Wednesday 21st December marks the Winter Solstice. However, not many of us are aware of what this means and it's significance. To enlighten us Touchstone IAPT CBT therapist Paul P has written this wonderfully witty piece to bring attention to this time of reflection. Enjoy and happy solstice one and all. Winter Solstice. Aren’t they lovely words? They make me think of Bond films; of crisp snow-capped mountains, skis and
WY-FI runs regular Peer Mentor Training, to encourage people to pass on the benefit of their experience to others who may be struggling with similar circumstances. Using their own knowledge and lived experience of local services and recovery options, WY-FI Peer Mentors support and build up mentoring relationships. Because they’ve been through similar situations to the people they’re working with, they demonstrate that recovery is possible, and therefore can give
After contacting a service user whom we had not seen for a couple of weeks, we were informed that they had had no heating or hot water for three months (the weather was very cold at the time). The service user was in bed trying to stay warm and had given up. We encouraged the service user to visit the Winter Wellbeing Café; they had symptoms of hypothermia and a severe chest infection. A hot meal and clothing were given and emergency
Mrs M is 72 years old and lives in the Cleckheaton area of Kirklees. She recently lost her husband to a long term illness and was a carer for him, in addition to caring for her mother and a friend, both of whom passed away in the space of two years. Before going through bereavement and a difficult time, Mrs M had an active lifestyle; she enjoyed being an active member of the church and going to local social groups
The BME Dementia Service has had another busy and successful year which has included a number of diverse pieces of work, including: delivering one-to-one case management; facilitating the Dementia Café; awareness raising sessions; developing the work of Dementia Champions; raising awareness in Touchstone and working in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society in Calderdale. The key highlights for the year were: Delivered 17 awareness talks to 260 people from BME communities. Supported 52 people with dementia and their carers. Promoted the service at various events/conferences,
We have been going from strength to strength: making real changes in people’s lives where they are not only getting a chance to meet new friends and reduce their feelings of being alone, but also to learn new skills for dealing with their health better and receiving a range of one-to-one treatments. Many of our referrals state they have tried all the options available and are very happy to find something that really helps with their pain, mobility and anxiety. Recent evidence suggests
It is important to really get to know your volunteers. This means taking time to understand what they find satisfying about volunteering and any concerns they may have about the role or the organisation. Volunteers do get bored; they have other things going on in their lives. Volunteers Project has managed to sustain volunteers for more than one year. We support our volunteers by seeking to understand them, which will help us to: Revise roles to ensure they are still relevant and valuable
Touchstone works in partnership with Leeds Mind, Hamara, Barca-Leeds, Better Leeds Communities and Leeds Irish Health and Homes to deliver Social Prescribing Services in East, South and West Leeds. The Patient Empowerment Project (PEP) is commissioned by the Leeds West Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Connect for Health service by the Leeds South and East CCG. Social Prescribing services offer the following benefits: Improve the wider health and wellbeing of individual patients enabling them to self-manage own conditions. Work in partnership with
This is my story. I came to know about Touchstone Housing through a friend. My tenancy in the place where I was living was ending and this caused me a lot of stress and sleepless nights. Then this friend of mine introduced me to Touchstone and she gave me their number. I rang them and they just took me in, this was like a light shining into darkness. I met with this lovely lady who said she was going to
2015–16 was our second full year of delivering the combined IMHA (Independent Mental Health Advocacy) and community advocacy contract and having successfully secured additional funding we have been able to enhance our team and our service offer. We have recruited a new full time community advocate and as a result we have brought down our waiting list and waiting times. The IMHA service continues to provide vital support to people detained in hospital and we have seen referral numbers in this team