Autumn/W inter 2015-16
NEWSLETTER OF THE RECOVERY ACADEMY
Branching Out
Our Autumn/Winter term prospectus is out now Recovery Academy
prospectus
recovery
Over 2,000 people have registered to study with us. Could you be next?
hope
grow
The Recovery Academy’s new prospectus for courses from October 2015 – March 2016 is out now! Inside you’ll find over 45 courses, with six brand new courses for this term.
learn
believe
Our courses are free for anyone with mental health and substance misuse problems, their families and carers as well as health care professionals and are held in community centres, local hospitals, theatres and learning centres across Greater Manchester.
If you are looking to increase your knowledge and understanding of mental health, improve your mental wellbeing, or simply
want to meet new people while learning something new then take a look at the courses on offer.
New for this term are courses that teach the fundamentals of British Sign Language, provide insight into Autism and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well as guidance for looking after your physical health and wellbeing and completing job applications.
October 2015 - March 2016
Autumn/Winter Term
You will find yourself learning alongside and hearing from a wide range of people as all the courses are co-written and codelivered by professionals and people with mental health and/or substance misuse problems, which mean the courses are enriched by
Branching Out Recovery, Health and Wellbeing Academy Newsletter Spring/Summer 2015
Inside: this issue World Mental Health Day .................
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Who we work with ...........................
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Helping you take control of your wellbeing ..............................
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Study buddies ...................................
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Official opening of The Curve ..........
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professional expertise and lived experience. We provide courses on Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, creative writing, assertiveness skills, anxiety and depression, addiction and many more. The Academy also offers accredited courses in British Sign Language, peer mentoring, IT, English and Maths. (Continued on Page 4...)
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Get the facts this World Mental Health Day This October to celebrate World Mental Health Day (10 October), Mental Health Foundation are promoting their Fundamental Facts publication, which has been updated and renewed for a new audience through social media. World Mental Health Day is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. “One in four adults and one in ten children are likely to have a mental health problem in any given year. This can have a profound impact on the lives of tens of millions of people in the UK, and can affect their ability to sustain relationships, work, or just get through the day.
But an ill-informed and damaging attitude among some people exists around mental health that can make it difficult for some to seek help. It is estimated that only about a quarter of people with a mental health problem in the UK receive ongoing treatment, leaving the majority of people grappling with mental health issues on their own, seeking help or information, and dependent on the informal support of family, friends or colleagues.” (Mental Health Foundation)
How we challenge this? We offer a range of courses designed to help people understand what it is like to live with mental health and/ or substance misuse problems,
and learn about their causes and solutions. By confronting the stigma of mental health problems through facts we hope to break down barriers in seeking help and support. Our courses also provide people with tips for safeguarding their wellbeing and recognising the signs of mental illness to help with recovery and prevent people from hitting a crisis point.
How can you help? Please help us by sharing our Recovery Academy prospectus with family, friends and colleagues.
Who we work with We pride ourselves on offering courses that are accredited by professional organisations, so that our students have the opportunity to gain nationally recognised qualifications. We are committed to raising awareness and increasing understanding of mental health and alcohol and drug problems and work with a number of likeminded organisations who share this same passion. Working with such high-profile partners ensures that you benefit from the latest insights in the courses you choose to take with us. Some of our partnerships include co-producing fantastic workshops with The Reader Organisation and Bolton Employment & Support Team (B.E.S.T), which is a joint initiative between Bolton Council and GMW. Page
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We were keen to champion the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friends programme and have run Dementia Friends Information Sessions since 2013 to help change people’s perceptions of dementia.
Our partnerships also extend to running our workshops and courses in external venues, such as Start in Salford, blueSCI in Trafford and the Octagon Theatre in Bolton.
New for this term, we’ve teamed up with the established charity United Response (UR) who support young people and adults with a wide range of mental health needs and disabilities. UR Consultants, who have learning disabilities and/or autism, have worked with us to develop our new, bespoke Living with Autism course and will also deliver this training.
Would you be interested in working in partnership with GMW’s Recovery Academy? If you would like to discuss the benefits of sharing your expertise and working with us, we would love to hear from you. Please do get in touch with Claire Watson, GMW’s Recovery Academy Lead, on claire.watson@gmw.nhs.uk
Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
A Recovery Academy student, who attended our Living with Self-Harm course, provided us with the following feedback:
“
Thank you to all the trainers, they made a very difficult subject easy to talk about and discuss. It was the first time I had ever openly discussed my personal self-harm and could do this because of how relaxed and comfortable they made me feel.”
Helping you take control of your wellbeing
Study buddies We are committed to ensuring open access to all students and recognise that there can be factors that make accessing and attending courses and learning more difficult. If you or anyone you know need support for whatever reason, please let us know. We operate a buddying system where we can arrange for a member of the Recovery Academy team with lived experience to support you before and during the course. If you would like support from a study buddy, please contact us on 0161 358 1771 or email us at recoveryacademy@gmw.nhs. uk to discuss your needs.
Don’t forget, this year, we introduced a new category – ‘Taking Back Control’. The aim of this new category is to introduce service users and carers to information so that they feel more in control of their recovery journey. The courses include some of our popular ones such as Recovery Star, and Completing an Advance Decision, but we have also introduced two new courses to this section, ‘Making Sense of Experiences through Psychological Assessment and ‘formulation’ and ‘Overcoming Stigma’. Another Taking Back Control course, which Mind in Salford co-produce and co-facilitate, is our Advocacy in Mental Health course. This course aims to shine a spotlight on the role of Independent Mental Health Advocates and how they support people with mental health problems and their families to exercise basic human rights. We also provide a range of free educational courses for the family, friends and carers who support someone they know who has mental health, substance misuse problems or dementia. We offer courses aimed at Lived
Branching Out Recovery, Health and Wellbeing Academy Newsletter Spring/Summer 2015
Experience so you can find out more about the illness your loved one is going through and what support is available whilst caring for them. Other courses that may be helpful are those in our Supporting Recovery that will teach you basic techniques that you can use to help and motivate the people you are supporting with their recovery. Our ‘Health and Wellbeing for Carers’ course has been developed by a number of GMW’s carers and will help you to learn new skills or improve your existing knowledge to help make life as a carer easier.
Are these the only courses for carers to go on? Carers are welcome on all of our courses. By seeking different perspectives and learning together we can all move forward in understanding recovery challenges. Page
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Recovery, Health and Wellbeing Academy Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester M25 3BL Tel: 0161 358 1771 Email: recoveryacademy@gmw.nhs.uk Website: www.gmw.nhs.uk/recovery
Official opening of The Curve date announced! We are really pleased to announce that the Trust’s new building – The Curve – which is the new home of the Recovery Academy and Trust Headquarters, hosting training, conferences and library services, will be formally opened by Trust Chair Alan Maden on Monday 9 November 2015. We are extremely proud of this purpose-built, state of the art facility, which contains art work produced by nationally renowned artist Gerry Halpin MBE and President of the Manchester Academy for Fine Art who has worked with service users to produce some stunning pieces of art for the new building. The Curve will provide the opportunity to not just save the Trust money in external venue-bookings but to also generate income as it is a fully-functioning conference facility for local businesses to hire.
What’s available at The Curve? • Conference and training rooms • Break-out rooms and meeting rooms • The Trust’s Library and Resource Centre • Physical healthcare training facilities • A café • Car parking There are a number of rooms which can be booked for training, events and conferences ranging in capacity from 30 to over 100 people. There are also ‘break-out’ rooms available which can accommodate 8 people. Inclusive of bookings will be full, high-quality catering facilities and state-of-the-art, in-house audio-visual equipment which will provide a high standard of presentation quality. We can also support the provision of interpreters, including British Sign Language. Page
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The Curve is an environmentally sustainable building located just outside Manchester City Centre, in Prestwich, just off the M60 (Junction 17) with public transport links, including a convenient tram stop, and car parking on site. By holding an event at The Curve, you will also be supporting the work of the Trust and any surplus we make from the hire of our buildings and services goes to straight back into sustaining crucial NHS services. If you are interested in making a booking, please call 0161 358 0833 or complete the online enquiry form. For more information, please contact Ruth Lyons at ruth.lyons@gmw.nhs.uk. (...continued from Page 1)
Courses vary in length from one-off workshops to those that take place weekly for a number of weeks. Availability is on a first come first served basis, so make sure you apply for a Recovery Academy course now! To get your personal copy of the prospectus, together with information you need about the Recovery Academy experience, visit www.gmw.nhs.uk/recovery. If you’d prefer a copy in the post, please contact us and we’ll get one out to you right away. For further information, contact recoveryacademy@gmw.nhs.uk or call 0161 358 1771.
Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust