CPFT Carers' Strategy 2012
Carers of a person with a mental health or learning disability who use CPFT services are being invited to a series of meetings to finalise the consultation on the Carers' Strategy. We want to ensure the Trust responds to carers' views before we finalise our proposals. For all the dates and venues of the meetings, click here.
Service user newsletter launched
The Service User Newsletter, which aims to detail service user involvement in Cambridgeshire with regards to adult mental health, can be downloaded here. Any comments on improvements or feedback would be welcome. If you'd like more information, or to feed back, contact Adele McCormack, service user engagement worker, at adele.mccormack@huntsmind.org.uk
New Directions Service, Cambridge
The New Directions Service is a new initiative which looks to engage with men who are being violent and abusive to their partners, helping them to recognise their abusive behaviour and giving them the support needed to change it.
As part of New Directions a confidential information and advice line has been set up for men who recognise their problem and want to seek help. Once they have called the helpline, they will be invited to attend a behaviour change programme run by trained professionals experienced in working with abusive men.
The service is located in Norfolk Street Cambridge. It offers opportunities for volunteers and provides training opportunities for health and social care practitioners. Click on www.newdirectionsservice.org.uk for further information.
For more information on New Directions please call the helpline on 01223 366745, Wednesday to Saturday. The office number is 01223 359 699; e-mail admin@newdirectionsservice.org.uk.
Richmond Fellowship
Richmond Fellowship is a national organisation that provides support to people with a range of mental health problems throughout England. Formerly known as Richmond Fellowship Employment and Training (RFET), Richmond Fellowship Cambridge is an employment service for Cambridge City, and South and East Cambridgeshire. It provides support to people recovering from mental health difficulties as they seek to access and maintain suitable employment, volunteering and training opportunities. For more details and information on how to contact them, download the attached flier, right.
Friends of Fulbourn
Friends' Forum Lunch Club: Forum is a Lunch Club for older people, with cultural and intellectual interests, who now have, or are in danger of developing, a mental health problem which has resulted in social and intellectual isolation. In some cases carers may also attend. Forum has been running for fourteen years.
Meetings take place on the last Wednesday of each month, throughout the year, in the study centre at St James church in Wulfstan Way, Cambridge. Forum is run by experienced, like-minded volunteers who ensure that members are welcomed individually on arrival, and looked after as necessary. A home-cooked lunch is followed by a seminar-style talk, discussion, poetry or music. There is no charge for membership, but a financial contribution towards the cost of lunch (£5) is expected. Unfortunately we are unable to help with transport. Members are asked to make their own arrangements, or use a taxi card or Dial-a-Ride if they have nobody to drive them. It is sometimes possible for members to share with others in their area, and we can advise on this. For those unable to book their transport we can do it for them, and bill the member for the cost every six months.
More detailed information and a referral form can be obtained from Tish Berkley on 01223 425074, e-mail: berkley1@waitrose.com ; the co-ordinator Anne Nagy on 01223 246708, e-mail nagyanne@hotmail.com, or the Community Resource Teams.
YoungMinds parent helpline launched
YoungMinds is a charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. It has a YoungMinds Parents' Helpline, which provides support and advice to thousands of parents and carers every year. It hears a wide range of issues including depression, self-injuet, eating disorders and behavioural problems.
The number of the helpline is 0800 018 2138, or you can e-mail parents@youngminds.org.uk. The opening hours are 10am-4pm every weekday, and evening sessions between 6pm-8pm. Callers to the helpline will speak to a trained frontline adviser who can provide guidance about what help is available. About one-third of callers who require more complex advice then go on to have a telephone callback. This is a free 50-minute telephone consultation with one of YoungMind's professional advisers, who include psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers and educational psychologists.
Cambridge branch of stammering self-help group
Meets on the first Monday of each month from 7.30pm-9pm at Chesterton Medical Centre, Union Lane, Cambridge, CB4 1PT.
They generally chat about their recent experiences and feelings but primarily are there to support one another and where possible to pass on any knowledge or advise from many years of experience - not only the overt symptoms of stammering (the lack of fluency) but also the covert side which involves everything from embarrassment to a lack of confidence in social or professional lives. They also try to theme each meeting with a different person within the group or an invited guest giving a presentation on a different topic associated with stammering, any courses they have recently attended, or any aids which can benefit people who stammer.
The main aims of the group are therefore as follows:
- To provide support to fellow stammerers.
- To provide an opportunity for people who stammer to meet and talk socially.
- To provide a non-judgemental environment where one is allowed to stammer freely.
- To provide an opportunity to practice speech techniques of one's choice.
- To provide opportunities for individuals to reflect on their past month in terms of speech and associated feelings.
- And last, but not least, to have fun!