Touchstone and the Together Women Project are pleased to announce that they have come together in partnership to deliver a new project for women with mental health problems. The Impact Project will reduce the use of custody for women who offend by providing courts with a credible package of measures enabling the use of community sentences for women with identified mental health needs. Over the next two years, we
Touchstone's Annual General Meeting will take place on the 7th of December 2012 at White Rose Banqueting Suite. Our Guest Speaker this year is Peter Tatchell. Please join us to celebrate 30 years of Touchstone. Please click on Touchstone AGM invite 2012 to find out more.
Around 18 million people in the UK live with a long-term conditions and this number is expected to double by 2030. Within Leeds over the past 8 years we have developed a unique intervention designed to empower people living with long-term conditions to lead more fulfilling lives. The Positive Care programme offers a unique mix of therapies, workshops and replicable self-management tools which enable participants to take control of their
I have participated in the Touchstone Positive Care Programme for the past 5 months. This amazing course combines 1 to 1 complementary therapy (e.g. reflexology, acupuncture, shiatsu, Indian head massage, healing) group activity (e.g. tai chi, meditation, Alexander technique, breathing) and group workshops (e.g. "lifting your spirits", "positive steps", "being friends with your body", "mind, body and spirit"). I had been going regularly to the Thursday night session at
At Touchstone, we believe everyone has a right to be respected, no matter who they are, where they are from, or the experiences they have had. Sadly, admitting to having difficulties with how you feel, is still a problem for many people. This is why Touchstone is committed to challenging the misconceptions and stereotypes which have grown up around mental distress, and which make recovering from hard times even harder. Read some more
The following excerpts are from interviews taken with Positive Care Programme clients as they neared the end of their time with the Programme. Mac: "Be totally open minded about it and get as much out of it as you possibly can." Marie: "Knowing I was coming here just gave me the incentive to get up." Alan: "The Positive Care Programme has really helped me and it's given me a lot
By Alison Lowe - Touchstone Chief Executive and LGB Champion I am delighted to announce that Touchstone has improved 42 places in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index and we are now ranked 170 out of 363 employers. Jay (current manager of the Community Support Team) and I met with staff from Stonewall on 24th February to go through our performance and understand how we can improve further and achieve our
Working in partnership with the West Yorkshire Probation Trust, Touchstone is improving the employability of offenders with mental health issues through the Step Change project. Mental health has been identified as a barrier into employment, education and training among ex-offenders. People are often marginalised and can fall through the net. In addition to employability-building, a large part of our work is to identify ex-offenders' mental health support needs and refer them
Sikh Elders Service have just published their seventh newsletter, including news about "Nice Cup of Tea" - a social and art project that a number of service users took part in "Voice of Sikh Elders" - a community consultation event at Ramgharia Sikh Centre on 8th March Yoga classes, swimming lessons and aqua aerobics Photos from the celebration of International Day of Older People Notes on Personalisation and how it
In 1982, a drop-in centre “providing little else but support and a cup of tea” opened in South Leeds. That was the beginning of the charity now called Touchstone. Since those early days, we’ve been through many changes – now offering a diverse range of services to support the well-being of many people across West Yorkshire. Now that Touchstone is turning 30, we’d like to thank everybody who’s been