Today is Time to Talk day 2023. To mark this day, Steph, who works in Mentally Healthy Leeds and as an Anti-Stigma Champion, has put together the following blog. Time to Talk Day began in 2011, when the then Time to Change launched a four-week television advertising campaign to promote its new slogan: "It's Time to Talk. It's Time to Change." The campaign was fronted by a number of
In 2021 and 2022, Mentally Healthy Leeds carried out community research into bereavement and loss during the pandemic. The below insight report is the outcome of this research. To gather these insights, Touchstone worked with local organisations, including HOPE Bereavement Services and Leeds Bereavement Forum, to understand how the process of grief was affected by COVID restrictions, and capture the experiences of people in Leeds. Our research shows that
We know Winter can be a challenging time for many of us. If you need support over the festive break, there are places that can help. Our Winter Wellbeing booklets for the different areas we work in can be found below. They contain information about mental health support, domestic violence and abuse support, other key support, free community meals, food and energy support, and more. Please click on the
This week is Baby Loss Awareness Week. We know that so many people, including many at Touchstone, have experienced losing a baby, whether in pregnancy or shortly afterwards. To mark this, Yasmin, from our My Plan Perinatal Mental Health service, has put together some information about how they can support people who have experienced baby loss. Baby Loss Awareness Week is held annually to specially mark the loss of
In 2020, Kimberley, founder and manager of Leeds and Kirklees Well-Bean Crisis Cafes, experienced a car crash that led to her living with a condition called post-concussion syndrome. This condition describes a variety of symptoms caused by trauma to your brain or head, such as vestibular issues, disorientation, vertigo, short- and long-term memory issues, changes in mood, and difficulties with sensory processing. The effects of the condition caused Kim
As Baby Loss Awareness Week reaches its 20th year, a Touchstone staff member, Liz, wanted to share her experience of baby loss. Baby Loss Awareness Week is an opportunity to bring people who have been affected by losing a baby together as a community to share their experiences and feel less alone. If you would like support or to find out how to get support, please read on. Content
To mark World Suicide Prevention Day, our Touchstone colleague Laura has shared some key information on suicide in West Yorkshire and how to get support for anyone struggling with their mental health. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that suicide is more common in West Yorkshire than in England as a whole: 235 deaths registered by coroners as suicides in West Yorkshire in 2020, with an average of
Today is Grief Awareness Day, a day mostly marked in the US but recognised and observed by some in the UK and elsewhere too. Quenby, Community Health Development Analyst at Mentally Healthy Leeds, has taken this opportunity to raise awareness around the complexity of grief and the need to make room for this in person-centred care. I’ve been thinking a lot about grief over the past year. I’ve spent
To mark World Breastfeeding Week, Jayne, from Touchstone’s My Plan Perinatal Mental Health service, has put together some information on breast and chest feeding* and perinatal mental health. 20% of women are affected by mental illness either during pregnancy or in the 12 months after giving birth, which is known as the perinatal period. Many trans and non-binary parents, who may not identify as women, also report mental health
This Love Parks Week 2022, the Coordinator of our Perinatal Mental Health Peer Supporter Alliance, Clare, has shared her thoughts on the importance of parks to parents' mental health. She has also co-ordinated some key info of park-based projects parents can get involved with across West Yorkshire: My daughter was born in early January. It was cold and dark. January often feels like a month with no hope –