Our Response to Coronavirus

We started 2020 -2021 during a UK wide lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. We had already put into place a series of measures to ensure the safety of our staff and those using our services.

We knew that the Coronavirus pandemic would disproportionally affect people with mental health needs. In response to this we quickly moved our support services online and created a ‘Virtual Front Door’ where people could access the support they needed. Our services teams worked tirelessly to ensure appropriate systems were in place so that we could respond to the emerging themes.

• More than half of adults (60% of those over 25) and three quarters of young people (74% of those aged 13-24) said that their mental health had worsened during the period of lockdown restrictions, from early April to mid-May 2020.

• Loneliness has been a key contributor to poor mental health. Feelings of loneliness have made nearly two thirds of adults’ and over three quarters of young people’s mental health worse during lockdown. 18-24 year olds are the most likely to see loneliness affect their mental health.

• People do not feel entitled to seek help, and have difficulty accessing it when they do. 1 in 3 (34%) adults and 1 in 4 young people (26%) did not access support during lockdown because they did not think that they deserved support.

(Mind - The Mental Health Emergency - How has the Coronavirus pandemic impacted on our mental health, 2020)

In response to this, we released a series of social media campaigns encouraging people across Cwm Taf Morgannwg to get in touch with us if they needed mental health support.

All our social media campaigns included mobile numbers of specific members of staff for people to speak to someone directly. Everyone who got in touch was offered a ‘what matters’ conversation, from this point people were able to access our services. Covid-19 support social media graphics targetting people across Cwm Taf Morgannwg

We released a series of staff profiles across our social media and ‘we are here for you’ videos to encourage people struggling with their mental health to get in touch.

We delivered a range of carers webinars, provided targeted online courses which were tailored towards the impact that Covid had on our mental health and wider social detriments.

We developed Wellbeing Packs that we delivered to older people living in Trivallis sheltered housing, and to the carers we support. We also provided inpatients at mental health wards across Cwm Taf Morgannwg with digital tablets and a range of games.

We put together a ‘Reaching Out’ newsletter which we sent to over four thousand people. The newsletter included a range of support options that people could access - online resources, phone numbers and emails of staff members and case studies of people who had accessed our support during the lockdown.

Internally, we held regular all staff meetings via Zoom and put a series of staff wellbeing measures in place, including:

• Coffee mornings/check-ins • Mindfulness sessions • Regular Support and Supervision • Action Learning Sets • Staff updates, which included the latest

Covid-19 guidance, Mind national news, organisational developments and links to a range of wellbeing support for staff.

Support from your local Mind May/June 2020

Cwm Taf Morgannwg

This newsletter is a little reminder from your local Mind that ‘WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.’

Our team is working hard (from home) to provide telephone and online emotional support to those that need it.

During this difficult time it is important to still look after your own mental health, especially if you are caring for other people.

We are here to help you do this and provide information, advice and guidance. Give us a call on one of the numbers opposite. You are not alone. Speak to our team

For emotional support, advice and guidance please call our frontline team:

Mike: 07984 073429 Wendy: 07399 347745 Sharron: 07399 347738 Stephen: 07969 653878

Online Resources

www.elefriends.org.uk Elefriends is a supportive online community where you can be yourself. We all know what it’s like to struggle sometimes, but now there’s a safe place to listen, share and be heard.

https://mind.silvercloudhealth.com/signup Programmes to help you manage stress, sleep better and build resilience. To sign up, use the link above then select a programme - Select the ‘Sign up’ button Enter details to setup an account and use the PIN: cwmtaff

www.mind.org.uk The Mind website has an extensive library of information and support including an A-Z of every mental health condition.

Follow us! @ctmmind @ctmmind ctmmind.org.uk

Our Reaching Out Newsletter

Wellbeing Packs

The success of our Covid-19 response is highlighted in the fact that despite a big disruption to our regular service delivery, we still managed to provide valuable support to 3,592 people during 2020-21 without any members of staff being furloughed. Some members of our team were Key Workers on the front line of the fight against the pandemic. The way we faced these unprecedented circumstances as an organisation was a tremendous achievement by the whole team.

We are thankful to Mind, the Mind Network in Wales and other key partners who contributed to the design and quick responses which we delivered for our local community.