Rethink Mental Illness Manchester Group

Here's a message we've received from Rethink that you might be interested in: Rethink Mental Illness is really concerned about cuts to mental health services, and we want to make sure the Government knows the impact these cuts are having on people affected by mental illness. We are compiling a report to raise awareness of this issue and to fight unfair cuts, and we urgently need our members, activists and supporters to tell us about how cuts have affected them personally. Your story could feature in our report, and we are also looking for people who would be interested in talking to the media about how they have been affected by cuts. This could mean having your name and photograph published, but if you would feel more comfortable to tell your story anonymously then that could also be an option. To tell us about how cuts to mental health services have affected you, please fill in our online form . We are particularly keen to hear about cuts to housing, crisis or inpatient s...

Are you affected by mental illness and concerned about budget cuts proposed by Manchester City Council? We are working with Irwin Mitchell solicitors to identify any individuals who are concerned that they will be badly affected by the budget cuts proposed by Manchester City Council. You may be an adult who is: experiencing serious mental health problem or has a physical or learning disabilities and is in receipt of income support the carer of someone in this situation or the parent of a child with physical or learning disabilities or mental health problems. If you are concerned that the proposed cuts might affect the support you receive we would like to hear from you. If you would like to discuss your situation with Irwin Mitchell on an informal basis please contact Mathieu Culverhouse on 0161 838 2390 or by email . Any information you provide will be treated confidentially. As a group we provide a meeting space, support and information for anyone affected by severe mental illness. We...

I've just skim read the Budget Proposals for Manchester City Council's Adults' Directorate , for 2011 / 12. Richard Leese, Leader of the Council, is quite clear that there will be some very, very hard cuts. With planned savings of £109m there's no way there wouldn't be. I'm very wary of drawing conclusions from a quick read of something, but here are the important bits that I could find relating to the provision of mental health services: Rates for mental health provision: projected saving in 2011/12 is £600,000; projected saving in 2012/13 is £600,000 - making a total projected saving over the next two years of £1.2 million. Ouch. Individual budgets (IBs)propose to restrict the cash IB offer, which will make efficiencies of £1.466m. Create an independent review team to promote independence and reduce dependency with savings identified as up to £1.92m. The budget settlement from central government reduces the Supporting People grant by 35% equating to a £12.6m r...

We're fortunate to have some fantastic third sector / civil society mental health organisations here in Manchester. One of these - YASP - which works with young people experiencing mental health problems, has just released a report about the huge challenges that young people accessing YASP services face. As well as drawing out the many difficulties that these young people including poverty, homelessness, debt and frequent harassment, young people talk about their difficult backgrounds including abuse, domestic violence and needing to seek asylum. Despite all of this, one of the biggest problem young people identify is loneliness. “It’s about lack of friends, lack of confidence, feeling singled out, paranoia about people, don’t know what people are thinking or thinking you are weird” – YASP Service User. “I have had no contact with my family in Angola and at first I was terribly homesick, and I still think a lot about things that happened to me in the past, but with the support and ...

While we all know that this is a tough economic climate, we want to make sure people affected by severe mental illness are not unjustly affected by cuts to mental health spending and services. Councils and health trusts are about to sign off their budgets. In order to build up a national picture of cuts to spending on mental health services, Rethink needs your help. We need volunteers to help us track what is happening across the Greater Manchester area. Please let us know what’s happening near you, by finding out what your council and local health trust’s new spending plans are for mental health. You can find out by: Checking your council and Primary Care Trust’s websites to see if information is readily available Calling your local council and ask them how you find out Asking your local PCT's Patient Advice Liaison Services (PALs) or Patient and Public Involvement team - for advice on how to find out about NHS plans for mental health in your area. If you have any information just...

Really sad news that The Roby , a centre that provides many different wellbeing and mental health services for the local community in Longsight, is facing a huge cut 86% in its funding income. Great quote from Ben Crouch, Director of The Roby, who says: "In my two years here at The Roby, we have directly supported and intervened when people have turned up on our door because they are on the brink of suicide or have been kicked out of their home and we have given them whatever assistance we can. They come to us because they know we are there because we’ve previously helped a family member of one of their friends. You can’t commission that." Tough times at the moment but mental health services can be seen as a soft target. With a common misconception that someone experiencing mental distress should just 'pull themself together', places such as The Roby can be viewed as a nice to have, rather than a need to have. The Roby is holding a public meeting on the 24th January...

This link highlights an online poll that Rethink are asking mental health service users, carers and staff to complete. It asks for your input on where services are being cut, which ones and by how much. It also asks for your opinion on what kinds of services could be cut if you absolutely had to pick one. Clearly this is a difficult decision, but it will help us to ensure that the most vital services are protected. Your support will enable Rethink to monitor where and how mental health services are being affected by cuts, which is vital for our campaigning. It will take just 2 minutes to complete and really will help Rethink to stop mental health being a soft touch for cuts.