Different structures were tried out. Some were more successful than others and some were very short lived. At one time there was a Mill Council and an Acorn Council. There were separate Management Committees for Yorke House and for East Oxford Houses, which eventually became one. The Day Care Committee changed its name and its function several times. The aim of all these structures was to include as many people as possible in decision making, but also to enable decisions to be made efficiently.

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It was also important that MIND from the outside looked like a credible and well managed organisation. As the major funding body, Social Services supported the idea of setting up the post of Director and contributed towards the cost. So, in January 1991 the first Director, Sam Clarke, came into post. It was an exciting time.

However it was also a shock to the system. Having a Director implied line management for workers and a hierarchical system of decision making. There was great resistance to this and a fear that all the good qualities, beloved of MIND, would be lost.

The issues were highlighted in a workshop ‘The Role of MIND’, held in July 1991. A list of good things about MIND was drawn up, including the lack of hierarchy and the family feeling. The list of negative things included losing sight of our aims and losing what we value most by changing too much. The main question that emerged was: ‘How do we hold on to what we value whilst growing and changing?’

A further workshop to look at ‘accountability’ and what it meant in the th organisation was held on September 25 1992, facilitated by Pat Goodwin from the Probation Service. Discussions on accountability were held throughout the organisation.

This was a time of unrest amongst workers, not just about the structure of the organisation but also about pay and conditions. There was a demand for proper salary scales, for permanent contracts and for pensions. For the first time workers joined a union (Nalgo, later Unison), and there was almost a th strike. The Oxford Times of Ma y 15 1992 reports: “Charity strike threat lifted.

The unprecedented threat of strike action by staff at Oxford MIND, the mental health charity, has been lifted. Eighteen workers have scrapped plans for a one-day stoppage, in the wake of a revised pay offer from managers.”

Sam Clarke left in 1992 and an ‘Interim Group’ took on the management of the organisation for six months. The group of eight included members of the executive, and workers. Keith Elder, Director of West Midlands MIND, gave his support. So anxious was the organisation about having a Director, that the next post was advertised under the cautious title of ‘Manager/Coordinator.’

The job description reflects the thinking. “Oxford MIND has developed a style of working which values the contribution of everyone in the organisation. . . It is expected that the post-holder will adopt a style which enables the expertise and experience of users, workers, volunteers and committees to be fully used, and which encourages appropriate delegation and participation. “ Hilary Caldicott was willing to take on this possibly confusing title and was appointed to the post in April 1993. Eventually, at the Executi ve Committee on th October 8 1996, it was agreed to change her title to Director. By then the organisation was happy to take on line management and no longer saw it as a threat. The first Senior Management Team meeting (Hilary Caldicott, Veronica th Young, Linda McDiarmid and Jane Hope) took place on July 12 1999.

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Keeping pace with change also meant developing polices and procedures and these were written or sharpened up in the 1990s. Decisions were made on safe staffing levels in all services and the use of locum workers was streamlined. Supervision and appraisal systems were clarified and recruitment procedures standardised. The Executive Committee wrote a Governance Paper in 2000 setting out lines of communication and decision making. In April 2002 Oxfordshire Mind became a Company Limited by Guarantee, the Executive Committee thereby becoming the Board of Trustees.

Organisations never stand still, but Oxfordshire Mind has a great tradition of taking time to change and move forward. It prides itself on listening to everyone. When Patrick Ta ylor took over as Director in May 2000 he introduced the tradition of having a day to produce the Annual Plan, which is “a clear statement for everyone with an interest in the organisation (be they trustees, workers, volunteers, service users, funders or partner agencies) about our shared objectives for the year.” The development of Oxfordshire Mind has shown that it is possible to have strong organisational structures and yet to keep an empowering and creative ethos.

“I would like to express my thanks to Oxfordshire Mind’s Director, Hilary Caldicott, who has helped me out in more ways than can b e listed here.

Ab raham Lincoln memorab ly remarked that you can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, which in his case was long enough to b e President of the United States, b ut he was never Chair of Oxfordshire Mind and didn’t have to deal with Hilary.”

John Copley, Annual Report 1999

“Should a treasurer be cheerful or gloomy? The former suggests plenty of money, the latter ingratitude.””

Alan Hughes, AGM 1985

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12 FROM WASHING UP TO DECISION MAKING Working with service users At the spring meeting in 2007 a panel of people were asked to speak about three significant moments in their memories about mental health services.

One of the speakers was Alan Human, and one of the significant moments for him was when a psychiatrist turned up at Acorn in 1996 to assess him under the Mental Health Act. Acorn workers refused to let the assessment take place at Acorn. Alan described this event as demonstrating that Mind was ‘on his side’.

Working out how best to be ‘on the side’ of service users, what user empowerment means and how best to make it real, is an ongoing journey. It begins with establishing a culture.

At the very beginning of the Mill we did not have any clear ideas about user empowerment. But we had a basic idea that the Mill belonged to the people who used it and that all decisions should be made together. In an article about the Mill in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy, May 1985, Geoff Pullen (Consultant Psychiatrist) and Jane Hope wrote (of people that might use the Mill): “It was hoped that they would participate in as many aspects of running the centre as possible, from washing up to decision making, so that they would feel it to be their own place.”

Making it ‘their own place’ was the reason behind the use of the term ‘Member’ for people that use Day Services. It may be outdated now but at the time it was used because we wanted to develop a sense of belonging. We wanted the Mill to be a place where there was equal give and take and no sense of ‘us and them.’ During the first year we made membership cards and everyone had one - service users, the workers, volunteers, and even psychiatrist Geoff Pullen and social worker Nick Welch. This practice did not last long but was a statement about our aims and beliefs.

The other more enduring practice at the Mill was the regular decision-making meetings. To begin with there was great resistance. On the day of a meeting people would simply disappear, so the volunteers resorted to various ploys to make the meetings happen. One of these was to cook a really good meal and when everyone was tucking in, a meeting would begin. The breakthrough came with a crisis. One of the members had been consistently threatening, and it was at a meeting that the group decided together what to do. From that time on there was much more group feeling. As the weeks went by decisions were made about rules of behaviour and what sort of place the Mill should be.

If power is about being able to make a difference, then this was an example of how a group of people could have power.

As other day services developed, the same culture was established. At Acorn, the largest day service, the general meetings could be very big and overwhelming. However Acorn developed a very strong tradition of working together through difficult times to write ground rules and procedures that

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everyone accepted. They established a culture of workshops too. The first, ‘What do we want from Acorn?’ was in 1987, facilitated by Paul Reading.

Later, there were ‘What’s it all about?’ days, and workshops on specific issues like sexual harassment and equal opportunities. As a result Acorn members have been enabled to take responsibility, not just for washing up but also for the safety of the centre.

The Causeway (Mind in Bicester) took this further. It was set up in 1993 by Development Worker Alan Foulkes, who was determined that right from the start the service should be user-led. The workers’ role, therefore, was to enable the service users to take responsibility. They ran training sessions in skills needed to manage a centre, and user-only days were established.

Service users held keys to the building and there were no meetings for workers at the end of the day. Some of the other day services have learnt from this and have supported service users in running sessions on their own – Outlook (Mind in Witney) for e xample. The Service Agreement of 1995 includes an amendment to cover this: “A minimum of two paid workers will normally be required to be present during the opening times of each centre; however, in accordance with the stated aim of encouraging user involvement and empowerment, users may from time to time share responsibility with paid workers for the running of the centres.”

The Housing Service similarly developed a culture of participation for residents. In the early days the residents took part in making decisions about house rules and the use of communal space, and they eventually became involved in the interviewing of potential new tenants. The Annual Report of 2000 states: “The housing we provide for our tenants is their home, and therefore, we aim to provide comfortable well-furnished houses with support that respects the rights of our tenants to live dignified and safe lives. We also aim to provide a service that meets the needs and wishes of our tenants wherever possible. To achieve this goal we include and consult our tenants at every stage of service delivery.”

A ke y milestone in the journey was the decision to include service users in the appointment of workers. The first time this happened was in 1988 when Kay Aspery was appointed as Mill Co-ordinator. A do zen Mill members crowded into a room at the top of 125 Walton Street to interview the candidates. We had been concerned that they might not speak out if they were on a panel that included workers, committee members and a psychiatrist. So we came up with the idea that there should be two panels, one of which should be entirely service users. This was followed by a joint meeting to make a decision. This practice was repeated for several appointments over the next few years. The meetings to make the final decision were long and difficult, but disagreement never fell between the two groups. By 1992, both our knowledge of Equal Opportunities and our interviewing skills had developed and better selection procedures were set up. From then on there was one selection panel that included service users. All members of the panel had an equal say and equal responsibility. This has worked well and there has been a real sense of teamwork and partnership.

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It has been harder to enable service users to take a real part in the wider decision-making structures in the organisation. Residents of the housing services have played a full part in the Housing Committees in their different forms, and the same is true of the Day Care Committees. But getting people to join the Executive Committee has been difficult. Membership has been patchy, and sometimes short lived. Until recently that is. In the Annual Report of 2004 Richard Dixon and Sue Ackers speak of their decision to join the Board of Trustees. Richard says, “As a service user I have the inside story on what really goes on day-to-day, and an insight into how policies work in practice.”

Other attempts to hear the service user voice have included the ‘Consumer’ Forum which was held in January 1991, presentations from other groups, (e.g. Camden MIND, which was more user-led than Oxford), and the setting th up of the User Forum on January 20 2000. The aim of the Forum was both to hear the users’ voice within Mind and to find a stronger collective voice in the wider arena. Meetings have been held with the Mind Executive Committee, with the Chief Executive of the Mental Health Trust, and the Social Services Commissioning Manager. In 2004 Oxfordshire Mind ran a programme of training for service users. There were twelve sessions and the overall theme was building confidence and developing skills. The journey continues.

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AFTERWORD Forty years is a lot of history and much has happened in that time.

Oxfordshire Mind has progressed from being a small voluntary organisation dependent on jumble sales, tin rattling and the energy and commitment of volunteers, to being a major service provider with statutory funding, service agreements and over 60 paid workers. At the beginning small groups of people met in each others’ homes mainly in the city of Oxford. Now Oxfordshire Mind has a headquarters with offices and a meeting room and extends throughout Oxfordshire from Banbury to Henley.

For an organisation to grow, develop and remain responsive it has to change.

Oxfordshire Mind has done this well. Although there have been many changes, much has stayed the same. The seeds of Oxfordshire Mind 2007 were undoubtedly sown in 1967 when the association was launched, like other local Mind associations, in response to the fact that mental health was becoming a ‘community responsibility’. At the launch meeting it was suggested that the association should play a part in combating prejudice, in campaigning for improved services and in supporting people in the community. The founding members took this on with enthusiasm, organising talks about mental health, starting the Relatives’ Group and raising funds for future projects. They responded to the needs as they saw them and soon began to take action on housing and day services.

In the years that followed Oxfordshire Mind built on this foundation and continued to develop in response to changing needs. In the 1980s and 1990s there was a rapid development of day services (both in Oxford and around the county) and new housing services began with East Oxford Houses in 1989.

Alongside this came the information service and the provision of ‘remote’ support through the Crisis Line. Very real continuity is provided by the Relatives’ Group which began in December 1967 and in 2007 still meets every month to provide much needed support for carers.

Alongside the growth of services goes the development of the character of the organisation and the principles on which we base those services. This is very important in Oxfordshire Mind. The founding members were driven by concern for the people they knew, often their relatives, who were patients in the local psychiatric hospitals. They wanted the best for them. The understanding of what this means has been tried out and developed over 40 years. From the very beginning we have believed in listening to the people that use Mind services, encouraging them to work in partnership with us and take responsibility in the organisation.

Acorn is the name of one of the larger projects run by Oxfordshire Mind. It could be the name of the organisation, for out of the acorn sown in 1967 has come an oak tree, full of life and still ready to grow.

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DATES AND MILESTONES History at a glance 1967

April 3 rd: Mental Health Association (Oxford Area) launched at Town Hall.

December: The Relatives’ Group begins.

1970

August 27 th: Registered as a charity.

1972 January: A row in the Executive Committee causes a split.

1973 February: Disaffiliation from the National Association because of the split in the Executive Committee.

1977

Feb 23 rd: Barbara Tregear elected Chair May 25 th: Alan Hughes begins his long career as Hon Treasurer.

October17 th: 3 Parker Street is bought and opened as a group home.

1978

Feb 10 th: Re-affiliation to National Association for Mental Health and on April 14 th there is a re-affiliation party.

1979

May 30 th: Margaret Sloss is elected Chair.

Mary Hope is Vice-Chair 3 Parker Street is named Yorke House in memory of Ruth Yorke

1980

May 10 th: Day Care Conference.

September 18 th: Nearly New Shop opens at 125 Walton Street, managed by Minds Matters Trading.

1981 August: A room above the shop at 125 Walton Street is rented from Minds MattersTrading for the office.

The Sunday Club starts, held at the Isis Centre and run by Janet Shepherd.

1982

January 18 th: Day Care Development Worker, Jane Hope, starts work.

November 2 nd: The first day centre, The Mill, opens at Jeune Street Methodist Church Hall.

1983 Elizabeth Leyland elected as Chair.

May 21st: Conference on Long Term Housing Needs.

Tessa Diment is appointed as the first Co-ordinator of The Mill.

Christine Bailey is appointed as first full time Organising Secretary, based at Walton Street.

1984 Julia Barrell is appointed as Housing and Project Development Officer.

Deirdre Jalie is Chair of Day Care Committee.

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1985

April 30 th: Acorn opens in the Youth Wing of Cowley Community Centre.

Margaret Sloss is appointed as the first President.

At the AGM the name of the association is changed to Oxford MIND. June: Prue Sykes is appointed as the first Co-ordinator of Acorn.

1986 June: Jo Langton starts as General Secretary.

A video of Oxford MIND is made, first shown at AGM on April 23 rd.

Janet Hall joins Acorn team as a volunteer. She later becomes a worker and is still with the organisation in 2007.

1987

May 18 th: Jane Wiltshire starts work to develop a day centre in Witney.

Midway opens in Banbury, set up by Banbury and District MHA (later Banbury Mind).

May: Nigel Pusey joins the Executive Committee and is still a member of the Board of Trustees in 2007.

GPMH/Mind Guide to services is published.

1988

Jan 12 th: West Oxfordshire Mind is launched in Witney.

June 14th: Outlook opens in Witney.

October: Kay Aspery starts work as Mill Co-ordinator. She is the first worker to be appointed with the involvement of service users. Kay worked at the Mill for 19 years.

Paul Reading is elected Chair.

1989

May 1st: Veronica Young starts work as East Oxford Housing Manager.

June 12th: First house in the East Oxford Housing project opens.

October 13 th: Second house opens.

1990

April 20 th: Conference on Day Care hosted by Oxford MIND is held at Oxford Polytechnic.

Smitty Snowden starts work a s Office Administrator.

Springboard opens in Carterton.

October: Sue Colclough appointed as Acorn Co-ordinator.

Julia Barrell is elected Chair.

1991 Sam Clarke begins work a s the first Director.

The Housing Guide is launched.

Unicorn opens in Thame and Focus in Kidlington.

County Day Service Network begins.

August 12 th: Pat Tope starts work as Development Worker to set up a Mental Health Resource Centre.

Julia Barrell leaves and Kate Helsby is Chair until Lynne Lawrence is elected at the AGM. Alan Hughes, longstanding Treasurer, leaves and is much missed.

First 3-year Service Agreement to provide the two City Day Services is signed.

1992 Two flats taken on in partnership with OCHA. May 11 th: Linda McDiarmid starts work as Acorn Co-ordinator.

A strike by MIND workers is narrowly averted.

Three more day centres open – The Haven (Wantage) in April, Whistlestop (Didcot) and Chinnwag (Chinnor) in September.

New Internationalist Flat taken on.

October Sam Clarke leaves and the Interim Group is set up to manage the organisation.

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1993 Hilary Caldicott starts as Manager/Coordinator.

November: The Causeway opens in Bicester.

The first MIND Christmas Day celebrations are held in St Giles Church.

1994

Feb 11 th: The Mental Health Resource Centre opens.

The Service Agreement now includes Management of the County Day Services.

July: Groundwork opens in Wilcote Garden.

September: Carousel opens in Wallingford.

September 12 th: Nicky Clargo starts as Admin Worker for the County Day Services.

John Copley takes over as Chair and philosophy enters the Annual Reports.

December 2 nd: Oasis the women-only centre opens.

1995 February: Mary Fletcher Louis start s as Housing Development Worker.

April: Chippy Drop In opens in Chipping Norton.

21st August: Chrysalis opens in Henley.

November: A 2-bed shared house opens.

October 31 st: The name Oxfordshire Mind is agreed at the AGM.

1996 Regent House opens in March and Daubeny Flat in September.

July: The Mill finally moves to 46 Cowley Road after a long struggle to find premises.

MIND guide is published.

Oct 8 th: at Executive Committee, Hilary’s title becomes Director.

First Christmas Day at the Mill.

1997 Therapeutic group work expands to the county.

May: Steve Williams starts work as Crisis Line Co-ordinator. The Line opens in August.

September: Veronica Young becomes the first Housing Manager.

October: Carterton Family Support opens.

Micklewood House opens.

1998

Groundwork changes its name to Bridewell Organic Gardens and becomes independent of Oxfordshire Mind.

Western House opens.

1999 Because of social services funding cuts, Day Services have to be cut.

Linda McDiarmid becomes Day Service Manager and shares the county with Jane Hope.

July 12th: The first Senior Management Team is established.

The next Mind Guide is produced.

2000 February: Hilary Caldicott leaves.

Cathie Ashley becomes Housing Manager.

May: Patrick Taylor starts as Director.

May: Peer Review of Oxfordshire Mind by West Midlands Mind.

Thame Café ‘Out to Lunch’ opens in November.

Jen Cothier starts as Crisis Line Promotion Worker and later becomes Co-ordinator.

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2001 March 2001: Planning Day results in first Annual Plan.

Florence Park House opens.

The ORANGE Mind Guide comes out.

Jane Hope leaves at Christmas.

2002 Adrian Pancott starts as Day Service Manager.

January: Midway in Banbury comes under the wing of Oxfordshire Mind.

April: Oxfordshire Mind becomes a Company Limited by Guarantee and the Executive Committee is now Board of Trustees.

2003

Carterton Family Project becomes independent.

March: New Mind Guide is published.

April: Temple Cowley Housing Project opens.

2004 February: Oxfordshire Mind passes National Mind’s Quality Standard Review with flying colours.

March: Stuart Reid becomes Day Service Manager.

March: First version of the website is launched.

July: Yorke House is sold.

Day services names and publicity are streamlined.

Art Lagun leaves after 13 years as Benefits Advice Worker.

October: John White joins as Housing Manager.

2005 March: Launch of new improved Information Service with Oxfordshire Mental Health Matters.

Presentation of National Mind Quality Standards Award at the AGM. Work with young people in Banbury in partnership with Banbury Young Homelessness Project.

‘Women of the World’ service launched in partnership with Rose Hill Sure Start.

SOS campaign launched by Mind, Rethink, Oxfordshire Mental Health Matters and IMPACT in protest at NHS cuts to mental health services.

2006 Advice Work becomes peripatetic.

Next Mind Guide!

Abingdon Women’s Wellbeing Group launched.

Oxfordshire Mind is nominated as a finalist in the Oxfordshire Business of the Year Awards.

2007

April 1 st: Oxfordshire Mind takes on the management of Abingdon Open Door project.

May 14 th: Spring Meeting celebrates the 40th birthday of Oxfordshire Mind with reminiscences from a panel of 7 people and a delicious cake cut by Prue Sykes.

May 15 th: Oxfordshire Mental Health Information online guide is launched in cooperation with Oxfordshire Mental Health Matters.

July: Day Services become Community Resource Projects.

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SOURCES AND REFERENCES

Oxford Times Oxfordshire Mind Annual Reports Oxfordshire Mind minutes of meetings History of Mind - National Mind factsheets and booklets.

The Mental Health Services. Oxford Surve y of Social Services. E.F. Pinsent 1937 The Voluntary Mental Health Service. The Report of the Feversham Committee 1939 Making it Happen. Oxford MIND and Good Practices in Mental Health (GPHM) 1993. A copy is available at the office Jane Hope’s diary 1986 Oxford MIND video “The Mill: a Community Centre for the Young Chronically Mentally Ill – an Experiment in Partnership”, by Jane Hope and G P Pullen, MRCPsych, in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy Ma y 1985 Relatively Speaking by Paul Reading 1986. This was based on his MA research. No copies can be found but the MA thesis is available at the office Colleagues and Friends, including Peter Agulnik, Julia Barrell, Hilary Caldicott, Ann Hackmann, John Hall, Mary Hope, Alan Hughes, Alan Human, Joan Kirk, Martin LeVay, Linda McDiarmid, Roy Overall, Paul Reading, Pat Ross, Prue Sykes, Barbara Tregear, Veronica Young

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Author of ‘A Brief History of Oxfordshire Mind’ Jane Hope Jane Hope was employed by the Oxford Mental Health Association (which later became Oxfordshire Mind) in 1982 and worked for the organisation for 20 years. She says: ‘Writing this history was a bit like reliving my life. It’s been hard work, good fun and a great privilege. Thank you to everyone to helped.’

“A Brief History of Oxfordshire Mind” is like a good biography. The naughty child becomes a slightly rebellious and confused adolescent and then flowers into a fascinating and mature adult. Not only that, but there are many offspring who themselves grow into interesting and creative people.

Jane has produced a history that is informative, warm and funny. Anyone who has had an active involvement with Oxfordshire Mind will recognise her descriptions and reflections. On the one hand there is remarkable growth and change, while on the other there is a steady focus and continuity.

The organisation has been fortunate to attract a wide range of wonderful people, and yet has been able to maintain that distinctive sense of everybody being equal. Every time I attend an Oxfordshire Mind event I come away feeling refreshed. This history has provided me with a similar experience, and I hope that all who read it will enjoy the story so far and feel better for doing so.

Paul Reading, Associate Lecturer, Open University

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