Blog

Interwoven Histories – Cha Da Cup group create silhouette portraits with Simon Warner and his antique chair

As part of part of Touchstone’s BME Dementia Service’s on-going partnership with Pavilion, artist Simon Warner delivered a workshop with the Cha Da Cup group who regularly attend Touchstone on Mondays to exercise,  share food, meet with friends and get involved in lots of different activities. Simon’s workshop was centred on creating silhouettes, an age-old art form which first became popular in the mid 1700’s due to the work of

2020-04-17T10:51:45+01:0025th January 2018|Art, Blog, Celebrating Age, Dementia|

Hamari Yaadain

Hamari Yaadain - Touchstone's monthly dementia cafe for people from the South Asian community - was recently featured on the Alzheimer's Society website and in their Living With Dementia magazine. The articles author quotes Ripaljeet Kaur (Touchstone's lead worker on dementia): "Groups like this one are really important for people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. It's run in their mother tongue, so people feel comfortable. It's the only group

2020-04-17T10:51:43+01:0019th January 2018|Art, Blog, Community, Dementia, Families|

Clients' Experiences of Touchstone IAPT

Coming into therapy for the first time can be daunting and it can be difficult to know what to expect. Some of our past clients have kindly answered some questions or written about their experiences of Touchstone IAPT to give an insight into what therapy is like and how it may help.  So if you are wondering if Touchstone IAPT can help you, we hope these stories will inspire you

2019-12-17T12:28:53+00:008th January 2018|Blog, CBT, Depression, Stress|

Report: Access and Experience of Mental Health Crisis Care Services in Leeds by Black and Minority Ethnic Communities

As part of the Leeds Crisis Care Concordat Action Plan for 2016/17, John Halsall of the Touchstone Community Development Service and Caroline Bamford of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust compiled some evidence about the experiences and patterns of use of the Leeds crisis care pathways by black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. To do this, John and Caroline reviewed data recorded by the statutory crisis services, and data

Interwoven Histories – Artist film workshop with Hamari Yaadain Dementia Café

As part of the Interwoven Histories Art workshops, Pavilion held a film workshop with members of Touchstone’s BME Dementia Service’s Hamari Yaadain Dementia Café. Will from Pavilion brought along a projector to the group and showed Nathaniel Dorsky’s 16mm silent film Autumn (2016).  Towards the end of 2015, Dorsky captured footage of the seasonal changes we see in the world around us and created this film, which explores the changing

2020-04-17T10:51:21+01:0020th December 2017|Art, Blog, Celebrating Age, Dementia|

THE WELL-BEAN CRISIS CAFÉ – HOPE IN A CRISIS BLOG – December 2017 – CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR EDITION

(Written by Matthew Hall – Well-Bean Café Support Worker) Christmas and the New Year Period can is usually a heightened time of enjoyment for a lot of people – building up to the end of the year with a sense of joy and freedom with family and friends. For a lot of people however – this is simply not the case…. The Festive Period for many can mean a time

2020-04-17T10:41:29+01:0018th December 2017|Blog, Crisis support|

Listen and Learn – Business Development

As an organisation Touchstone champions the values of inclusion and diversity, co-production, and quality and continuous improvement. As a team, the Business Development team are always looking for ways to discover and support the ideas of all the people we work with, and build relationships and partnerships that lead to better services for communities across Yorkshire that inspire and transform lives. As an individual I am always looking to learn,

2017-12-06T14:56:29+00:006th December 2017|Blog, Coproduction, Diversity, Feedback, News, Partnership|

Touchstone has been ranked number 1 in The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List

The long awaited Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers showcases leading organisations working across all strands of diversity. In recognition of their continued dedication to workplace diversity, Touchstone has once again been ranked first in The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List – which lists UK based organisations that promote inclusion across all protected characteristics, throughout each level of employment within an organisation. Powered by The Excellence in Diversity Awards, The Inclusive

2020-04-17T10:51:17+01:006th December 2017|Awards, Blog, Equality and Diversity, Leadership, News|

Interwoven Histories – Hamari Yaadain group design flags for their roots, culture & identity

We are pleased to share that Carol Sorhaindo ran another fantastic community workshop with Touchstone’s Hamari Yaadain Dementia Café members. This time, Carol used the resilient buddleja plant as inspiration to think about our roots, migration and what gives us strength in difficult or uncertain times. The buddleja plant, which is common in Britain and Asia is known for its ability to thrive and adapt to many different climates, and has unusually long, tough

2020-04-17T10:51:15+01:0027th November 2017|Art, Blog, Celebrating Age, Dementia|