As my time working for Touchstone comes to an end, I have been reflecting on my experience here and the things I have learnt. When I first started here last year, I had just finished university and this was my first paid experience working in a charity organisation. I remember being nervous and excited about all the aspects of my new job, but I was particularly wondering how I might
In April this year Touchstone BME Dementia Service partnered with Phoenix Health and Wellbeing to provide a year of massage therapy sessions for our Dementia Café members. Once a month, we have two therapists from Phoenix join us for an hour at the Café, and they provide a variety of different workshops for our group. Phoenix’s Health and Wellbeing sessions at our Dementia Café have been absolutely brilliant and the
Learn skills to protect from and overcome depression with a unique Islamic perspective! Our latest Depression Recovery Class is a free 6 week course which starts on Monday 17th September at Leeds Grand Mosque from 5.15-7.15pm. On the course you can learn to: Look after and improve your well-being Understand the common signs of low mood including common thoughts and feelings Learn techniques to improve how you feel Manage and
When I think about forgiveness, I automatically think about it in terms of something you do to someone else. It is an idea that is closely entwined with compassion and kindness and is an active decision to let go of the anger you hold towards someone for something you believe they have done wrong. The ‘Unforgiveness Hook’ metaphor by Stephen Hayes is a great illustration of forgiving others and proposes
As part of our Celebrating Age ‘Interwoven Histories’ project, Pavilion and Touchstone's BME Dementia Service partnered with Leeds Irish Health and Homes’ CHIME Art Group to deliver a three part workshop focusing on the groups ‘first impressions’ of Leeds when many of them migrated to England from Ireland. Prior to the workshops, Teresa who runs the CHIME group had encouraged everyone to write about, draw and collect photos and objects
Hamari Yaadain Dementia Café visited Hornsea for a day of relaxation, delicious food and time to enjoy the beach. We arrived just before lunchtime and stopped at a little café, where we shared food prepared by some of our group members. A feast of samosas, chapattis, curry and an array of homemade chutneys! Members of the group shared their homemade recipes and discussed different ways of cooking from their varied
Malala Yousafzai turned 21 on the 12th of July. A few months ago I popped into my local library at the Reginald Centre and walked out with a copy of a now 5-year-old book: “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban”. You may have read it yourself – a vibrant story of a father and his daughter and their
Dear colleagues Some of you are aware that over the past 6 -8 months, I have been working alongside Richard, Steve, Arfan and our consortium partners to audit and review the workforce diversity profile of Leeds IAPT. This piece of work is now complete and I’d like to share some of our findings with you. You might be wondering, why you? Well, from a personal perspective I had always been
Jim Leyland (Touchstone's Operations Director – Inclusion) talks about the work Touchstone does to ensure adequate safeguarding for our clients and their communities. I am really excited in Safeguarding Week to share the work we have been doing at Touchstone with Leeds Safeguarding Adults Board. We were asked to contribute a service user voice to the new Leeds Safeguarding Adults policy and procedure. Colleagues from the board, including the chair of
The Best Start Peer Support Programme aims to empower individuals and families about the relationships they have at home and with professionals, in order that they make healthier informed choices about their lives and therefore become better carers and parents producing healthy children, in line with the Best Start plan for the city. In year one, we received 152 referrals. We have successfully found our niche and created a programme