Rethink Mental Illness Manchester Group

We're meeting today,  Wednesday 8th March  at Manchester Carers Centre from  6 - 7:30pm .  We don't have any speakers booked so it's a chance for us to have a relaxed evening talking through any issues we'd like to raise. Bridge5Mill is easy to get to from the city centre - it's 5 minutes walk from Holt Town metrolink stop. There is parking on most streets around the Mill from  6pm . Directions for travelling by tram, on foot, by bike, bus and car are all available on the Bridge 5 Mill website here  http://www.merci.org.uk/drupal/visiting . As car parking isn't free until  6pm , as ever you're welcome to stroll in after 6 so you can get parked up without any bother. REMINDER that our  Spring social meet up is coming up next Thursday 16th March at 10:30 am.  Coffee (or drink of your choice!) and cake at Ziferblat cafe on Edge Street, Manchester, 10:30am, Thursday 16th March.  Ziferblat website:  http://www.ziferblat....

We'll be meeting this coming  Wednesday 8th February  at Manchester Carers Centre from  6 - 7:30pm .  Patrick Cahoon from the newly formed Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (what was Greater Manchester West and Manchester MH Trust combined) is coming to give us an update. Bridge5Mill is easy to get to from the city centre - it's 5 minutes walk from Holt Town metrolink stop. There is parking on most streets around the Mill from  6pm . Directions for travelling by tram, on foot, by bike, bus and car are all available on the Bridge 5 Mill website here  http://www.merci.org.uk/d rupal/visiting . As car parking isn't free until  6pm , as ever you're welcome to stroll in after 6 so you can get parked up without any bother. We'll be starting the meeting with a cuppa and a biscuit - h ope to see you there! Social events in the pipeline... Spring social meet up. Coffee (or drink of your choice!) and cake at Ziferblat...

Date:  Thursday, 8th December, 2016     Time:  2016:   09:00 - 16:30   Venue:   Community Essence, 51-53 Castle St, Stockport SK3 9AD  Hearing distressing voices is one of the most common experiences of people diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. However it is a common human experience and there are many people who live well with their voices or have learnt to do so.  This one-day seminar has been designed to provide a safe space for voice hearers, family members and practitioners to explore and better understand the experience of hearing voices and discover how voice hearers can live well with this experience. Learning Objectives: - Better understanding of hearing voices and what it is like for voice hearers - Understand the different beliefs and perspectives used by voice hearers to explain their experience including spiritual and cultural understandings - Understand the different and effective ways of coping with ...

We'll be meeting this coming Wednesday 12th October at Manchester Carers Centre from 6 - 7:30pm.  We have two visitors to welcome: - Stephen McAndrew who is a Trustee of our parent charity, Rethink Mental Illness. He's coming mainly to meet with us but also so we can find out a bit about what he does as a Trustee, and about Rethink. - Adelene O'Connor, a researcher, who is in the early stages of research into family members/carers experiences of supporting their relative who has decided to stop their prescribed medication. I know this won't apply to all of us but it's good to hear about current mental health research whatever the specialism. Bridge5Mill is easy to get to from the city centre - it's 5 minutes walk from Holt Town metrolink stop. There is parking on most streets around the Mill from 6pm. Directions for travelling by tram, on foot, by bike, bus and car are all available on the Bridge 5 Mill website here  http://www.merci.org.uk/d ru...

We'll be meeting this coming Wednesday 13th July at Manchester Carers Centre - usual start time of 6 but with a slightly earlier finish of 7:30. But one thing has changed...Manchester Carers Centre has moved to a beautiful new building, just slightly further up the road.  Bridge 5 Mill already hosts other third sector organisations and is also Manchester's most sustainable conference venue. It's easy to get to from the city centre being only 5 minutes walk from Holt Town metrolink stop. There is parking on most streets around the Mill.  Directions for travelling by tram, on foot, by bike, bus and car are all available on the Bridge 5 Mill website . If you were familiar with Manchester Carers Centre's previous location at Vulcan Mill, the new venue is a 10 minute walk further up Pollard Street, then a left turn onto Beswick St: Bridge 5 Mill is then about 1 minute's walk down Beswick St, on your left. We'll be starting the meeting with a cuppa and a bi...

Last week, Craig Harris came to talk to us about mental health commissioning in Manchester and his own personal interest in mental health. Craig is Chief Nurse and Director at Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups and keeps up his clinical work alongside various commissioning responsibilities, as well as Chairing the local charity Survivors UK. We raised some of the issues that we would like to see tackled as Manchester takes on a devolved health and social care model. Top of the list were greater transparency surrounding which GPs have a special interest in mental health; providing support and guidance for staff in interpreting and applying confidentiality rules; involving carers and service users, in particular using the Carers Trust Triangle of Care model. We also talked about emergency care including support for carers in an emergency, especially for individuals not already under the care of the Trust. Thanks go to Craig for a very down to earth and open discussion. Here's o...

Clinical Commissioning Groups commission a large chunk of our mental health services, and with wide-ranging changes planned to Manchester we are please to welcome Craig Harris, Executive Nurse & Director, North, Central and South Manchester NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups, as the speaker for our AGM next week. The AGM will take place next Wednesday, 11th May, from 6 - 8pm at Manchester Carers Centre, 12-18 Pollard Street, M4 7AN. For directions see below. No need to book - all are welcome. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Craig will talk to us about the current planned changes to mental health commissioning in Manchester, and about what motivates him to work in mental health. After qualifying as a mental health nurse in 2000, Craig worked in clinical practice until 2005. Since leaving full time clinical practice he has served as Executive Nurse for South Manchester CCG and held a variety of Clinical Commissioning posts including Head of Mental Health Joint Co...