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Shoreham & District Mental Health Association
Registered Charity Number 1114956 - Limited Company Number 5818997
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AAW Issue 2 - Autumn 2005
AAW Issue 2 can be viewed as a Adobe PDF file if you have Adobe Reader installed.
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The contents of this issue can also be read below.
index
AAW Newsletter - Issue 2
A holiday with a difference
Gardening Calendar
Great news for the over 65s
Stressbuster
An alternative approach to Respite Care
Taking a sabbatical
A holiday with a diffeernce
When
you think of going on holiday do you always think about laying on a
beach or an activity packed week somewhere exotic? Have you ever thought
about a holiday where you could help someone to enjoy a break who wouldn't
normally have a holiday? Well that is what Julian does.
Julian is a voluntary worker with West Sussex Association for the Disabled and each year they organise a holiday.
A holiday with a difference
The clients are people with a physical disability of mixed ages, although mainly elderly. Julian has been helping the Association since 1998 at their fortnightly meetings at Southwick Community Centre. The Association has a head office in Chichester who usually organise the holiday for all of the branches in West Sussex, but last year this did not happen so the Shoreham and Southwick branch organised their own holiday.
Usually they are five day breaks to Hayling Island but last year’s was to Eastbourne, which will be the destination this year for a seven day break this time. The holidays are quite large groups of 70 to 75 clients with 15 to 20 helpers, so it's a great opportunity to meet other people. The hotel has been vetted to make sure that they are able to meet the needs of the group. There are bingo nights, live music and a bar in the hotel.
Great escapes
Through the week there are 3 or 4 organised coach outings to places in East Sussex and Kent and on other days the volunteer helpers are all allocated to particular clients who they take out around Eastbourne. A lot of the people who go on these holidays live on their own so it is a chance to socialise and get away from their normal routine. Julian thoroughly enjoys the holidays although it can be hard work sometimes as you are constantly responsible for people and when anyone has a problem you need to be able to sort it out. When asked if he would recommend this kind of work to anyone else considering volunteering Julian said, "I'd strongly recommend it. You just need a bit of common sense, patience, to be helpful and get on well with a range of people".
Gardening Calendar
By
Mike Pegg, (City & Guilds in Horticulture)
Your gardening correspondent
JULY
- Pick of the month: summer Jasmine, special salvias, clematis viticella and lilies maponna.
- Marigolds can help to keep
tomatoes free from whitefly. - Select material for cuttings from
herbaceous plants and shrubs.
Insert cuttings into moist compost.
AUGUST
- Pick of the month: hydrangeas,
phlox, red hot pokers and mountain
ashes. - Now is the time for window boxes
and hanging baskets. - Beware of black spots on roses.
- Most hedges can be cut with
shears. - Collect fine seeds in paper bags.
SEPTEMBER
- Pick of the month: Japanese
anemone, autumn crocuses,
monkshood and asters - The narcissus plant will now bloom
for Christmas. - There is still time to sow a late
lettuce crop. - Sow seeds of colourful primulas like
primula auricular argus.
OCTOBER
- Pick of the month: Roses for hips,
Japanese maples, outdoor
dendranthemas and smoke bushes - Plant daffodil bulbs deeply enough
to avoid blindness. - Now is the time for the autumn task
of clearing the leaves. - Prune old rambler stems back to ground level.
Great news for the over 65s
The Graduate Club will now be overseen by Shoreham and District Mental Health Association following the closure of Adur Carers Association. It is hoped that soon the Old School House will be able to offer a service to the over 65s so this opportunity to oversee the Graduate Club is a step towards this, aiming ultimately to provide an ageless service.
The Graduate Club provides a service for people over 65 with a functional mental illness, which does not include dementia as those needs are quite different. People are referred by the over 65 Community Mental Health Team.
Tea, cake and conversation
The club meets once a week for a few hours offering social interaction and activities such as guest speakers, reminiscence about old sweets, songs etc, jokes, poetry and creative writing, with a break for tea and cake. The club is run by Dorrie Spencer, who has been involved for about 11 years now, who brings a great amount of energy, humour and enthusiasm to the club.
A bright future ahead
It is hoped that The Old School House will be able to offer an outreach service with complementary therapy and art sessions, and that some of the younger members will get involved. This is a great step in recognising that someone's needs do not change overnight because they have a birthday. When The Old School House moves to bigger premises hopefully the two services will be able to meet in the same premises, with a more integrated approach.
*** Update February 2006 ***
The Graduate Club is now being managed by Shoreham & District Mental Health Association. For more details, please see the Graduate Club page.
Stressbuster
If you're feeling the pressure of modern life and feel the need to unwind, what can you do to let off steam and get that chilled-out feeling back? Each issue, we'll be looking at different ways to bust that stress. Try them at home and let us know what you think.
Cycling
Sometimes I find cycling fun and sometimes stressful. When you're riding and someone walks out or a car cuts you up all you want to do is say some four letter words at them. When the weather turns nasty halfway round a cycle ride that can cause a fun ride to be a nightmare. But the feeling you get when you're pedalling like your life depended on it, your heart racing as you clock up miles and the feeling of achievement that you get after completing a 40 mile ride outweighs the stresses.
Stressbuster rating: 6/10
An alternative approach to Respite Care
More
often now it is being recognised that just putting someone in hospital
is not always the answer, particularly for an ongoing problem, and an
alternative approach may enable someone to stay out of hospital and
bring health improvements. So what exactly is respite care and why have
Shoreham & District Mental Health Association decided
to become involved?
This is the first time that SDMHA has been able to deliver a service beyond the Adur district as respite care will be a service provided throughout Adur, Arun and Worthing. It will provide a new opportunity, a challenge, being able to introduce development and progress by addressing a different type of need to that currently met by SDMHA at The Old School House. The purpose of the respite care service is to create a new, innovative way to meet people's needs which challenges the traditional respite care offered in the past. The service will be user friendly, offering an efficient, fast response and will be activity based as well as offering a break away from the home. The aim, in recognition of the fact that people's needs differ, is to identify times when respite care may be needed so that relapse may be prevented and to be able to plan ahead both for the service user and the carer. There are a lot of activities currently undertaken at The Old School House which could be extended to meet the needs of respite care such as art, music and complementary therapies. This type of service is something which the voluntary sector has been providing for years but the statutory sector has not become involved before, so it is a great opportunity to take this forward.
The service will be offered to people of any age and will be specifically for people with an assessed mental health need who either have a care coordinator or are a patient of a professional in the specialist services; it will not be available to people through a GP. There will be an opportunity for breaks away, either in a residential care establishment if there is a need for a carer or nurse, but also in accommodation of holiday companies which have shown that they have an understanding of mental health needs. This could be either locally or nationally and for a range of period of time. This could be beneficial to carers as well as the service user as it will provide them with a break from their caring responsibilities.
Activities that might be available include such things as horse-riding, six complementary therapy sessions, six one-to-one art sessions, someone coming into the home to help get on top of things such as gardening or housework, or a sitting or befriending service during a difficult period which will enable the carer to have a break. A catalogue and database of available services will be compiled so that professionals and service users can look to see if there is a service which may be beneficial. The service will be on the basis of an identified need, not just that someone wants a holiday. Where people are in a position to be able to do so, they will be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of the service. The respite care service will work in partnership with Carer Liaison in Worthing who may be able to assist in any financial cost involved for a carer to participate.
It is anticipated that around 100 people will use the service. In the past there has been less take up of the service but at that time part of the eligibility criteria was that the service user must have a carer, which therefore excluded many people. It is anticipated that Christmas and New Year, and also the summer period, will be times of peak demand when people experience additional pressures. There will be several ways to contact the service; there will be a web site giving information about the service and an email address, there will be a text service which younger people may prefer, and a dedicated phone line. As it is a new service both service users and professionals will need to be informed about what is available. This will be done in a number of ways, through posters and leaflets throughout the Adur, Arun and Worthing area, but also through talking to team meetings of professionals and by going out and talking to people who have used the service in the past, as well as mental health service users who have no experience of respite care. The Respite Service Co-ordinator will be Julie Bose, based at The Old School House in Shoreham, who has already begun work, compiling information. April until August will be a time for researching and developing the service, with a launch date of September. It is planned that a voluntary worker will assist Julie in the research and development of the service, although all service user information will remain confidential.Once the service is launched there may be a need for additional volunteers to support the service in activities such as gardening and housework or taking someone swimming.
This is an exciting development which will initially be run as a pilot project, but will hopefully be continued long after that.
http://www.sdmha.co.uk/respite.htm
Taking a sabbatical
Ever
wondered what it would be like to go and do something completely different
for six months? We spoke to someone who is doing just that. TANYA
FRENCH works for American Express, who run a sabbatical scheme,
and she is spending her placement with Shoreham & District
Mental Health Association, which is based at The Old School
House.
How does the American Express sabbatical scheme work?
If you've worked there for five years you can apply, and you can go for six months; if you've been there for twenty years, you can go for a year. Your manager has to agree to it and you have to go before the sabbatical panel who only release a certain amount of people every year.
What sort of things do people do?
Many people go abroad. I know someone who went somewhere hot and sunny to save turtles for a year. I've come to Shoreham!
Was working with people with mental health problems your first idea when looking for a placement?
I went to the Adur Volunteer Bureau, met the Manager and explained what
I was interested in and what my skills were. I have to be honest, my
first interest was children. I've got young twins and thought about
reading with children or working with children with learning disabilities.
There were about eight charities I liked the look of and the Old School
House was the first place I came to look around. I made the decision
there and then.
What had made up her mind so quickly?
I was pleasantly surprised and really liked it. The reality of the Old School
House was different to my expectations and I was instantly drawn to the lively, homely atmosphere.
What skills do you bring with you from your background as a Project Manager?
I do lots of stuff supporting Julie Bose with
Pathways to Work. I've got a qualification in training and development,
and I'm a member of the Institute of Personnel and Development. I'm
also a qualified assessor. So really, what I can say to people is, don't
worry about interviews, I can tell you what the interviewer is after".
What is your favourite part of your job?
The most rewarding things are the workshops. I spend time with people
on a one-to-one basis, preparing CVs, or discussing 'Active Listening
and Interview Skills' all of which can help towards finding voluntary
or paid
work.
As well as training people in how to answer questions like "Why should you get this job?" and "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" Tanya is involved in supporting other members of staff. One of her bigger projects was producing a database of funding organisations to help with applying for grants. As well as working with the Healthy Living Group each Friday, she also enjoys taking the Association's members out for activities such as sports, swimming and the gym. She has also learned to play pool.
At the end of the six months it turns out that Tanya will not be returning to her old job as she is to be made redundant. There is a chance of being offered an alternative role at American Express but otherwise this might be time to consider a career change, perhaps in mental health.
Do you still want to be involved in some way in the future?
Definitely. Every day I've done something here which has made me go
home feeling really good. I'll be heartbroken to leave here, honestly”.
We welcome your views and comments on the articles in this newsletter and look forward to dialogue with readers over future issues.
: Health, Wellbeing and Lifestyle is an independent, user-led publication,
produced quarterly, and aims to reflect interesting views of society
health and well-being, and to raise the profile of mental health issues
and the profile of The Corner House Resource Centre which produces this publication. Whilst we aim only to publish
articles that do not upset, discriminate or violate in any way other
people, we hold the right to change submitted articles slightly to achieve
this, and views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or policies
of Shoreham and District Mental Health Association (SDMHA), the Trustee
Board of The Corner House Day Centre nor the Editorial Team.
We do not undertake any responsibility for contributions and any products
or advertisements mentioned do not imply endorsement by SDMHA.
If you need the newsletter in an alternative format, contact:
SDMHA (AAW Newsletter)
The Corner House
45 Southwick Street
Southwick
West Sussex
BN42 4TH
Phone: 01273 871575
THE EDITORIAL TEAM:
Service Users: Simon Boulton, Tom Smith, Sally McNally
Vocational Worker: Julie Bose / Chair of SDMHA: Denise Carroll
Thanks to Jonathan Smith and others for start up contributions.
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