EAST LOTHIAN CAPS Independent Collective Advocacy Newsletter PEOPLE S CONFERENCE Summer 2015 The People s Conference 2015 was held at the Walpole Hall, at Palmerston Place on the 11 th of May. The day was a great success with all the tickets being sold out and about 30 people in attendance on the day. The building was let out for free to us from A Sense of Someplace which is an initiative set up in order for people to feel Group discussions took place that they have a place where they can speak their minds and feel welcome. We strived to ensure this feeling of welcome throughout the day and hope we managed to achieve this by doing things like decorating the hall and keeping with the ethical ethos of the venue by ordering lunch from Social Bite. We also had a talk from FENIKS who work Great pieces of art were produced with the Polish community. The Clear Project also gave a presentation about the work they do with people who have experience of mental health and substance misuse issues. The conference was based around the theme of holistic care and asked people in Diana says services should be non-judgemental attendance to consider all of the things in life that affect us, not only our health but our family, friends, work, hobbies, etc.
Page 2 SUMMER 2015 PEOPLE S CONFERENCE CONTINUED John Sawkins also played guitar and sang a cover of jazz standard All of Me but tweaked some of the lyrics to fit in with the theme of the conference and treating all of me! Then we went on to see how best services could work towards taking all of these things into account when treating us and not viewing us based on our ailment or Lots of arts and crafts symptoms. This was achieved through group discussion, individual thought and creative art and design. Great pieces of art were produced as well as outcomes from the day. Priorities that came of out the day were things such as: Services should not be judgemental and it was suggested this would be achieved through better training, and: Services should take into consideration how I want my family and carers to be involved in my treatment. A full report will be produced and available to read very soon and the results have already been presented to people who attended Taking Stock. Thanks to everyone who came along and participated. And thanks to everyone in Lothian Voices who gave up lots of time and energy to make it happen! EAST LOTHIAN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FAIR Head along to Herdmanflat Hospital in Haddington on Thursday 18th of June at 11am until 2pm to find out about the groups on offer for people with mental health needs in East Lothian. Drop in and find out about the services on offer, how to get in touch with them and the benefits of group work. There will be stalls run by agencies including NHS Lothian, Carers of East Lothian, Penumbra, Changes, Stepping Out and many more. This fair takes place in the Occupational Therapy Department at Herdmanflat Hospital, Aberlady Road, Haddington EH41 3BU. If you would like more information call the Herdmanflat switchboard on 0131 536 8300.
Page 3 SUMMER 2015 CONVERSATIONS FOR CHANGE Conversations for Change is a public art project that has been funded by See Me. Pam Van De Brug and the creative team at Conversations for Change have been very busy the last couple of weeks; if you have been out and about in Edinburgh you may have seen them! The team have been looking for the answer to the question: is mental health The question posed to passers by a difficult topic for everyday conversation? First they asked passers by in the meadows what they thought of this question and counted the answers. 40 people said no which gives us some optimism, however 76 people said yes to this question which shows that we still have much to do to reduce the stigma of talking about mental health and to increase understanding. Based on this poll the Conversations for Change team decided to host an intervention at Hidden Door Arts Festival in Edinburgh at the end of May. For three days the team held a garden party and asked people a similar question; whether mental health is a suitable topic for everyday conversations. The team dressed up for a party and provided fizzy apple juice and melon and luckily the sun shone throughout the week. The idea of this intervention is to interrupt people s day and have conversations with people about mental health in places they would not expect in order to raise awareness and reduce stigma. Many interesting conversations were had by the team with members of the public. To date, 415 conversations have been had about mental health as a result of the team s efforts and we hope that, like ripples in a pond, the effects will reach wider than we can measure. We cannot wait to see the finished piece of artwork in September! If you would like to get involved or be kept up to date go on the website at :http://www.conversationsforchange.scot/ where you can sign up. A conversation in action
Page 4 SUMMER 2015 A Sense of Belonging is the joint strategy for improving mental health and wellbeing in Lothian. The strategy was developed by NHS Lothian, local authorities, 3 rd sector agencies and collective advocacy working together. One of the priorities is to hold a yearly Taking Stock conference to ensure everyone is informed about what is going on and is open to anyone who may be affected Lothian Voices by the strategy. CAPS attended this year s Taking Stock event on the 28 th of May which was held at Heriot Watt University. Tim Davison the chief executive of NHS Lothian opened the conference and Linda Irvine gave us a detailed presentation on all the different areas the strategy was working on such as improving services, tackling inequalities and the building of the new Royal Edinburgh Hospital. This was then followed by members of Lothian Voices and Lili and Ele from CAPS who presented the results from the People s Conference. Everyone did a brilliant job presenting the information! We then heard from Simon Porter and Ronnie Jack from the Patient s Council at the Royal Ed where they unveiled their book Changing Lives which had poems and TAKING STOCK Launch of Eating Disorders Information Booklet stories about people s experiences and Ronnie Jack eloquently read one moving poem by Jo McFarlane aloud. Following this there were many interesting workshops to get involved in. There was a workshop run by LEARN about the importance of advocacy as well as workshops by mental health nurses at Edinburgh Prison and many more. Conversations for Change also had a workshop in the afternoon. Following the workshops and lunch CAPS were thrilled to see the launch of the Eating Disorders: what you need to know information booklet. People who had been involved in the writing and producing of the book spoke about the importance of it and how it will be used. Volunteer Edinburgh then showed their insightful film about the benefits of volunteering for people and the city as a whole. To sum up we were treated to more of Jo McFarlane s funny and moving poetry. Stay in touch for more updates on the strategy!
Page 5 SUMMER 2015 EATING DISORDERS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW CAPS received funding from See Me to develop an information booklet about eating disorders to be found in GP practices. We are pleased to announce that the booklet has been completed and the first print run is done! We have also received more funding from the Butterfly Bursary to distribute more copies to other places such as universities. A lot of effort from Niamh, Maeve and the team went into the design and writing of this booklet, which reads in a supportive and informative way. The booklet uses people s experiences of eating disorders to help inform the reader about what they may expect if they receive an eating disorder diagnosis. The design of the poster and booklet was done by Jenny and it looks great. If you would like to see the booklet you may soon be able to find it in your GP surgery, or you can download it from our website: http://capsadvocacy.org/publications-and-reports/ and click on the link to the booklet near the bottom of the page. EAST LOTHIAN COMMUNITY HOSPITAL If you would like to know more about the new East Lothian Community Hospital CAPS and Changes are hosting an event with Meriel Deans from NHS Lothian. Come along to find out about the plans for the new hospital and see a model of the proposed building! You will also have your chance to tell us what you think about the proposals and provide ideas you may have for the outside spaces, public areas, quiet room and the nonclinical space in out of hours. This event will take place on Tuesday the 16th of June between 12pm and 2pm at the Bleachingfield Centre in Dunbar. Refreshments will be provided. If you would like to come along please get in touch with Ele by email: ele@capsadvocacy.org or call on 0131 273 5116. If you require any support to come to the event let us know and we will do our best to help.
CAPS The Consultation and Advocacy Promotion Service Old Stables Eskmills Park, Station Road Musselburgh EH21 7PQ BEFORE IT S A CRISIS: Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87 (6pm-2am) Samaritans 0845 7 90 90 90 NHS 24 0845 4 24 24 24 Emergency Social Work Service 0800 731 6969 (out of hours only) CAPS INFORMATION CAPS is an independent advocacy organisation and supports people in East Lothian who use, or have used, mental health services. Collective advocacy is about groups of individuals with a common cause coming together to raise awareness, campaign and influence service planning and provision. CAPS works with groups in East Lothian to talk about mental health services and other issues. If you or your group would like to meet with CAPS then please call our collective advocacy team on 0131 273 5116 to arrange a meeting. For more details about our meetings or to join our mailing list contact CAPS on 0131 273 5116 or email amy@capsadvocacy.org We also offer individual advocacy support on a one to one basis to help safe guard your rights, support you to prepare for meetings and to challenge decisions you don t agree with. Call Individual advocacy 0131 273 5118. Phone for collective advocacy: 0131 273 5116 Phone for individual advocacy: 0131 273 5118 Fax: 0131 273 5117 E-mail: contact@capsadvocacy Web: www.capsadvocacy.org Twitter: @capsadvocacy Facebook: www.facebook.com/ CAPSIndependentAdvocacy Scottish Charity Number: SC021772