Mind Matters August 2012 Welcome… The past six months have been marked with chapters ending and new ones beginning. On page three, you’ll find a brief tribute to a recently retired worker who first joined Mind 26 years ago. Comings and goings over such significant time periods highlight how far we’ve come, but also how much is owed to the people who make Mind
what it is. We’ve also made time to reflect and plan whilst working on a strategic review of the organisation, which looks at our values, our vision, mission and mid-term goals. With key messages in mind, we’ve been working hard to raise our public profile and to make our services more accessible. The theme of Mind Week 2012 was ‘People Need Mind More than Ever’ and we want to ensure that everyone
Out and about – Summer 2012 This summer we have been out and about all over Oxfordshire, both attending events and holding our own. Our new Five Ways to Wellbeing campaign has proven to be a fantastic way to reach a broader range of people. The campaign is great for encouraging everyone to think about improving our general wellbeing and mental health by incorporating the Five Ways into our lives. They are: connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and give. The biggest event has been our Five Ways to Wellbeing Roadshow, during which we spoke to over 1,500 people! We named 21 to 27 May 2012 ‘Oxfordshire Mind Week’, and took our Roadshow to Oxford, Abingdon, Banbury, Henley and Witney. We chatted to people about how we can all incorporate the Five Ways to Wellbeing into our everyday lives. To bring the campaign to life, we ran active demonstrations and tasters such as Nordic Walking, netball, jogging and football, as well as
in Oxfordshire knows we’re here, offering support to anyone in need. We can’t do this without your support, so whether you are a member, donor, fundraiser or you simply help spread the word or engage with us on Twitter or Facebook, thank you! Here are some of the things you’ve helped us to do so far this year...
art and music sessions. Visitors such as Oxford United FC’s Peter Rhoades Brown and their star striker James Constable joined in to help us with demonstrations and talk to people about the Five Ways, while the mayors of Oxford, Abingdon and Witney also supported the campaign by visiting their local events. Mayor Councillor Monica Lovatt of Abingdon said: ‘With 1 in 4 people likely to experience a mental health problem it could well be one of us or someone we know. It is not like a cold or broken bone which people can see or hear, it is deep inside us and often overlooked by family and friends as it can be slow to develop and hard to detect. There are many good
treatments, but this roadshow wants people to be aware of the Five Ways to Wellbeing.’ We’ve also had information stands at events across the county, from the Disability Information Fair and the Armed Forces Playday to the African and Caribbean Men's Health Week and the Light and Shadow Show at The Mill Arts Centre in Banbury. Our longstanding links with local music festivals have also provided us with great opportunities to be a friendly and informative presence in a wonderful atmosphere. Members of staff and service users worked together to reach the public at the Cornbury and
Riverside festivals, handing out Five Ways postcards as well as Information Line cards and Wellbeing Service information to hundreds of attendees. We’ll also be at the Wilderness, Elder Stubbs and Towersey festivals this summer. Since March 2012, we have reached over 3,500 people through public wellbeing events and information sessions. Our focus on general public wellbeing has allowed us to connect with a broader range of people while continuing to inform and support those with queries about mental health, and we have plans to spread the word even further over the coming months.
“If the Mill wasn’t here, I don’t know what I would do” How Joe benefits from our support services for people with severe and enduring mental health problems
Photo posed by model.
Joe has been coming to Mind’s community services at The Mill in Oxford for two years. Before that, he spent eight months in the Warneford hospital, having been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and depression. After being discharged, he found that The Mill was a safe place that could offer him support as he came back into the community. “[The Mill] is good place to come in-between stages, when you’re out of hospital and feel like you need to interact with people but find it difficult to work.’” Mind provided Joe with the opportunity to make friends who
could identify with what he had been through. As he became more involved, Joe particularly
“I don’t really consider myself mentally ill any more, but I do still need support” began to make use of the music studio and recording facilities at The Mill. Playing the drums and occasionally singing or playing the guitar, he has become a familiar face in the music room.
He has also written poetry and recorded it to music. For Joe, it’s an important way to express his emotions creatively. Since leaving hospital and starting to visit The Mill, Joe has been making progress as his mental health improves. Currently he is living with his mother, but he hopes to soon be able to move to either supported housing or an independent house with friends. “I don’t really consider myself mentally ill anymore’, Joe says, ‘But I do still need support on some level… I definitely have ambitions, things I’d like to do”.
How do I Feel? The title of an Oxford City Wellbeing Service art, photography and poetry project with work on display at the John Radcliffe Hospital Link Gallery and at The Mill Gallery, Oxford until the end of September 2012
Jungle of Emotions by Joanna Halliwell
Farewell to Prue Prue developed Acorn in to a thriving community day centre and continued this until 1990 when she left to have a baby.
“It lifts my spirits to come here and see Prue” Earlier this year, Mind said a fond farewell to one of our most dedicated and long standing workers, Prue Sykes, who has begun a well earned retirement. Prue Sykes was appointed in 1985 as the first Co-ordinator of Acorn (which later became Mind in Cowley and is now part of the Wellbeing Service in Oxford City). At that time, Oxfordshire Mind was ‘Oxford Mind’ with services only in Oxford City before the development of day services in the county during the 1990s. Acorn was the first project to offer a programme of groups where people could learn skills to help themselves as well as providing a drop-in facility.
She later worked for social services as one of the four Day Service Development Workers that developed county services in partnership with Mind. She also became a Trustee of Oxfordshire Mind and did a great deal of behind the scenes work for the organisation for many years, playing a large part in carrying it through some difficult times. Eight years after leaving Acorn, Prue began working for Mind again, this time at The Causeway Centre in Bicester, where she remained until her retirement earlier this year. In those 13.5 years, the service went from being The Causeway to Mind in Bicester and finally to a key part of the
Mind Wellbeing Service in Cherwell and West Oxfordshire. Prue has seen, and contributed to, the development of Oxfordshire Mind community services from two day centres in Oxford to a county wide Wellbeing Service and has supported hundreds of people over the years. She will be greatly missed by her colleagues and the people she has supported. When asked about her, these were just a few of the things that people said: “I never feel judged by her, even when I’m very down on myself” “She doesn’t take herself seriously, but she does take everyone else seriously. She is able to get on with anyone from all walks of life and people feel immediately that they can trust her.”
"I learnt so much from Prue as a volunteer and then a fledgling worker at the Causeway Centre … She is sorely missed, and will continue to be so for a very long time."
Our Information Service gets a re-fresh Since becoming part of the Wellbeing Service, OMHI (Oxfordshire Mental Health Information) is now Oxfordshire Mind Information Service. The aim of the re-fresh is to make the service simpler so that it’s clearer for people how to find out information when they need it.
Anybody there?
You can still get information in all the same ways As always, the service offers an Information phone line, taking any mental health related enquiries Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 4.30pm (excluding bank holidays) on the same number: 01865 247788. We still take enquiries by email but there’s a new email address: info@oxfordshire-mind.org.uk. We also provide information face to face across the county as well as on the website.
The Mind Guide is back! A brand new 2012 edition of The Mind Guide to Mental Health Services in Oxfordshire will be available from September 2012. Copies will be available from your local Wellbeing Service centre (please call us or see the website for details). We will also let you know about the launch event to be held in October 2012.
It’s also online! The Mind Guide Online (oxmindguide.org.uk) is a refreshed version of the previous OMHI website. It includes an online, searchable directory of mental health and related services in Oxfordshire as well as information about mental health and what to do in a crisis situation.
In summary: There are five elements to the Information Service:
Information by phone: The Oxfordshire Mind Information Line (01865 247788)
Information by email: info@oxfordshire-mind.org.uk
Information face-to-face: Information and Options sessions around the county (contact us for details)
Website: The Mind Guide (www.oxmindguide.org.uk)
Printed directory: The Mind Guide (next edition due for release in September 2012)
If you have used any element of the Information Service, we’d love to hear your comments, good and bad, so that we can continue to improve and develop it.
We’re Mind, the mental health charity. We’re here to make sure anyone with a mental health problem has somewhere to turn for advice and support. If you are interested in supporting Oxfordshire Mind by becoming a member or making a donation, please see our website or contact us via the details below. All donations of whatever size are very much appreciated. Oxfordshire Mind 2 Kings Meadow, Osney Mead Oxford OX2 0DP
T: 01865 263730 e: office:oxfordshire-mind.org.uk w: oxfordshire-mind.org.uk Registered Charity Number 261476 Registered Company Number 4343625