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Throughout August, participants at our allotment in Todmorden took part in a sound recording project, facilitated by local musician and sound artist James Mabbett. The project was commissioned by South Pennines Park, as part of their work this summer to engage communities in creative activities that help connect them with our local environment.
James brought sound recording equipment to the allotment and engaged the group in an experimental experience, encouraging participants to explore the sounds around them, and collect recordings of these found sounds. "I provide participants means to explore, and to make discoveries independently. On this occasion, I provided handheld digital recorders and headphones, the intention being the group look for, and record sounds that best represented their place" James then produced a sound composition created from the sounds recorded by the group, weaving in music and a piece of original poetry written by one of the participants. The final composition, 'A Fulfilling Day With Little Disturbance', presents a totally unique sensory experience of our beloved allotment, providing a sound-capsule of this specific place and the experiences of those who know it. "They were hearing things within the spaces that they had not heard before. I like the idea of making people stop and listen for a while. The Todmorden group described it as quite a mindful process, because we are really focussing in on this noise." You can listen to the final piece here:
And you can watch a short film about the project below, produced by Studio Bokehgo.
Here you can read Lou's beautiful piece of writing, inspired by nature and included in the final sound composition:
After we said goodbye, I heeded my strong need to be in nature for most of the day and to be near water, so took myself for a totally absorbing and invigorating walk around Hollingworth lake in the wind and rain, where I watched and later wrote these words; 'Birds Of The Lake' A single lapwing in her little island world, pecking curious about her old fledged nest, on which she sat, only two months ago patiently waiting a seemed eternity - her young have all since flown and left their home and her alone. Another bird in far distance struts the edge of a shallow mainland, and a nonchalant distraction now separates the pair as their instinct to breed has played out for another year. Tall herons stalk long, crane - like, stretched then bent legs, stepping out in jagged interrupted strides - huge, hunched birds deserving of respect, their genetic Egyptian ancestry embedded in ancient mud. Several relaxed moorhens, lazily meander about with no particular intent, drunk in charge of the water's edge pied wagtails jauntily flicking long black tails up and down, longer than their body's measure, pecking for short bursts before take-off for another flight. Africa on their minds! House martins swoop and soar across the lake to hunt for tiny midges - cutting their wings scissor close just above the water mark - hypnotised and hypnotic in their joyous rapture - a wayward community of free spirits! An eight chick still fluffy clutch of this year's ducks, huggle up together to preserve their body heat through searing wind and rain, their barely larger mum in sentry stance, just observes from nearby. A single white, graceful swan glides uninterrupted with her now almost fully grown, but still grey cygnet, following close in her choppy silver slipstream tide. A fulfilling day, at one, and almost alone - with nature…. - Lou Pendlebury  HELP OUR WALKERS SUPPORT HEALTHY MINDS Our heroic team plan to step up to the challenge and walk 26.2 miles in this year’s VIRGIN MONEY VIRTUAL LONDON MARATHON on Sunday 3rd October These lovely people hope to raise a whopping £10,000 for your local mental health charity - Healthy Minds. And together, with your help, they believe they can do it Anneliese, Jim and Louise are already in training preparing to walk the walk. Now all they need is your help to make their hard work and commitment worthwhile. Healthy Minds are here for the good mental health of everyone in Calderdale. What better way to celebrate Healthy Minds than for our team to walk through beautiful Calderdale on the big day. Come along and cheer as they arrive at each of the pitstops or if you fancy a walk, you can join them on a section of the walk. Donate here! Your donation makes an important contribution to improving people's lives across Calderdale. Together we can tackle the issues around mental health, together we can better look after our local communities.  Recovery & Support have loads on offer. Find a variety of free groups and activities across Calderdale to help you feel well. Whether you need emotional support, information, resources or relaxing activities, we can help you find the right fit for your needs. Our Recovery & Support service is here for anyone in Calderdale. "The groups and workshops that I have attended have made all of the difference to me. All the other things I used to do have stopped, and it’s been really hard being on my own. Being able to use zoom to get to Healthy Minds and see people and learn things it’s been a real life line." - Recovery & Support Service User Find a complete list of all of our Recovery & Support groups, activities and courses in the pdf below! 
Healthy Minds is the operating name for Calderdale Wellbeing, a limited company registered in England & Wales. We are registered as a charity with the Charity Commission. The board of trustees is accountable for the delivery of Healthy Minds’ aims and objectives. Our trustees, with their date of commencement, include: Lydia Blundell (2017), Freda Davis (2010), Jen Fagan (2009), Kate Hallitt (2018), Carla Harrison (2017), Paul Hunt (2019), Jonathan Morrish (2018), Naomi Sutcliffe (2017), Jonathan Stephen (2017). A full list of trustees may be found at Companies House.
The board of trustees meets 6 or 7 times a year. At our meeting of 20th April 2021, we agreed to begin publishing notes of board meetings. We plan to publish notes of each meeting, once they have been approved as an accurate note at the following board meeting. A note of our meeting held, July 20, 2021, can be found below: Note of Board Meeting 20/7/2021 The Healthy Minds board of trustees met via videoconference on Tuesday morning, 20th July 2021, with three trustees present, and Jonny, Di and Emma also in attendance. Jonny presented his written operational update to the board, together with a funding update. His written and verbal update included the approach proposed for emerging from lockdown. The main topic for discussion at the meeting was Healthy Minds’ Strategy. The current Strategy is for 2019-22 and may be found on the About Healthy Minds page of the website. We want to refresh of the Strategy, for 2022-25 (period to be confirmed). We want this to be done through staff, service user and trustee engagement, starting as soon as possible. We want to ensure that, in a context of organisational growth (staff turnover and new starters, new services, approaches to delivery such as hosting the public sector mental health project), sufficient attention is given in the Strategy to maintaining the identity and integrity. Our identity is our “anchor”, and what makes us, uniquely, Healthy Minds. We want to ensure that our stated values reflect this. We suggest adding some clear goals to our Strategy. We don’t necessarily want to lose the stated “challenges” but we think that there is a longer list of “drivers”, but that these need to be described more briefly so as not to take away from other parts of the strategy: ambition, values and (new) goals. The board of trustees looks forward to engagement on the Strategy in the autumn of 2021, and is aiming to launch the new Strategy at the AGM, provisionally planned for 24th November 2021. The board also considered other matters, including: quality standards for health, reports from the Development Sub-Committee and the Finance Committee. From this week, most of the remaining Covid-19 lockdown restrictions will be lifted. We know that there will be many different feelings about this, across staff, volunteers and service users. We support Calderdale Council’s message to remain cautious, be kind and help each other to stay safe. We want to strike a balance between what we are allowed to do and what we see as responsible to do. During lockdown, you have done fantastically well in successfully kept activities going online and by telephone. We see the value of a cautious approach. As we all play our part, we can look forward to being able to enjoy true freedom without such extreme caution – surely something we all want, whatever our views. Paul Hunt Chair of Trustees, 22/7/2021 Healthy Minds & easing of lockdown 19th July 2021
From this week, most of the remaining Covid-19 lockdown restrictions will be lifted. I know that, while some people will be excited about returning to “normal” straight away, others will feel differently. I want to set out Healthy Minds’ stance and explain why we are encouraging continued caution. We support Calderdale Council’s message to remain cautious, be kind and help each other to stay safe. We all have a shared responsibility towards each other and that includes keeping some of the measures in place that have helped keep people safe. Some people, particularly those who are clinically vulnerable, have good cause to be concerned about lifting restrictions – we are offering additional support through our coming out of lockdown programme and Healthy Minds is among the organisations having signed an open letter urging consideration of people’s ongoing concerns. We want to strike a balance between what we are allowed to do and what we see as responsible to do. Many of our activities, such as groups held outdoors, have been reintroduced as soon as we’ve been able and confident that we can do so safely and responsibly. We will continue to assess what we can reopen and adapt so that people who want to can come together again in person. If you are already on contact lists for activities, you will receive updates from project workers and we’ll keep our website updated with the latest news. All in-person activities will be fully risk-assessed and we may ask you to follow requirements for everyone’s safety, such as wearing face coverings or confirming that you have negative test results before attending. During lockdown, we have successfully kept activities going online and by telephone. Healthy Minds has always tried to find what works best for people and we know some people find online easier and more accessible. Our future programme will be a mixture of remote and in-person activities to keep those choices available. I know that not everyone will agree with this cautious approach. We take our responsibility for everyone’s safety seriously and this is our position for the time being. If we all play our part, we can look forward to being able to enjoy true freedom without such extreme caution – surely something we all want, whatever our views. - Jonny Richardson Glenn, Chief Officer  Project Workers: Recovery & Support
2x Part Time (Halifax) 1x Full Time (Upper Calder Valley) We are seeking dynamic, experienced Project Workers for two of our services. These posts have guaranteed funding up until the end of December. Continuation is dependent on successful funding. Healthy Minds (Calderdale Wellbeing) works with people of all ages who live or work in the Calderdale borough. Through a range of educational and supportive activities, our aim to is help people have better emotional wellbeing by understanding their experiences and finding what works for them to have healthier, happier lives. Recovery & Support is the “spine” of Healthy Minds; the embodiment of the organisation’s ethos and approach, with three main elements:
Our services are developed and co-delivered with volunteers who have relevant experience, supported by a strong training and induction programme. This will be an exciting challenge for the right person. Alongside the existing teams and local communities, you will be involved in developing and delivering strong, community-based services and activities that support people emotionally, socially and practically. Could this be you? You will:
There are three Project Worker posts available. One Project Worker will be full time and work with the Upper Calder Valley Team, the other two posts 18.75 hours each and be with the Halifax Team. Hours: Upper Calder Valley Post: 37.5hr per week Halifax posts: 18.5hrs per week Full time post: NJC pt 26, £25,545 pro rata + 5% pension Part time posts: NJC pt 26, £25,545 pro rata (£12,772.50 actual gross) + 5% pension Closing date for completed applications: 9.00 a.m. on Monday 19th July 2021 Interviews will be 23rd July 2021 To apply follow the instructions on our jobs page. |
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