SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016 Dear member …...SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016 with SUF Brexit from the European Union (EU). SUF is committed to promoting and supporting

SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016

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Dear member and supporter,

Mental Health Awareness week in May saw SUF at events in Eye, Stowmarket and Sudbury – particularly covering Mid Suffolk, more on page 3. Wendy of SUF is focusing on the furthest parts of West Suffolk beginning with a networking event in Brandon 13th June and has been to many meetings in Haverhill recently.

We are very pleased that James has started his new role with SUF, a short summary is on page 2 and more will follow in the next newsletter.

Jayne Davey, SUF Manager

SUF at The New Hollies, Unit 3a, Grange Business Centre,Tommy Flowers Drive, Kesgrave, Ipswich

IP5 2BY

Tel 01473 907087

Registered Charity 1133457

Brexit - How will voting on 23rd June regarding UK membership of the European Union affect our Human Rights here in the UK?

On the 23rd June 2016 the UK will hold a referendum on whether there should be a British exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU). SUF is committed to promoting and supporting Human Rights in Suffolk and we asked Audrey Ludwig of Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality (ISCRE http://www.iscre.org.uk/ ) what this referendum would mean to Human Rights. Audrey explained that European Convention on Human Rights is institutionally separate from the European Union.

Leaving the EU would have no effect on the UK’s obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights, nor on the Human Rights Act, which is a piece of UK legislation. The European Convention on human rights is an international treaty which protects human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe.

It is a simple list of the key rights which people need to live a dignified life and it is enforced by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It was written in 1950 by the Council of Europe, which was set up after the Second World War to stop the horrors of Fascism happening again. The United Kingdom, under the leadership of Winston Churchill, played a central role in the Council of Europe and in drafting the Convention.

The Human Rights Act brought the rights in the European Convention into UK law. It means public authorities, like schools, hospitals and the police, must protect our human rights. If our human rights are being breached, we can go to a local judge who must enforce them. Previously we had to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

****However *** It must be remembered that the Conservative Party’s manifesto committed to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights, and the Government intends to fulfil this commitment in the course of this Parliament, An explanatory article is here http://rightsinfo.org/whats-going-on-with-the-british-bill-of-rights/

In the UK the Human Rights Act is a 1998 Act of Parliament which made human rights part of our law, available to everyone in the United Kingdom. If we left the EU, we would still be signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights.

If you are interested in human rights from a Suffolk perspective, there is a local facebook group called “KOHRS-Keeping Our Human Rights In Suffolk” at https://www.facebook.com/groups/896568307057034/ which people are welcome to join.

SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016

Community Hero - Sue Parker

Jayne Davey, SUF Manager attended the very glamorous and amazing Community Achievement Awards in April with the amazing Sue Parker Chair of Mid Suffolk VASP...who won the “Community Hero” award for Mid Suffolk District Council! Well deserved! An inspiration for our VASP and SUF network.

Sue Parker is pictured below right receiving the award

and pictured below

with Jayne Davey.

SUF Mental Health Advocacy I know I have rights, choices and a voice

On the 19th May the SUF team received advocacy training from Rob Taylor of The Befriending Scheme who are running training as part of a Suffolk Community Advocacy project. James also has considerable experience from his previous roles at Suffolk Family Carers and PALS. James has started to hold regular inpatient/ward based ‘drop in’ sessions, in both Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich, providing information and referral to the professional Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) where appropriate.

To contact James please email [email protected]

“Better together”

Talking about

Emotional Health & Wellbeing

Join us for coffee and cake on the 15th June

at the SUF offices in Kesgrave, Ipswich IP5 2BY

from 10.30am to 12pm.

Sharing your experiences of services can make a difference

for us all!

www.suffolkvasp.co.uk

James (pictured below) joined SUF on the 16th May 2016 as our Mental Health

Advocate. Together with VoiceAbility, SUF is piloting a new way of offering information about

rights and choices, to support greater focus on the quality of advocacy for mental health in Suffolk.

James Woolnough

SUF Mental Health Advocate

SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016

SUF welcomes Home Group as a new member

Home Group in Ipswich supports two 24/7 supported living projects, two 9-5 supported living projects, a respite bed and two short stay beds and community mental health recovery services. They provide support for around 60 clients. www.homegroup.org.uk

In May, Wendy Shepherd of SUF, was invited to speak to the residents of the Home Group supported housing in Ipswich. We had this feedback following the talk “Just wanted to say a big thank you for visiting our project and speaking with the clients. I have had so much positive feedback from the clients who attended.”

First Aid training at SUF

The Red Cross delivered three training sessions for SUF staff and members in May. “A very good course, thanks for organizing” SUF member. Thank you to Claire for delivering the training.

Thank you to Linda Barbour for delivering the workshop at the John Peel Center, in Stowmarket on 19th May. “Many thanks Linda for your workshop on 19th - I found it very helpful”- SUF member.

Mental Health Awareness Week

2016

http://lindabarbour.co.uk/

Home Group is a social enterprise and a charity. It is one of the UK’s largest providers of high quality

housing and supported housing services and products.

SUF and Supported Housing Retender in Suffolk.

SUF have initially involved a small group of service users, carers and professionals to discuss the issues and support needs for people living in supported housing. We have drawn up recommendations for Commissioners to take into account when planning the retender of supported housing care in Suffolk. We have also mapped out an involvement process that will enable a wide range of events to deliver co-production for this tender process. This retender process will begin late Spring 2016 with the new service being delivered from 1st April 2017.

SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016

Wendy Shepherd - SUF Service User Engagement Lead

Wendy will be attending the following events in June

where members and supporters are welcome to attend

as well. If you would like more information or support to

go to events such as these please call Wendy for a chat.

In some instances we can pay reasonable travel costs.

7th June Mid Suffolk VASP, Needham Market

13th June Networking Event at Brandon

15th June SCIP, Bury St Edmunds

28th June (am) Brandon Library

28th June (pm) MH Focus Group, Claydon

29th June patient revolution, Bury St Edmunds

Wendy, pictured right, is out and about meeting groups and hearing mental health service user views.

If you would like Wendy to attend your meeting or group to hear about SUF please do contact us.

If you would like to speak directly to Wendy

please call 0796 1089607

or email: [email protected]

Police Triage Car Update from Peter Devlin, Mental Health Social Care Lead, Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust

Pete tells us “This is an exciting project which recognises the need for much closer working between the police and mental health services to make sure that people who are experiencing mental health difficulties get identified early on and referred into the most suitable service as soon as possible.

“Our pilot in Suffolk involved the introduction of a police triage car operating between the hours of 2pm till midnight seven days a week. The car is deployed by the Police Contact Control when they receive incidents which indicate that the person may be experiencing some kind of mental health difficulties. This allows for a joint police and mental health nurse response to assess the situation and to pathway the person onto appropriate health and social care services where necessary.

Through our evaluation of the pilot and subsequent discussions with the police and CCG commissioners, we have agreed the development of this model to include having a mental health nurse presence in the police control room (2pm till midnight – daily) to support the initial screening of calls and to provide professional advice, more widely, to police officers attending incidents. The Mental Health staff in the control room will also be responsible for targeting the deployment of the police triage car. The funding for the police triage service has been secured, in full, for 2016/17 and negotiations will be taking place during the coming year about long term funding opportunities.

“In terms of recruitment, we have appointed people into the police control room posts and they will be starting in May 2016“

If you have further questions contact

[email protected]

Pictured right Police Triage Car at Jimmys Farm event 2014

SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016

Find out more for free! Caring with Confidence

The sessions cover topics such as effective communication to get your needs met, ways to manage your emotions and take better care of yourself, balancing caring with other commitments you may have, and looking at day to day challenges.

We also have a wealth of resources which may help with a variety of issues and concerns you face within your caring role. In the east and the west of the county (not Waveney) we also offer Caring for Dementia with Confidence which is specifically designed for those caring for someone with Dementia.

These sessions are not only a great way to gain useful information but also give you the opportunity to meet others in a similar situation. Family Carers who have attended the sessions have said they have found it useful for a variety of ways such as “feeling that I am not alone”, gaining “friendship and knowledge” and know “that there is help out there”.

These sessions run regularly so to find out more about either Caring with Confidence or Caring for Dementia with Confidence please contact us on 01473 835446 or [email protected]

The aim of Kernos is to offer counselling to anyone who needs it, whenever they need it, for as long as they need it, regardless of circumstance. Counselling can be made available to you either by a referral from your GP, psychiatrist, healthcare worker or an agency or at your own request.

After an initial assessment, one of our experienced professional counsellors with specialist expertise in a number of therapy disciplines will then undertake regular, confidential, non-judgmental, 50-minute sessions, face-to-face with you in a safe location.

If you have the means to pay, you will be asked to meet the full cost of your sessions.

However, Kernos is committed to offering our professional services to local people who may be disadvantaged either socially or economically. If this is the case, you may either be asked for a part contribution or in certain circumstances, the sessions may be provided free – the costs being met either by specific programme funding, charitable donations, or a combination of these.

Kernos Centre in Sudbury kernos.org

Some of you may have heard about our free sessions for Family Carers which provide information and tips on ways to confidently care for the person you are caring for.

Graham Hill (pictured right) is a director trustee of the Kernos Centre. Graham runs Foxhall Solutions which now provides the IT support for the SUF offices and team. Thank you Graham for your help and patience! http://www.foxhallsolutions.com/

SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016

MindEd is a free educational resource on children and young people’s mental health for all adults.

MindEd for Families - Are you a parent or carer who is concerned about your child? Or perhaps you just want some hints and tips on parenting? MindEd for Families has online advice and information from trusted sources and will help you to understand and identify early issues and best support your child.

MindEd for Professionals & Volunteers - This is for you if you volunteer, work or are studying to work with infants, children or teenagers. MindEd has e-learning applicable across the health, social care, education, criminal justice and community settings. It is aimed at anyone from beginner through to specialist.

www.minded.org.uk

Healthwatch Suffolk Survey

What is the Children and Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing Plan 2020 (EWB2020)?

The Children and Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing Plan (EWB 2020) will transform local services to deliver a joined-up, family focused emotional wellbeing response which will result in earlier help and better outcomes. This plan has been created by service users and their families, Suffolk County Council, NHS Ipswich and East Suffolk and NHS West Suffolk clinical commissioning groups and voluntary and community sector groups.

Healthwatch Suffolk have been running a pilot project in partnership with the Thomas Gainsborough School in Sudbury and Unity and Diversity, through which they have collected the views of pupils about their use of current services as well as the ambitions of the EWB2020. Following the pilot, Healthwatch Suffolk will soon begin a new project called “My Health, Our Future” with more schools across east and west Suffolk. The aim will be to obtain the views of young people and their teachers about mental health and wellbeing support in school and at home. Join the conversation about mental health care in Suffolk

To feedback about mental health care for children and young people, http://www.healthwatchsuffolk.co.uk/ to visit the Norfolk and Suffolk Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) feedback page. You can also contact Healthwatch Suffolk on 01449 703949 or by email to [email protected].

www.healthwatchsuffolk.co.uk

CQC inspection of the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust in July

CQC the independent regulator of health, mental health and adult social care in England will be inspecting Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust the week beginning the 11th July.

They would like to hear your feedback on the mental health services before the inspection.

You can e-mail [email protected] telephone 03000 616161

SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016

I am a Peer Support Worker (PSW) for Bury South Integrated Delivery Team. I’ve been in post within the Adult Pathway since November 2014. I have made the role my own alongside a very supportive team who value my input as someone with lived experience of Bipolar Disorder.

Working in the community and supporting the development of the Recovery College in West Suffolk has proven to be successful. The Integrated Delivery Team management and the Enhanced Community Pathway at Bury South decided to appoint another peer support worker. I am glad to say that my dear friend and colleague, Karen Jackson (previously of Bury North) has taken up this post and is working alongside me in the Integrated Delivery Team.

I keep a busy, varied and interesting diary. There are the expected ‘ routine’ type of activities such as attending to Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) mandatory and online training, contributing to team meetings; attending supervision; writing up contacts made – oh and dealing with emails, emails and emails…..! However, the PSW role has enabled me to address other areas of interest whilst adopting recovery principles and maintaining belief in the work that I do as someone who has used mental health services.

Most recently, I saw a ‘gap’ where I could help out with increased caseloads presented to Care Co-Ordinators. I volunteered to make contact with service users who were waiting to be allocated whilst the ‘urgent’ referrals were dealt with first. This has been helpful to the team as I can feedback how well or not well services users are doing in the meantime. The service users I have met or spoken to over the phone have been very appreciative of the contact and value the lived experience connection.

I work closely with the Recovery College involving myself in Tutoring, co-producing courses and helping implement new ideas for its progression. Having two peer support workers in the Integrated Delivery Team helps to promote and encourage college participation.

Another aspect of my role is to act as a ‘resource’ for signposting service users onto a “life beyond illness”. Attending networking meetings, conferences, workshops and forums helps me to find out what is ‘out there’ and feedback accordingly. I have to thank SUF as my previous employer – I had a good base to work from on the networking front!

I’ve been involved with delivering talks about my work and mental health. These have been ‘in-house’ for NSFT to continue employing PSWs. I am due to give a talk to governors of the West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group soon. In the past, I have given talks locally such as at West Suffolk House to spread knowledge of what a PSW does and also how the Recovery College works.

I have been interviewed for newspaper coverage and for Insight Magazine. I have also engaged with research for Bipolar Disorder; Peer Support Working; and being involved with the Recovery College. This has all been very interesting for me.

The work I do is growing all the time. My ‘to do’ lists

are getting lists attached to them now! I love my work

and I love the fact that I have the energy to manage this

fulltime position whilst living with a longterm mental health

condition. I feel blessed.

Jacqui Fairley, Peer Support Worker, 10th May 2016.

http://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Get-involved/Pages/Peer-Support-Workers.aspx

Jacqui Fairley – Peer Support Worker at Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust

SUFFOLK USER FORUM eNews May/June 2016

By providing programmes and targeted support, the service aims to help individuals to reduce the risks associated with tobacco smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, and physical inactivity.

To find out about FREE NHS Health Checks for 40 to 74 year olds, contact the team on [email protected]

http://onelifesuffolk.co.uk/

Suffolk User Forum – A mental health

service user led organisation. Registered Charity No. 1133457

Registered Company No. 06946785

CONTACT US TO BECOME A SUF MEMBER NOW! TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER

Tel: 01473 907087

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.suffolkuserforum.co.uk

Literary corner

“The word ‘reality’ is the most dangerous word there is”

Vladimir Nabokov

At a Death Cafe people drink tea, eat cake and discuss death.

The aim is to increase awareness of death to help people make

the most of their (finite) lives. Jeannie Wright attended a “Death Café” event last year.

Jeannie tell us “it was attended by young and old people and though I was fascinated by

why people were there, I would not need to go again, however a number go fairly

regularly so they clearly find it beneficial- a lot of talk about how to live this precious

life before you die.”

Nigel George is a Solicitor and Director of Aging with Optimism. He regularly runs a Death Café and more details can be found at his website www.ageingwithoptimism.com

[email protected] Or visit the website Death Café for more information http://deathcafe.com

When I have fears

When I have fears, as Keats had fears,

Of the moment I’ll cease to be

I console myself with vanished years

Remembered laughter, remembered tears,

And the peace of the changing sea.

When I feel sad, as Keats felt sad

That my life is so nearly done

It gives me comfort to dwell upon

Remembered friends who are dead and gone

And the jokes we had and the fun.

How happy they are I cannot know,

But happy am I who loved them so.

Noel Coward

What is a Death Café ?

OneLife Suffolk is a partnership between Leeds Beckett University, MoreLife, Quit 51 and Healthier Futures, commissioned by Suffolk County Council.