Samantha Powell leads on the work with Refugees and People Seeking Asylum within the Community Development Service and has written an article to explore some of the barriers they face when accessing services. Since 1999 Leeds has been a main dispersal area for people seeking asylum in the UK. Lots of communities have settled, and continue to be dispersed to Leeds from all over the world. The biggest groups are
In the Community Development Service here at Touchstone we aim to achieve a greater understanding and ownership of mental health issues facing Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in Leeds. For World Statistics Day on 20th October, John Halsall, Community Health Development Analyst, has written the first in a series of data blogs. Please take a few minutes to take a look Mental health services do not report ethnicity for one in eight
“I'm going to talk to you tonight about coming out of the closet, and not in the traditional sense, not just the gay closet. I think we all have closets. Your closet may be telling someone you love her for the first time, or telling someone that you're pregnant, or telling someone you have cancer, or any of the other hard conversations we have throughout our lives. All a closet
As a Stonewall Diversity Champion, Touchstone is committed to improving the lives of LGBT people both in the workplace and wider community. Which is why we want to pass on these practical tips about how best to celebrate Black History Month from Stonewall’s Josh Willacy. Black History Month has been celebrated every October in the UK for over 35 years. We know that LGBT people who are black, Asian or minority
Here at Touchstone, we like to eat cake! So celebrating Bi-Visibility Day on 23rd September will be a great opportunity to also eat our favourite food. Another reason to support Bi-Visibility Day is that whilst the profile of Gay, Lesbian and Trans people is at last on the up, the visibility of the Bi community is much less so. Bi-Visibility or Bisexuality Day is the brainchild of three American bisexual
To mark World Alzheimer's Day (21st September), Ripaljeet Kaur has provided this case study of one of the clients supported by Touchstone's BME Dementia Service Mrs B was referred into the service by another organisation. She lives with her daughter-in-law, who is her full time carer, as well as her son and grandson. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2005 and never accessed any support since then. She is very
Touchstone's Community Development Service has produced this video to explain the work of the Migrant Access Point project, empowering community members to improve access for their communities to services in Leeds. Migrant Access Point Project in 4 minutes from Touchstone on Vimeo.
Vanysha Sahota from Touchstone's Community Development Service wrote this article to mark International Friendship Day - and to talk about the role of friendship in personal and family life. When I think about the word ‘friend’, images of certain people take over my mind along with memories of good and bad times. Many people who have passed through my life, I have called my friends, from nursery and primary
Listen to Dr Sewa Singh Kalsi and his wife Hardeep Kaur Kalsi and their experiences of what it is like living with dementia. Video by West Yorkshire Police.
This video from Leeds Involving People features June from Rothwell talking about her life with dementia, with illustrations of how groups in Leeds, including Touchstone, are working to become dementia friendly.