Produced by Katie Toulmin - Peer Support & Volunteer Development Worker Hi All, Following in the footsteps of our SLT team, I wanted to share my reflections around the topic of loneliness, particularly whilst living with persistent/chronic pain. (4) Mental Health Awareness Week - Chronic Pain and Loneliness - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSZuP80ztAs
Written by Quenby Harley - Community Health Development Analyst – Data & Intelligence. Loneliness has always been difficult for me. While I enjoy time to myself as much as the next person, the feeling of being lonely or isolated is one of the main triggers for my depression. Building and maintaining connections to other people is absolutely crucial for my own mental wellbeing. It’s great to see this all too
When is Ramadan? The Islamic calendar is calculated according to the lunar cycles, so the month of Ramadan begins when the new moon is sighted. As a result, the start and finish times change from year-to-year, usually advancing 10 days earlier every year. Ramadan lasts for 29-30 days and ends with the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr. This year Ramadan is due predicted to start on 2nd April and will last until
Touchstone places at 20 in Stonewall list of Top Employers for LGBTQ+ people Touchstone was also placed second in their sector and achieved a Gold Award for their commitment and efforts in continuing to be an LGBTQ+ employer. Stonewall’s Top 100 employers List ranks organisations on their efforts and commitment to creating welcoming environments for their lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer staff. Organisations are ranked by a set of
Blog by Mark Robinson - Touchstone Business Development Officer As a Business Development Officer, I spend a lot of time writing about the services that Touchstone deliver. I usually get my information from our website, quarterly reports and from phone conversations with service managers. We are doing quite a bit of work around Crisis Cafes / Safe Spaces at the moment, so I thought it would be really useful to
A local network supporting men’s health is celebrating this week having been awarded over £300,000 by the National Lottery, as well as being nominated for a national Project of the Year award. Men’s Health Unlocked (MHU), a partnership between four local charitable bodies (Barca-Leeds, Forum Central, the Orion Partnership and Touchstone) and Leeds City Council, has received two years’ worth of funding from the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, to
The third Monday of January has been awarded the gloomy name 'Blue Monday' due to a combination of post-festive blues and cold dark nights. At Touchstone, we're challenging the title by asking our amazing service users, volunteers and staff what things they do to keep well. Let's turn this Blue Monday into a You Monday! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLlqEmO83SE Important websites and numbers: West Yorkshire mental health 24/7 support line, provides confidential
A few months ago, Arfan was involved in a national roundtable discussion hosted by the Civil Society discussing 'Co-Design' and 'Co-Production' and what these terms mean in reality. See below an excerpt from the article: After this year’s Charity Awards, Charity Finance invited a group of charities whose applications highlighted their commitment to co-production and co-design to share their experiences and learning. Tania Mason listened in. A strong theme that
I am delighted to announce that Touchstone have recently appointed 2 new Operations Directors (Dave Pickard and Sophie Hailwood) and Kathryn Hart as Deputy CEO to the Senior Leadership Team. Kathryn will continue to retain her HR Director role. After a period of significant change in senior leadership positions including my appointment as CEO in August 2021, Sharon Brown’s appointment as Business Development Director in January 2021 and Zoe Bridge’s
Alison Lowe, Touchstone’s previous Chief Executive Officer has been awarded an OBE for her services to mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Individuals from the worlds of sport, music, social care, the local community and local government are among those who have been awarded a string of honours in the Queen’s annual list, which recognises those who have gone above and beyond in their field and made a