A Dream We call for freedom But She isn’t present today We scream loud like banshees But freedom didn’t live on our streets Painted like a dreamer on crack Addicted to optimism. But this Isn’t A dream And there is no rehab for nightmares When they follow you everywhere. Imprisoned Racists stealthily haunts us Like a cancerous tumour That takes your breath away Like Taeniasis Feeding Every breath you take
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzLe5a8iTkc&t=6s
Black History Month has sparked some great conversations about racism and white privilege during October. Some people have moved from conversation to action. Touchstone set up it’s own anti-racism library for staff as part of our BLM commitments, if you would like to support Danni’s campaign to set one up for people to borrow from in Leeds, here is the fundraising page - https://gf.me/u/y2av3x
For the last few months as part of the Black Lives Matter movement we have been having a lot of conversations, discussions and meetings about what this means to us as individuals and practitioners. Nicole Connor, Touchstone staff: “A few years ago I started my own journey of understanding and reflection on racism and white privilege. In the last few months amidst the murder of George Floyd and the resurgence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdum5Gzmu98 Simone’s mum, Mabel Stephenson guides us through a cooking tutorial of Ackee and Saltfish, one of that national dishes of Jamaica. Since the pandemic Mabel has been using her love of cooking Caribbean food to bring something new to her local community and once a month does a ‘Cook up’ for neighbours on a nearby residential street. This monthly event has bought these neighbours closer together and has given
Dyslexia Week is an annual event to raise awareness of dyslexia. Please follow the link below to read an article by Tony Lawson who works for the Ask 4 Advocacy service. Dyslexia - Notes and powerpoints
To celebrate BHM, Leeds Mind and Touchstone staff met to talk about their own experiences of being Black, the impact of BLM and their hopes for a better world – and the music is brilliant too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hacRa_WmCUk&feature=youtu.be
For Black History Month, our CEO and her mum talked about interracial marriage, love, family and Leeds on BBC Radio Leeds. Follow the link to listen - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08v12ng
My name Is Paul Parker, I’m a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy therapist with Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service, Touchstone. This is the first occasion that I have contributed towards Black History month. In previous years, I have dipped in and out of events as an observer but I haven’t known much about where the movement came from. I remember one year, as a family we enjoyed an African heritage based fashion show
THE WELL-BEAN CRISIS CAFÉ – HOPE IN A CRISIS LEEDS BLOG: OCTOBER 2020 – WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 10TH OCTOBER 2020 – (Written by Matthew Hall – LSLCS Crisis Support Worker at WBC) Saturday 10/10/20 marks World Mental Health Day, with the theme of the event this year being ‘mental health for all’ – and here at the Well Bean Café – we feel everyone should be able to access