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Ash Villa will get a ‘power up’
Artists Katie Smith and Kate Genever secured funding from Arts Council for their Power Up creative venture. They will work with young people, staff and parents at Ash Villa to develop art pieces based on stories of resilience and living with mental health problems.
Katie and Kate will look at the ideas of ‘powering up’ – concept of self-abilities. They will see what strategies young people can develop to ‘power up’ in challenging situations.
Katie Brown, Art Psychotherapist at Ash Villa is looking forward to working with the artistic duo. “Over the next few months we will be engaging with patients and carers to find out what it means for them to ‘power up’ and how it can help them become stronger in life outside of the ward.”
Recovery College - new locations, new courses, new opportunities
The team at Recovery College has been busy developing new courses such as ‘Words into Actions’ which looks at translating ideas and hopes into realistic goals.
The college is also expanding its offer in Stamford thanks to support from Mindspace and New College Stamford. Some evening courses will now be available, which should allow more people to attend and take charge of their own mental health.
You can have an active role in spreading the word about the college by becoming a recovery champion. Karen Atkin, service development manager said: “We are looking for patients, service users, carers and people who have interest in mental health to help us tell everyone what’s on offer”. More information about the role is available on our webpage or by emailing recoverycollege@lpft.nhs.uk
Celebrating 70 years of the NHS
The Trust would like to use this opportunity to celebrate the hard work and commitment of staff and volunteers, by profiling their skills, experience and successes, whilst recognising the challenges faced.
In December, the first planning group took place which brought together ideas that included the following:
- 70 mile cycle around our services, this is open to anyone, even if you only want to join for a few miles
- Big7Tea' tea parties, this could be on the ward, or as part of your lunch break with your team
- Wearing NHS blue on 5 July
- #NHS1000miles challenge run, walk, swim or cycle 1000 miles during 2018
- Fundraise for Charitable Funds
The celebrations could involve patients, carers, staff and more.
If you’d like to get involved please contact communicationslpft@lpft.nhs.uk
If you want to read more about NHS70, please visit the NHS England website where they have lots of information and resouces.
Christine gets a royal nod of approval
Christine, service user from Skegness, has been writing books and stories for many years. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much luck in getting her work published until recently when her writing has been noticed by a self-publishing company.
“Caroline’s Adventures: The Butterfly, The Frog, The Lost Reindeer”, published in 2016, is children’s story of journey including pixies, elves and a golden castle. Christine was enormously proud of her achievement and she decided to send a copy of her book for Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Lo and behold, a few months later, she has received a letter back from Kensington Palace thanking her for her gift and stating that the children enjoyed the story.
Christine keeps writing and she is now working on further novels including sequel to “Caroline’s Adventures” and a Halloween themed story.
Ain’t no scrapping them now
The machines, previously used by the Trust’s joinery team, had been sitting dormant in a workshop. The Estates Team decided that it was time to find a better home for the industrial saws, mortise machines, dust extraction system and other equipment. The idea of gifting the equipment to Hill Holt Wood was brought to John Clarke, Associate Director of Estates and Facilities Management at LPFT by his daughter Amy, who is on a training programme with the social enterprise.
John said: “We strongly believe in sustainability, helping people to recover from mental ill health and giving service users purpose in life by learning new skills and getting into a work environment. Supporting Hill Holt Wood is a perfect fit, as their training programme benefits many young people locally, including my daughter.”
Passport to wellbeing
Children and young people only have to tell their story once thanks to a Wellbeing Passport developed by our North East Lincolnshire mental health service.
Laura Hall and Laura Wivell came up with an idea of a document which young people and their families would fill together and take to appointments. The idea won monies from LPFT’s Innovation Fund.
“I like how you can draw and design your passport, as if you were drawing and designing a book,” said one of the young people. “The layout makes it much easier and personal and less serious looking”.
“We had feedback that the passport makes the process of coming to appointments more child friendly from the start,” said Laura Wivell. “Young people know what they’re coming into and it makes it less medical.”
Sadly, Laura Hall, passed away last year but she was able to complete this great project that is already making a difference to many children and young people.
Sing For Fun with LPFT and the Parkinson’s Society
LPFT has partnered with Parkinson’s UK to create a Sing for Fun group aimed at people with Parkinson’s disease, as well as carers and partners, but it is also open to those who feel they would benefit. The group is free of charge, relaxed and sociable, with no singing experience needed. It is held fortnightly on a Wednesday from 13:30 – 15:30 at the Council Offices in North Hykeham.
Occupational Therapist, Jacky Tyson, has been running the group alongside the Chairman of the Lincoln branch of Parkinson’s UK, Neville Wright.
Jacky said “There is considerable research highlighting the benefits of singing, specifically for people with Parkinson’s disease. Singing provides a way for people and their carers to express themselves and socialise in a fun and supportive group.”
New Volunteer Coordinator joins Trust
New Volunteer Coordinator, Jacky Secker joined the Trust in the New Year and is looking forward to offering a wide range of new opportunities for volunteering and encouraging even more people to get involved.
Jacky, who previously worked for Lincolnshire County Council, as the manager for the local Duke of Edinburgh's Award has a passion for volunteering and is hoping to bring her skills from working with young people and Department of Education volunteers as a new dimension to the volunteer coordinator role.
Over the next few months Jacky will be visiting existing volunteers to introduce herself and also be speaking to local services and other agencies to identify any new volunteering roles.
The Trust is hoping to really expand it’s volunteering in local services, and will be launching a new recruitment campaign later this year for those who might be interested in giving something back to local services. Look out for more details in future issues of Better Together.
Spread the word – tell others to become a member
Help us raise awareness of mental health and services available locally. Tell your friends and family about our Trust and that they can become a member.
We want to deliver services with local people, rather than give them what we think is best.
As a member you and others can choose to
- receive regular information and updates
- give us your views
- vote in elections for Trust’s governors
- stand in elections yourself
We have three types of membership:
- Public – open to anyone living in Lincolnshire or surrounding areas
- Service user – open to anyone who has used LPFT services in the last five years
- Carer – open to anyone who cares for someone with a mental health or learning disability problem
For more information go to www.lpft.nhs.uk/membership
See who represents you and tell your governors your views www.lpft.nhs.uk/governors there will be a number of seats coming for election in 2018 so get involved!
