I have been a carer for my mother, who was suffering from severe depression, for over 10 years. I came in contact with Touchstone during that time as a service user; my experience as a service user of Touchstone was exceptional. I found that they were very informative, helpful and understanding. Redundancy came up at my work place and I jumped at the opportunity. I wanted to do something in
Touchstone’s vision is to inspire communities and to transform lives. Over our 30 plus years of operating across West Yorkshire this aspiration has led us to focus on the hopes, experiences and outcomes of our most diverse communities, as experience shows that these communities are most often the most excluded, marginalised and overlooked. These reports will hopefully go some way to ensuring the rights and entitlements of Roma men and Black women born out
A client who recently attended a Stress Control Class has found the course so helpful that he wanted to share a poem about how he was feeling before accessing therapy. He has then provided a summary about his amazing success since engaging with Leeds IAPT. If you can relate to how he is feeling, please don't hesitate to call on 0113 8434388 to review whether Leeds IAPT can provide you with
In 2015, the Touchstone WY-FI BME team carried out a piece of research as part of WY-FI’s Action Learning Research project. You can see a copy of the report here which captures the investigation methodologies, findings and recommendations as well as other resources you may find valuable. The research looked at the experiences and challenges faced by BME communities and individuals across West Yorkshire when engaging with services around multiple and complex needs. In
To mark Trans Day of Visibility (31st March) we profile the life of a pioneering trans activist. Sylvia Rivera, who was of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan descent, was born in New York City and named Ray Rivera by her parents. She became an orphan at 3 years old and was then raised by her Venezuelan grandmother, who disapproved of Rivera's effeminate behaviour, particularly after Rivera began to wear makeup. As
By Sally P The one thing that we all strive for in our lives is to be happy. There are lots of ways that happiness impacts on how we feel; including our health, our levels of creativity and even how much we experience physical pain. One study found that happiness, optimism and life satisfaction are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. We also know that there is a
To mark World Poetry Day, we're sharing a poem by Adam Lowe, written in the street slang language of Polari. The poem (and accompanying glossary were featured as Poem of the Week in The Guardian on 12th October 2015. Aunt nell the patter flash and gardy loo! Bijou, she trolls, bold, on lallies slick as stripes down the Dilly. She minces past the brandy latch to vada dolly dish for
To celebrate LGBT History Month in February 2016, Touchstone will profile a significant figure from LGBT history each week. Adeline Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. Between the two World Wars, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals.
John Halsall from the Community Development Service presents the second in a series of data blogs - examining the meaning behind reports and statistics from various sources. You can read his first blog here. In January 2016 the Health & Social Care Information Centre published two chapters in the Health Survey for England, 2014: Chapter 2: Mental health problems Chapter 3: Attitudes towards mental illness This short article highlights
By Geraldine M Monday 8th February 2016 is the day many people will be saying ‟Gong xi fa cai” (pronounced, roughly, ‟gong she fars eye”) - the Chinese greeting for ‟Happy New Year” - meaning ‟Be happy, get rich”. …to which the response is often ‟Hong bao na lai” (‟hong bow na lie”) which means ‟Where’s my red envelope?” since a red envelope with money inside is a