Rethink Mental Illness Manchester Group

Wednesday  8 th  October 6pm - 8pm  or just drop in   6pm - 7.00pm tea/coffee/cakes 7.00pm - 7.30pm Catherine from Manchester Health and Wellbeing Service is giving a quiz on how food affects our mood. 7.30pm - 8pm tea/coffee/cakes Plus some goodies to take home! A  small donation  will be welcome, this will go to support  our local monthly group and  Rethink organisa tion . Right now people with serious mental illness die, on average, 20 years before their time mainly from preventable physical illnesses and we don’t think this is fair!   Our ambition is clear: to fight as hard as we can, for as long as it takes, until people with serious mental illness have the same life expectancy as everyone else.  If you are travelling by public transport, Manchester Carers Centre is directly across   the road from the New Islington Metrolink stop (Droylsden Line). It’s one tram stop from Piccadilly train station.  If you are  travelling  by car, free parking is available on Pollard Street from 6pm

New to Rethink Manchester Carers In Action   Self help workshops   Do you want to find out ho w f ood affects your mood or how to de-stress?   Do you have a couple of hours to spare to find out?   If so, these self help workshops could be for you.   Manchester  Health and  Wellbeing   Service  are running free  self-help  workshops that can give you practical tools to help maintain good mental health and wellbeing.     Food and Mood  Wednesday 8 th  October between 6pm – 8pm       Sleep Well   Wednesday  12 th  November between 6pm – 8pm       All workshops are fee for all group members to attend. The workshops will run after the group’s initial meeting and notices and will be held at our usual venue:   Manchester Carers Centre ,  Vulcan Mill ,  12 – 18 Pollard St Manchester M4 7AN

New to the Rethink Manchester Carers in Action group: special self help workshops. Running for the next three months at our monthly sessions, each  workshop will run after the our initial meeting and notices. All workshops are free of charge. Everyone is welcome, whether or not you have been along to our meetings before. Unwind Your Mind Workshop                 Wednesday 10 September,  6pm – 8pm Come along for free and learn: - what  anxiety and worries  are and how they can affect  - manage  your anxieties and worries Food and Mood Workshop Wednesday  8 October 6pm – 8pm Come along for free and learn: - how what you eat affects your mood and how you feel - healthy eating to improve how you feel Sleep Well Workshop   Wednesday 1 2   Nove mber 6pm – 8pm Come along for free and learn: -  w hat is good and bad for sleep - h ow to improve your sleep  

The Public Mental Health Team  (which is part of the Manchester Health and Wellbeing Service) works to improve the mental health of Manchester people  and prevent mental ill-health.  Their  main strategy is to equip a wide range of organisations with a greater ability to support the mental health of the people with whom they work. This is done mainly through  their provision of training, resources, information and collaborative working. Cat herine  Parsons, Public Health Project Worker  from the Wellbeing Service  will be coming  along from  6.45 – 7.45pm  to give us a one hour  session about ‘Mood and Food’  -  how what  we eat affects  our mood + healthy eating .  Catherine is  willing to come along to present other sessions (below)  at other times  so if you have a preference do let us know! These courses are about how to look after your mental health and can cover a range of topics including:  1.       From distress to de-stress – how stress affects you and how to relax 2.       Im

  There will be no  meeting on Wednesday August 13 th .  Instead,  some  of our  group members  have suggested an afternoon trip out   to visit Lancashire and the trail of the witches of Pendle . We will be meeting at Piccadilly train station at 10.45am then off to Chorlton St bus  station to catch the X43  bus. The bus journey should take about an hour. If you would like to come along on that day contact Lindsey on  07797 082976 .  Put your walking shoes on, the trail is around  3 to  4 miles and if you have mobility problems this might not be the event for you.  

Celebrating Carers Week Are you a registered carer? Do you look after someone in your community? This is your invitation to come along and help us celebrate caring! Wednesday 11 th June 2014 10.30am – 3.30pm The Zion Centre 339 Stretford Road, Manchester M15 4ZY www.zioncentre.co.uk Enjoy free activities*: Massage Raffle Tea and cakes Make a hanging basket *On a first come first served basis                           There will also be a carers information stall

We'll be meeting next Wednesday 11th June at the usual time of 6 - 7:45pm at Manchester Carers Centre. Tea, coffee and biscuits served on arrival. Owen Price is coming along to the meeting to share information about his research project ‘aiming to reduce the use of potentially harmful clinical interventions such as physical restraint, seclusion and the use of extra medication for managing agitation/aggression’. Owen is a mental health nurse who has been working in mental health since 2005 and began working at the University in 2010.  We look forward to seeing you. As ever, all are welcome.

Here's some informtion we have received about a research study aimed at carers - there is an online survey: "If you are over 18 years old, and have weekly contact with your relative with mental health difficulties, we'd really like to hear from you. A postgraduate research student at the University of Liverpool is carrying out a study aiming to better understand the emotional experiences of caring for a relative with mental health difficulties. We understand that this can be difficult, so our aim is to help improve service provision for carers. This is a short study containing three questionnaires. One has been especially designed in consultation with carers. "The questionnaires take approximately 30 minutes. You can complete them online via the link below, or you can complete a paper copy. Further information is also included in the link below, but please contact Leanne Messham at  l.s.messham@liverpool.ac.uk   if you have any queries.  Please contact Mary Patel on r

We had our AGM yesterday evening and we are so pleased to welcome our new Group Co-ordinator. Vics says: "Hi my name is Vics Fitzsimmons and I’ll be RMCIA Group Coordinator from September. I’m really looking forward to becoming more involved with the group, I know how important it is to feel supported and gain relevant information about what’s going on in the mental health world and how best we can support each other.  "I have a strong interest in fairness and know from personal experience (my brother has a diagnosis of Schizophrenia) that people with mental health problems can often feel they don’t have a voice and even when they do they aren’t heard, and one day I would love to work in mental health. "I’m currently Divisional Operations Manager with Capital Education Resourcing. I live in Winton (near Eccles) and have 3 cats, Ruby, Beryl and Chica who are sisters. I’m getting married in August and my new surname will be Rimmer." Vics was voted in una

May We’ll be meeting on Wednesday 14 th May from 6 – 7.45pm at Manchester Carers Centre. After some refreshments, we’ll start the meeting with our Annual General Meeting which will run from 6.15 – 7pm. From 7pm, Patrick Cahoon will be giving us an update on Manchester Mental Heath and Social Care Trust. There will be time for questions. June We’ll be meeting on Wednesday 11 th June from 6 – 7.45pm at Manchester Carers Centre. We have not invited a speaker so the session will be a relaxed affair to give us a chance to catch up with one another and discuss any issues we might have individually. Getting to Manchester Carers Centre If you are travelling by public transport, Manchester Carers Centre is a two minute walk from the New Islington Metrolink stop (Droylsden Line). Some of us meet at Piccadilly Station by the taxi rank at 5.30 and head up together. Text Lindsey on 07757 082 976 so we know to wait for you. If you are travelling by car, free parking is ava

You are invited to attend two FREE events in April organised by Europia and our partners 1.   On Tuesday April 8th about Work Capability Assessments:  They aren't working  Organised by the WCA Access Group - of which Europia is one of 8 member organisations Other members are Breakthrough UK, Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People,   Manchester Alliance of Community Care,  Access to Advice,  Manchester BME Network,  Greater Manchester Welfare Rights Advice Service, Anti-Poverty group, Church House (Greater Manchester) Our event is held at London Scottish House (4th floor), 24 Mount St, Manchester, M2 3NN 12.40 - 2.00pm   Why WCAs have to change now 2.10 - 3.40pm   How we can Campaign for Change Together We are pressing for an Independent Inquiry into the Impact of WCAs Atos may be pulling out but we must ensure that the new set-up is fair and humane. There will be Key speakers and audience participation.  No booking is required. 2.   On Saturday 12th March - an Easter ev

It's our regular monthly meeting on Wednesday 9th April from 6 - 7:45 at Manchester Carers Centre.  John Mainwaring from carers support organisation Connect Support is coming to talk to us about the services they offer. And of course we'll be having our usual catch up and cup of tea. Anyone is welcome to join us whether you have personal experience of mental health issues, are a carer, or professional with an interest in mental health.

Date Tuesday 15th April 2014 Time 0900 - 1535 Venue Manchester Conference Centre, Weston Building, Sackville Street, Manchester, M1 3BB A conference to raise awareness among mental health  professionals, voluntary sector workers and the public about mental health issues in black & minority ethnic communities focusing on refugees and asylum seekers and mental health in later life. Topics Mental health in later life, Dr Faisal Parvez—Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust Refugees and asylum seekers, Dr Khatidja Chantler—University of Central Lancashire Recovery in mental health, Mr Tom McAlpine—Moodswings Network Personal experiences: mental health voices Cost: £75 private sector/professional and £50 students/voluntary sector Lunch will be provided For further enquiries or to book your place please contact MC-UK on 0161 7131892 or email contact@mc-uk.org MC-UK, 680 Burnage Lane, Manchester, M19 1NA 

Rethink Manchester Carers in Action is a volunteer run peer support group of mental health carers and service users. Our current Chair, Mary, is stepping down after five years in the role so we need a new Group Co-ordinator to oversee the running of the group. The role involves inviting liaising with our national charity Rethink Mental Illness, inviting speakers, writing our newsletter, updating our website and answering occasional phone and email enquiries. You will be supported by our Group Chair and Treasurer, as well as by Rethink Mental Illness nationally. The role can be carried out by one person or two sharing the responsibilities. We meet once a month at Manchester Carers Centre, on a Wednesday evening, from 6 - 7:45pm. You would need to be free to attend meetings at this time. We need to fill the role from May 2014 onwards. Download a full role description . For an overview of how Rethink Manchester Carers in Action works with Rethink Mental Illness nationally, downloa

It's our regular monthly meeting next Wednesday 12th March - 6 - 7:45pm at Manchester Carers Centre. As well as the usual catch up and a cup of tea, Sarndip Sangha from the mental health research department at Manchester Mental Health Trust is coming to give us an update on new research studies. If you are travelling by public transport, Manchester Carers Centre is a two minute walk from the New Islington Metrolink stop (Droylsden Line). Some of us meet at Piccadilly Station by the taxi rank at 5.30 and head up together. Text our Chair, Lindsey on 07757 082 976 so we know to wait for you. If you are travelling by car, free parking is available on Pollard Street from 6pm.

We are now recruiting service user and carer participants to take part in the latest study in the EQUIP programme grant. The aim of the study is to develop a questionnaire to help us find out if you have been adequately involved in your care plan (or the care plan of somebody you care for). Please click the link below to take you to the study, then you can click on 'questionnaire'. http://www.nursing.manchester.ac.uk/equip/ If you prefer a paper copy you can request this from:- Julie O'rourke (EQUIP Administrator) +44 (0) 161 306 7863 Each participant will receive a £10 high street gift voucher when we receive the completed questionnaire.  We will ask you to supply your postal contact details so that we can send the gift voucher to you. These details will be kept separate from the questionnaire itself and not accessed by the research team to ensure your questionnaire responses remain anonymous. About this study EQUIP is a collaborative project between the University of Manc

Mental Health and Wellbeing services are provided by Manchester City Council and the NHS. The Council fund Health & Wellbeing Services and the NHS fund Mental Health Specialist Services. NHS Manchester and Manchester City Council Commissioners are working in partnership to improve the whole system in a project called the Mental Health Improvement Programme. The Consultation is in two parts – Health and Wellbeing to provide services for everyone, which must have clear links through every pathway with Mental Health Specialist Services that relate to the treatment of people with mental illness. The Health and Wellbeing Services proposed model is: One-to-one support to navigate through the network and link into specialist services for those who need it. Training for providers and the public around wellbeing and recovery Provide support for the development of peer support groups and networks Self help promotion An innovation fund for groups wit

Tuesday February 25 th SEED Seminar and Book Launch ‘“Maps that precede the territory”: Simulacra and the global ‘reality’ of mental health’ China Mills (OPHI), with a Discussion led by Suman Fernando Room B4.3, Ellen Wilkinson Building, 3-4.45pm (with refreshments), School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester.  To ‘make mental health for all a reality’ is the aim of the Movement for Global Mental Health and the World health Organization, as they call to scale up access to psychiatry, and the medications it prescribes, to countries of the global South. This sits alongside an increasing focus within international development on the subjective experiences of, and psychosocial dimensions of, poverty. In this talk I explore how ‘mental illness’ is made a reality in countries of the global South, via a particular focus on India, through the mapping of prevalence of ‘mental illness’ globally, and through the everyday work of non-governmental org

Our guest speaker this month will be Robert Smeath, who is a Partner at Clarke Willmott LLP law firm. He is coming to talk to us about wills and trusts, which can be a tricky area if you have a mental health problem, or a loved one in that position. The meeting will be on Wednesday 12 th February , at Manchester Carers Centre, starting at 6pm for tea and coffee, and ending at 7.45pm. If you are travelling by public transport, Manchester Carers Centre is a two minute walk from the New Islington Metrolink stop (Droylsden Line). Some of us meet at Piccadilly Station by the taxi rank at 5.30 and head up together. Text Lindsey on 07757 082 976 so we know to wait for you. If you are travelling by car, free parking is available on Pollard Street from 6pm.

The new year is suddenly upon us and it's time for another Rethink Manchester Carers in Action this Wednesday 8th January. Apologies for the short notice but it's caught me by surprise after the Christmas break! We'll be meeting at the usual time of 6-7.45pm, with drinks and light snacks provided. Our speaker this week will be Amy Degnan.  Amy recently joined Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust as a Senior Research Assistant and is based at Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, the University of Manchester.  Amy Degnan will talk about a research study she is managing, titled ‘Culturally-adapted Family Intervention (CaFI) for African Caribbeans with schizophrenia and their families: A feasibility study of implementation and acceptability’. The research study aims to develop a family therapy to improve African Caribbean patients and families’ access to evidence-based care. You can find out more about the study here  http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/projects/h