At Touchstone, we believe everyione 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 about
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
From the 1st April 2012, if you have an individual keyworker with a Touchstone service you will find that your records will be kept on a new computer system called PSOCC. This new system is password protected, kept safe behind a computer firewall and only open to staff who work for Touchstone that have a right to see your details. The information is stored securely and like your current written
Touchstone offers services to people from many different communities and countries. To help people access the information on this website, we've added a tool from Google Translate to the front page. Pick the language you need from the list and click "Translate". (Translations are done by machine, so may not be perfect. However, they will help you to get an idea of what we're all about.) Meanwhile, we're working on
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 Silver (manager of Touchstone's Community Support Team) and I met Madeline Lasko from Stonewall on 24th February to go through our performance and understand how we can improve further and achieve our objective of becoming
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 to
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 part
Giving Voice is a life-enhancing self-help tool. It involves learning to use song to promote your own health and happiness. In this short course, you will learn and practice how to use Giving Voice in your own life. Benefits may include better health, joy, peace, connection, sharing and fun. You don’t need any experience or confidence in singing – in fact, lack of it can be an advantage! You can
On 22nd December, Yorkshire Evening Post published an article on services for older people in Leeds, including the following extract about Sundar Mann dementia cafe... In Harehills, mental health charity Touchstone in partnership with Leeds Memory Service and others runs a dementia café, giving members of the south Asian community who have dementia, and their carers, a chance to come together to socialise. Community development worker Hafizur Hussain said about