I grew up in a house full of books and for a good few years I used to volunteer for a bookshop run by Oxfam in Headingley and now I spend some time most weeks in libraries in Leeds. I am fully of the belief that no form of storytelling is better than reading a book – so intimate but so able to be shared. Writers allow you to travel
Victoria Louise "Vicky" Beeching (born 17 July 1979) is an English musician and religious commentator. She is best known for her work in the American contemporary worship music genre, and has been described as "arguably the most influential Christian of her generation" due to of her Twitter following and appearances on BBC's Thought for the Day. Vicky Beeching is an avid blogger, writing on many difficult Christian issues
When I first saw that 22nd February is World Thinking Day, as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist my ideas immediately turned to thinking styles, challenging unhelpful thoughts and… well, all things CBT. However, I am not going to write about those things here because World Thinking Day is not about any of that! It is in fact about recognizing the power of our thoughts to create a positive change in the
To mark LGBT History Month 2018, Touchstone is profiling different LGBT role models during the month of February. This week we are proud to tell you about a fantastic film maker and comedian - Lewis Hancox who has featured in Stonewall’s Come Out For Trans Equality campaign. Here are Lewis’s own words, reproduced from Stonewall’s campaign website http://www.stonewall.org.uk/people/lewis-hancox “I'm Lewis and I identify as male. I’m a filmmaker and a comedian
The first time I heard about Random Acts of Kindness Day was about 15 years ago. I remember thinking 'this is so cool, it's nice to have an excuse to be kind to a stranger'. Now, I know, some of you don't need an excuse. You may already exude naturally excessive levels of kindness that just radiate from your body. Other are more like me, kind and generous at heart
Connect for Health Leeds is a social prescribing service delivered by Leeds Mind, in partnership with Touchstone, Hamara, Barca-Leeds, Leeds Irish Health and Homes and Better Leeds Communities. Connect for Health assesses each individual’s needs and takes into account the challenges you are facing, before supporting you to access a personalised selection of local groups and activities which could help you achieve positive mental health. Here are 3 case studies
Touchstone's BME Dementia Service has featured in Leeds Older People's Forum's Dementia Friendly Newsletter. The newsletter features two of the projects the BME Dementia Service are working on at present; the Interwoven Histories project in partnership with Pavilion, and our West Yorkshire Playhouse partnership in which we are writing a play about the lives and experiences of our Hamari Yaadain Dementia Cafe members, as part of their Every Third Minute
Drew Barrymore Drew Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an actress, producer, writer, and director. As a child actress, she became well-known for her performance in E.T.. Since then she starred in many films and, along with Nancy Juvonen, has started her own production company, Flower Films. In 2003 in and interview with Contact Music she acknowledged that she is and always has been bi. Debra Kolodny Debra Kolodny is
To celebrate LGBT History Month in February 2018, Touchstone will profile an LGBT person each week. We are choosing to profile Harvey Milk once again as 2018 is the 40th anniversary of his murder and his remarkable life is being commemorated this year by the LGBT History Month organisers http://lgbthistorymonth.org.uk/ Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office