Blog

Touchstone’s Community Support Team (CST) works with people with severe and enduring mental health problems – many of whom have not been able to access support from other services. Using an assertive outreach approach, they meet with clients, helping them to recognise their own strengths and to use those strengths to set and achieve goals based on their own aspirations. The team provides 7 day a week support and seeks to develop a  collaborative, trusting

Touchstone is passionate about involving service users in all aspects of service delivery and planning.  We work together and we celebrate together. Roderic Morgan (Service User Consultant) reflects on the annual service user party in December last year.    The Touchstone Christmas Party for 2014 was held at the Sheepscar Club in Chapeltown on the evening of 18th December 2014. When I arrived around 6.30pm, preparations were being made and

Amrit Kaur from the Sikh Elders Service introduces the Winter Warmth scheme and shares some advice on staying warm and well as the weather gets colder...   Cold homes and dark winter months have a significant impact on people's health. One of the best ways of keeping yourself well during winter is to stay warm. Staying warm over the colder months is a good preventative measure against colds, flu or

Emma Goldsack from the housing team shares some advice on dealing with a tricky time of year...   Hi Everyone! As Christmas approaches, it is important to be aware that not everyone will be in a position to celebrate this year. In a world where we can find ourselves quite cut off from others there can be an increasing feeling of loneliness for vulnerable groups of people – when you

Did you know that 5th December is celebrated world-wide as the International Volunteer Day? Each year, millions of people around the world volunteer their time and skills to help make the world a better place. Volunteering not only helps improve the lives of others but also has a profound positive effect on the lives of people who give their time. If you haven’t volunteered yet but think you may wish

Every year from the 25th November (International Day to End Violence Against Women) till the 10th December (Human Rights Day) groups around the world campaign to highlight the high incidence of violence aimed at women and girls and encourage everyone to take a part of the responsibility for stopping it. Touchstone wants to stand alongside all those others, to offer support to victims and to those who want to

Fiona Venner, director of Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service, writes about dealing with the effects of shorter days and longer nights... When the clocks go back many of us may feel the urge to retreat under our duvets. For around two million people in the UK who suffer with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), coping with the winter months is a real challenge. SAD is a form of depression that