As businesses and communities prepare for Leeds Pride this weekend, we can expect to see a plethora of rainbow flags adorning the buildings of Leeds city centre. The flag has been a symbol of LGBT unity and strength for nearly 40 years – so much so, that we rarely think about what they flag’s origins might have been. In 1977, artist Gilbert Baker was asked by gay rights activist Harvey
Sikh Elders Service manager Chani Batebajwe describes the most recent outing organised for users of the service. SES went out on their annual trip on the 25th June to Whitby via Pickering on a steam train experience. Everyone, all 55 of them, attentively listened to the volunteer guide talking about the history of the railway and the area. At one time I thought I was going to see us riding on
Touchstone Support is fundraising for Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers Get ready for some more FUNdraising action with Tour De Touchstone 3: Rio's Revenge! On the 22nd July 2016, everyone will be invited to compete in 7 wacky events at each Touchstone site in the hopes of winning our First Place prize! Our nominated charity for this year is Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers who do
#LeadershipMasterclass with Richard McCann - @iCanInspire Richard McCann is a Sunday Times No1 Bestselling author. His first book, ‘Just a Boy’, has sold close to 400,000 copies and has been translated around the world. The BBC has made a film about him and he has an extraordinary life story. Brought up on the ‘At Risk’ register until his mother was murdered by the notorious Yorkshire Ripper, Richard went on a downward spiral.
As we approach the end of Ramadhan, Carers Leeds and Touchstone would like to share some information on what it means to observe Ramadhan and how it may affect the daily lives of carers and others. Ramadhan is the ninth month of the Islamic Lunar calendar. For 30 days Muslims spend the daylight hours in a complete fast (19 hours this year). Muslims abstain from all food and drink. Ramadhan
At our recent coproduction conference, we asked all the attendees to write down some of the words that they felt were most important when considering coproduction (design of services in a way which allows equal input from the people who use those services as well as those who deliver, fund or facilitate them). The finished list was used by poet Adam Montgomery to inspire the following poem, which we're publishing
Ripal from Touchstone's BME Dementia Service will be giving a presentation on Dementia Within BME Communities at the UK Dementia Congress, to be held in Brighton in 1-3 November: "the largest annual multi-disciplinary dementia-focused event and exhibition in the UK and the best opportunity for professionals to learn from and be inspired by others’ experience, make connections and build bridges towards best practice in their own localities". Key speakers at
We had an amazing turnout for the Co-production conference organised by Touchstone and Leeds Involving People and - appropriately - a great sense of involvement and collaboration. Below, we've collated the responses and photos that many attendees published to Twitter during or after the event. [View the story "Co-Production Conference" on Storify]
We all get stressed. The question is: what do you do about it? It matters because if we don’t release stress, it can turn into something more serious. This year, one in four of us will develop a mental health problem. That is odds of 3 to 1; or about the same as France or Germany winning the Euro 2016 football. In other words, it’s likely to happen sooner or
To mark the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week, a user of Touchstone's services shares a poem that describes some of her experience of living with mental illness. I've written poetry for as long as I can remember, having my first poem published at the age of 14. Since then I've had a poem published by Oxford University Press during my University days where I studied English Literature and