I imagine that Touchstone is full of people like me who see some litter that needs picking up or something else that concerns them and they can’t quite walk past and ignore it. Over a long period I have been aware of protests happening outside clinics where women can access abortions but for some reason I had never known that protests were happening in Leeds until I saw one for
Our Spring artist will be SIMON LEWIS. See a picture of him at work on our walls in the IAPT training room. He lives in Leeds, not far from the support centre, working as an illustrator and printmaker. The range of his work varies from detailed black and white ink drawings, drawings combined with digital media, screenprints, drypoint etching and other forms of printmaking and tends to focus on architecture and streetscenes often using screenprinting to add
“Even a bad cup of coffee is better than no coffee at all” It is fair trade fortnight for a few more days and, in the Touchstone IAPT team in the Fairtrade City of Leeds, we have been inviting visitors to our offices to share a cup of freshly brewed fair trade coffee. I am a daily black coffee drinker and I have long sympathised with the David Lynch quote at the top of
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