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Our Link project has been working with a service user at the wonderful Willow's Nook in Todmorden, guided by the incredible Fran and Lotti. This monthly venture over the last quarter has been magical! Week 1 - Finding Voice and Calm: The participant learned how to use their voice when approaching the ponies. How to stay calm and move slowly. How the pony was feeling, and how to feed them. Week 2 - Connecting with the Senses: We focussed on our senses in the environment, wrote what we had captured, and shared our observations with the teams. Week 3 - Into the woods: Venturing into the woods with the ponies and dogs, and shared our collective experiences from the last couple of months. Our participant expressed a desire for more time at Willow's Nook, a sentiment that has been relayed to the management and staff. The impact of this experience really resonated deeply with everyone involved. As Carl G. Jung wisely said, "Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul, be just another human soul." View Simon's gorgeous snapshots below (you can click to enlarge).
The Big Swim is an event inspired by our very own Healthy Minds champion, Nikki Stocks. Nikki knows from her own experiences that swimming is great for people’s mental health and wellbeing. As our ‘Big Swim’ celebrity, Nikki chose her own challenge – to swim a full mile across all three pools in two hours. Wow!
On Tuesday 19 September, four members of the Healthy Minds Forum travelled to the LIFE Centre in Bradford to have their voices heard by key West Yorkshire NHS decision-makers. Link participant Paul and Healthy Minds Volunteer Suzanne bravely shared their personal experiences, presenting to members of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (WYICB) at the mental health engagement session that preceded the WYICB AGM and board meeting. Supported by Georgia (Membership & Engagement Coordinator) and Claire (Healthy Minds Forum Volunteer), Paul and Suzanne were able to take a stand and reveal their lived realities to people in power. We want to celebrate and congratulate Paul and Suzanne for this incredible achievement. It takes huge strength to journey to a different place, be confronted with a busy venue filled with strangers, and present to people in positions of power about deeply personal experiences. As Paul put it in his speech: “If anyone had told me that I would be stood in front of such an influential group of people making a speech, I would have said that they’re totally mad!”
Swappers are invited to make a donation for entry, and funds are also raised from sales of extra items taken away (other than the ones they have swapped).
This year's event was their most successful yet, with an incredible £723.78 raised for Healthy Minds! Organisers of the swap also send a huge thank to all the Healthy Minds staff and volunteers who went along on Saturday and put in a lot of effort to help make the event run smoothly. Click below to view the gallery ---
Drop-in to help us create our lanterns any time from 5:30pm, but please make sure you arrive before 7pm to allow for an interruption-free lighting and reflection time.
Please note parking at Dean Clough is free after 5pm. We will also lead a walking party from our offices - get in touch with Georgia if you'd like to join - georgia@healthymindscalderdale.co.uk Please note this is a completely FREE event, but donations are welcome. Your contributions help us continue to be there for those that need us most, and make a difference for mental health in Calderdale. We caught up with Jenna from the Safespace team to find out more about her role, how they are working to improve mental health for people across Calderdale, and why Safespace is so important.
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