Rethink Mental Illness Manchester Group

We'll be meeting this Thursday 8th August at the usual time of 6 -7:30pm at the Old Bank Building on Hanover Street in the city centre. All welcome - just turn up, there's no need for a referral or to let us know in advance (unless you'd like to). Our speaker this month is Emily Eisner, a PhD Researcher running a study called ExPRESS:2. She is based at the Clinical Psychology Department of the University of Manchester. In her recent research, she tested out a smartphone app called ‘ExPRESS’, which aims to help people with psychosis stay well. You can read about it here . She is planning her next research study and would really value some input from people with lived experience of mental health issues, especially those with experience of psychosis and their friends and family. We also have a group social event coming up on Sunday 18th August. We'll catch a train out to Hebden Bridge, walk back along the canal to Todmorden then catch the train back to Manchester. Ple

We'll be meeting this Thursday 11th July at the usual time of 6-7:30pm at the Old Bank Building on Hanover Street in the city centre.  We will be running a short Annual General Meeting from 6:15 - 6:45. It's really informal and anyone is welcome to be there regardless of whether you're a regular to our meetings, or it's your first time. Feel free to email us if you'd like a copy of the AGM agenda.

We'll be meeting this Thursday 13th June at the usual time of 6-7:30pm at  the Old Bank Building on Hanover Street in the city centre.  THIS MONTH'S SPEAKER...we have Cathy Fortune who is  Arts and Culture Partnerships Coordinator at Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust. She works for a service called Recovery Pathways – Wellbeing through Art People and Places. See more here  https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/recovery-pathways   All welcome! No referral needed, just turn up.

We'll be meeting this Thursday 9th May at the usual time of 6-7:30 at the Old Bank Building on Hanover Street in the city centre, M60 0AB. THIS MONTH'S SPEAKER... I'm really pleased to say that we have Paul Baker coming along to our meeting this month to talk some of the projects he has been involved with recently. He will talk mainly about setting up a Recovery House and Recovery Learning Community in Trieste, Italy. He has recently worked on: Working with parents and family members on their own recovery journeys  Developing a Hearing Voices Network in Brazil  Working with Mental Health Trusts and Health Boards Paul is currently Secretary of the International Mental Health Collaborating Network and has so much experience to share with us. SOCIAL DATE FOR YOUR DIARY Sunday 18th August: we plan to take the train out to Hebden Bridge and have a leisurely walk along the canal towpath to Todmorden, where we'll pick up the train to Manchester. All welcome. More

Information below about a study being carried out by researchers at the University of Manchester... Have you experienced psychosis? Are you interested in psychosis research? Take part in an online research study to help us understand the psychological processes that influence psychotic experiences. - People with experiences of psychosis (e.g. feeling suspicious or paranoid, hearing voices or seeing things other people cannot) can take part - Chance to win one of four high street shopping vouchers - Complete an online survey with questionnaires (around 30-45 minutes) - Results will inform psychological therapies for distress related to psychosis Your responses will be kept confidential and anonymous. Link to the survey: https://www.psych-ssl.manchester.ac.uk/survey/ppp/ For more information, please contact one of the researchers at the University of Manchester: amy.degnan@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk or charlotte.humphrey@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Sharing details of an event coming up in Manchester in case of interest... Working to Recovery presents: Creating Safe Places for Recovery: A one-day Seminar with Alison McCabe (Reeves) and Karen Taylor. This is a 1-day Seminar for commissioners, mental health service managers/staff, housing support managers/staff, mental health workers, community development workers, family members, allies and people with lived experience. Manchester - Thursday 27th June 2019 (other locations - see link) More details and booking here . THE DAY In this one-day seminar Karen and Alison will explore their experiences of running Crisis and Recovery Houses. There is much interest at the moment of how we can create alternatives to hospital admission and treatment. During the morning they will share their experiences, what worked - the afternoon will be exploring in groups what they would envisage the perfect safe space for recovery could be.  Alison ran the very successful Anam Cara for 7 years a

We'll be meeting next Thursday 11th April from 6 - 7:30pm at the Old Bank Building on Hanover Street in the city centre.  THIS MONTH'S SPEAKER... We're really lucky to have Dr Hayley Gorton back to talk with us about her work. Hayley is a researcher and community pharmacist. She is coming back to talk to us about her work on community pharmacy supporting people with their mental health. Her work focuses especially on suicide prevention and pharmacy. She will tell us more about the work she has done since she last visited us two years ago. FOLK TRAIN SOCIAL TRIP - THURSDAY 25TH APRIL All group members are invited to our first social event of the year - a trip on the Folk Train from Manchester Piccadilly station to Glossop.  The train will leave at 6:59pm and you'll have the option of arriving back at Piccadilly for either 9:54pm or 10:21pm.  We will cover the cost of the return train ticket, food from a local takeaway, a soft drink and the donation for the

We'll be meeting this Thursday 14th March from 6 - 7:30pm at our new venue - the Old Bank Building on Hanover Street in the city centre. Anyone affected by mental illness is welcome to come along. You don't need a referral. Hot drinks and biscuits provided. See attached for venue information including directions & travel information. It's really close to the last MadLab venue at PLANT Noma. If you have any problems finding the new venue please give me a call or text on 07546 928326. NEW LEAFLETS AND POSTERS We have some new posters and leaflets with new venue information on. Please email us on rethinkmanchester@gmail.com if you'd like electronic or hard copies for display.

A regular Rethink Mental Illness group will be starting up again in Wilmslow, beginning on the 21 st  February, followed by meetings on the first Thursday of each month from 7 th  March.  Rethink Mental Illness supports over 130 local peer support groups in England which are run by people with their own experience of mental health issues and/or their carers and family members. The groups provide empathy, acceptance and reassurance and are a place where people can share experience and receive guidance from peers in similar situations. The groups also provide an opportunity for information and for members to increase their self-confidence. Anyone who has personal experiences of mental illness can attend the group. Meetings are at Wilmslow Library, South Drive, SK9 1NW. For more details contact Matthew Hyndman, tel 07767163381 or email matthew.hyndman@rethink.org

We'll be meeting this Thursday 7th February from 6 - 7:30pm at our NEW venue - the Old Bank Building on Hanover Street in the city centre. We're meeting a week earlier than usual due to half term holidays. Back to the second Thursday of every month from March onwards. As usual, all welcome. No speaker this month, just a chance to get to know our new venue. We've got a pretty smart meeting room! New venue for 2019: Old Bank Building, Hanover Street, M60 0AB By tram The nearest tram stop is Shudehill , just 2 minutes away. By bus The nearest local bus station is Shudehill/Thomas Street, for visitors coming from North Manchester. For other local buses, Manchester Piccadilly Bus Station is just 10 minutes walk away. By train Old Bank Building is a 2 minute walk from Manchester Victoria station and a 15 minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly. The entrance is on Hanover Street – on the left near the bottom if you are walking up Hanover Street from Victoria Station

Instead of our regular meet up, this Thursday 10th January we'll be holding a pottery workshop run by ceramacist Laura Negus. We still have a small number of spaces left - BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL. Places are on a first come first served basis - please email ASAP if you'd like to come. The pottery workshop will take place from 6 - 8pm at Old Bank Building on Hanover Street, very close to Shudehill metrolink. If you've already booked I'll be in touch with more details. We will not be holding our regular meeting this month.  We'll be back from February at our NEW venue - the Old Bank Building on Hanover Street...more details to follow next month.