The Leicester based Citizens Eye’s community news agency has a mental health news agency called How Are You Today?
The meetings take place the first Sunday of every month at the Phoenix Square Film 7 Digital Media Centre in Leicester.
The informal meetings begin at 2.00 pm and last for about an hour in the relaxing cafe surroundings.
For those who are interested in attending, the purpose of the group is really to discuss mental health and its plethora of issues, provide what personal support we can and try to address some of the discrimination and stigma that accompanies this whole area.
The meeting is open to anyone with an interest in mental health. There is no compulsion or pressure to talk and people can be as open or ‘closed’ as they wish. It is very informal.
You can find out more on our facebook page ‘How Are You Today?’ or on the Citizens Eye site
SISO grows and co-ordinate’s the delivery of recovery focused information, projects and services relating to mental health.
The rethinkyourmind project was born out of the Community Interest Company SISO.
SISO originally formed to empower mental health service users to become valued and active members of their respective communities, ensuring that people feel safe within themselves and their wider community, helping make the recovery journey a reality.
SISO works to reduce stigma and inequalities associated with mental health, promote control, self management, hope and optimism incorporating a ‘whatever works for you philosophy’ in tandem with personalisation and self directed support.
SISO focuses on what people can do and not what they can’t do, taking a panoramic view of a person’s life and not just a life governed by a mental health diagnoses.
Advance have supported SISO in their journey to become a Community Interest Company, and continue to do so as they grow and build capacity as a service provider.
SISO have also received generous support from the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford OBE is SISO’s Patron.
Visit the SISO Website to find out more about its work and vision for the future:
Advance is a national support provider and registered Housing Association, providing services to more than 4000 people across many parts of England, including more than 2000 people with mental health problems.
We provide places to live for people with learning disabilities or mental health problems.
We also provide support for people so they can live their lives the way they want.
We give employment advice for people with disabilities who want to get into work.
We have been closely involved with SISO since 2009 when Advance staff and customers brought it into being, have provided funding and guidance ever since, and are delighted that this exciting project has come so far.
We continue to be linked with SISO as a Community Interest Company, with several staff representing Advance at Board level; and we promote its activities on our website and at local and national events.
Aspiro is a not for profit social enterprise that provides employment advice and support for adults with a lived experience of mental ill health or a learning disability.
We provide most of our services through regular Employment Clinics across Leicester city, Leicestershire and Rutland.
All our services are free and people can self refer or ask their CPN, Social Worker, other professional or carer to contact us.
We also provide mentoring, a weekly Job Club, plus employability (group based) courses, to help with motivation and confidence building, job applications and interview skills.
We have helped over 100 people into work: half are in paid jobs and the rest are volunteering or doing work placements.
We work in partnership with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and work locally with Jobcentre Plus.
The Carers Centre (LeicesterShire & Rutland) offers a range of services. Supporting carers across Leicester City, Leicestershire and Rutland. We can offer:
Advocacy support and representation
Community-based advice (including home visits)
Telephone/email advice and support
Emotional support
Carers groups and forums
Regular newsletters/mailshots
Consultation with carers and professionals on a range of carers’ issues
Partnership with a range of organisations to promote the needs of carers
Promote carer involvement in planning of carers’ services.
There is a regular drop-in on Tuesday mornings from 9.30am-12.30pm and some Saturdays (by appointment).
The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) helps children and young people who have been referred by another healthcare professional.
Referrals are made if it’s thought the child or young person has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties at a level which requires specialist support.
We provide a range of services including initial assessments, therapy, group work, emergency assessments and in-patient care.
How can you access our service?
• Speak to your GP or Paediatrician • Speak to your Educational Psychologist – if you have one • Speak to a Social Worker – if you have one
Both ‘Akwaaba’ and ‘Ayeh’ mean WELCOME in Akan (spoken in Ghana) and Hindi (spoken in South Asia).
Akwaaba Ayeh’s main purpose is to help and empower Black (a collective term used to describe client groups who originate from South Asia (i.e.India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) Africa and the Caribbean, and their carers experiencing/living with mental illness, from the very acute to a mild emotional imbalance.
Advocacy is provided to the client groups identified above living in the City. Other services provided include:
Representation at Mental Health Review Tribunals, providing sufficient information as to enable choice, liaising with other related agencies.
Providing information, advice and guidance in relation to employment, training, finances and support.
The People’s Forum is run by and for service users to consult with and represent the views of mental health service users across Leicestershire and Rutland.
Our aim is to ensure that you have a voice and that your views, opinions and ideas about mental health services are listened to. Through this we inform and influence the planning and delivery of mental health services.
We can keep you informed and involved through our quarterly newsletter, circulating consultation information and signposting engagement activities.
We meet every month to discuss current mental health issues and we visit wards, and meetings around the county to canvass views and share the work we are doing.
Members benefit from peer support and feel empowered.
To make sure your voice is heard contact the People’s Forum on:
In 2008 mental health service users from Genesis (Leicester City) and the People’s Forum (Leicestershire County and Rutland) embarked on a pilot research study – not only giving service users a voice but being that voice.
From the success of the study came the Service User and Carer Research Audit Network (SUCRAN), led by a Steering Group of service users and carers, with support from De Montfort University, the group now employs a Project Manager and a pool of more than 30 interviewers.
The ethos of the project is that all interviewers are service users and carers themselves. Survey participants feel supported and less intimidated being interviewed by peers and more people opt into the survey thus producing robust evidence based research and enhanced richness of results.
Our aim is to bring about, by our findings, a shift in culture toward service user centered care.
Those involved in the project derive huge benefit too. They are employed as research interviewers by De Montfort University having completed interviews, training, CRB and occupational health checks.
In additional to feeling empowered and gaining valuable work experience service users and carers are supported by peers, the project team, academics, welfare rights and have access to psychological support and interpreter services.
Every stage of the process from questionnaire design to data analysis and report writing is service user and carer led – real involvement.
