Initiatives Archives - IMHN - Independent Mental Health NetworkIMHN

May 15, 2024 at 10:13 am

October 9, 2020 at 4:26 pm

Content note; this piece contains discussions of LGBTQ+ and mental health issues.

The Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire LGBTQ+ Mental Health Lived Experience Steering Group is excited to launch a micro-grants fund for projects that will raise awareness or shine a light on mental wellbeing in the LGBTQ+ community. The fund is being launched with support from the LGBTQ+ Voice & Influence Partnership.

Funded projects will result in people being more informed and aware of what good mental wellbeing or mental health looks like for people who identify as LGBTQ+.

There are four one-off funding grants of up to £250 available. This is a total funding pot of £1000 available.

Ideally, projects will engage a range of people, including;

trans people
older people who identify as LGBTQ+
those who identify as non-binary
members of BAME communities who identify as LGBTQ+

Sam, on behalf of the LGBTQ+ Mental Health Steering Group, said:

“We are excited this launch this fund as one of the first projects of the LGBTQ+ Mental Health Lived Experience Steering Group. The fund will support people and groups with ideas of how to raise awareness of mental wellbeing in our community, and we can’t wait to help bring those ideas to life.”

Henry Poultney, Team Manager of LGBTQ+ Youth Work and Development at Off the Record (Bristol), said:

“Members of the LGBTQ+ Voice & Influence Partnership are joining forces with the LGBTQ+ Mental Health Lived Experience Steering Group to deliver funding to individuals and organisations in our local area. We believe that this funding programme will help raise awareness of what positive mental health and wellbeing looks like in the LGBTQ+ community; providing opportunities for new and existing groups to lead the way in making change and creating safe spaces.”

Tom Renhard, CEO of the Independent Mental Health Network, said:

“We know that in the right hands, a little can go a long way – this fund will help bring projects to life. Our network is dedicated to challenging mental health stigma, and this is a great opportunity for people who need support to get their project going.”

Anyone from either the Bristol, North Somerset or South Gloucestershire area who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community can apply for a grant. Organisations can also apply. Organisations do not need to be legally constituted but do require a governing document.

Click here to download an application form. The form will download to your computer in a Microsoft Word document format. If you need an alternative format, or a paper copy of the form, please get in touch.

Any questions about the fund, the Steering Group, or the application form, should be directed to . Applications for this round of funding must be submitted by Monday 26 October 2020 at 09:00.

– ENDS –

Notes to editors

Press contact/enquiries: press[@]imhn.org (take care to remove the square brackets from this email address)

What is the LGBTQ+ Mental Health Lived Experience Steering Group?

This group is a working group in which members can discuss issues, challenges and opportunities particular to the mental wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people. But we don’t just want to talk about these things; we want to help change and develop them. As a team, we’ll be creating and working on projects with the aim to drive positive change for our community within the services.

Why is the group operating in the Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire areas?

The health systems of these areas have becoming increasingly unified over recent years. Many mental health services are provided across these three areas collectively. Therefore, the Steering Group works to influence services and support across this combined locality.

What is the Independent Mental Health Network (IMHN)?

IMHN supports and facilitates the running of the Steering Group, and is supporting the administration of this grant fund. IMHN are a member-led organisation that work for and in the interests of people with lived experience of mental health. The network supports work improving local mental health services, contribute and campaign on mental health matters happening both locally and nationally, and actively challenge mental health stigma by working with partner organisations.

What is OTR Bristol?

OTR Bristol is an organisation that provides support to young people aged between 11 and 25 in the Bristol and South Gloucestershire areas. They support the wellbeing of young people who identify as belonging to the LGBTQ+ community via their Freedom project, and are a partner of the local Voice & Influence Partnership.Members of the OTR Bristol team support the running of the Steering Group.

Where can I get further information?

Join our ‘Lived Experience Leadership Forum’

The group will help to shape the future of mental health services across the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester, representing its diverse communities in an inclusive network.

The forum will meet on a monthly basis, ensuring that the lived experience voice is represented from the grassroots community level through to a Greater Manchester level. This will be essential to influencing change across the GM mental health network and ensuring mental health support is person-centred.

As a representative on the forum, you will shape the work plan and priorities, bringing in a wider range of experiences for wider communities. There will be the opportunity to discuss how we improve mental health support, services and education throughout GM, whilst holding people to account in a constructive manner where required.

This is a paid role and support will be provided by IMHN to carry it out. Full information about the post and how to apply can be found here.

GM Adult Mental Health Delivery Board

We are looking for lived experience representatives to join the GM Adult Mental Health Delivery Board meetings.

The aim of the role is to ensure that the lived experience voice is represented at a senior level, providing leadership in improving people’s experiences of mental health services and wellbeing support.

These meetings will cover a range of services provided across GM, including:

Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)
Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP)
Liaison mental health – Core 24
Out-of-Area Placements
Physical Health of people with severe mental illness (SMI)
Personality Disorders
Suicide Prevention
Individual Placement Support (IPS)
Older Adults

The GM Adult Mental Health Delivery Board usually meets eight times a year.

This is a paid role and support will be provided by IMHN to carry it out. Full information about the post and how to apply can be found here.

GM Mental Health Programme Delivery Board

We are looking for lived experience representatives to join the Greater Manchester Mental Health Programme Delivery Board meetings.

The aim of the role is to ensure that the experiences of those accessing mental health support are represented at a senior level, providing leadership in improving the experience of mental health services and wellbeing support.

The key areas of work covered include:

24/7 community-based access and crisis care for children and young people (CYP)
GM iTHRIVE network and CYP workforce development (NHS, Local Authority and
Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector)
Mental and emotional wellbeing in education settings (schools)
Improving mental wellbeing, building the capacity and resilience of communities and
suicide prevention
Perinatal and parent-infant mental health
Liaison mental health – core 24 access across GM
Enhanced adult crisis and urgent care options
Integrated Improving Access to Psychological Therapies / Primary Care Rapid
Assessment Interface and Discharge

The GM Mental Health Programme Delivery Board usually meets 4 times a year.

This is a paid role and support will be provided by IMHN to carry it out. Full information about the post and how to apply can be found here.

Additionally, the link to apply for these opportunities can also be found here.

July 9, 2020 at 1:23 am

December 6, 2019 at 5:19 pm

Content note; please note that this piece contains discussions of suicide and self-harm.

The Suicide Prevention Innovation Fund, launched by IMHN in the run up to Shine On (a campaign about working together to prevent suicide) back in September 2019. The fund was launched to support local groups whose work helps to prevent suicide and self-harm across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (‘BNSSG’).

We were delighted to receive a large variety of applications from a number of local groups across the area, with some original initiatives concerning suicide prevention. Many of these have already taken place – you can read about what went on here.

Due to the success of the fund, IMHN and the Shine On campaign are excited to launch a second round of funding, for initiatives taking place into the new year of 2020.

About the Fund

The Suicide Prevention Innovation Fund supports local groups whose work helps to prevent suicide and self-harm across the BNSSG area. In particular, we are looking for imaginative and innovative projects which aim to reduce the numbers of suicides in:

middle aged men
men and women aged 16-25
BAME communities
LGBTQ+ communities
Disabled communities

This innovation grant is available to support new or emerging projects. They can benefit from a small pot of funding that is intended to support initiatives that prevent suicides and reduce self-harm in the BNSSG area.

Applicants can apply for one-off funding grants of up to £250 towards their project (or up to £500 where it is across BNSSG).

How do I apply and when is the closing date?

The application form can be found here. Completed application forms need to be submitted to: engagement[@]imhn.org (removing the brackets from that email address).

Any applications will be considered in the order that they are received; please therefore send your application in as soon as you can, as interest is high.

December 6, 2019 at 5:19 pm

October 4, 2019 at 12:38 pm

This news item was originally posted in October 2019. Since then, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Shine On campaign and the completion of a number of initiatives funded by the Suicide Prevention Innovation Fund, with more to come in the coming months. To stay up to date, visit the Shine On website!

Content note; please note that this piece contains discussions of suicide and self-harm.

As part of work taking place in the South West to combat early deaths by suicide, the Bristol branch of the Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN) is supporting the Suicide Prevention Innovation Fund. This will form part of a suicide prevention campaign later this year, taking place Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

The fund has been launched to support local groups whose work helps to prevent suicide and self-harm across the local area. Events, initiatives and activities in support of this aim can benefit from funding of up to £250 (or £500 if the event takes place across the three areas).

You can read more about the launch of the fund here. Watch out for more updates and information about the upcoming main campaign, coming soon!

More information about BIMHN’s work on Suicide Prevention

This Winter’s campaign, and the Suicide Prevention Innovation Fund discussed here, has been initiated by the Bristol North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (‘BNSSG’) Suicide Prevention Transformation Fund Group. This group has been in operation since May 2018. The group manages an amount of money, allocated by NHS England, to address the issue of a relatively high suicide rate across the local Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP).

The group has already funded campaigning activities and initiatives such as the Hope Project, working to reduce suicide in men.

The Bristol branch of IMHN, BIMHN, sends two representatives to the group meetings, both of whom have lived experience of suicide. Other partners of the group include Bristol City Council, BNSSG Clinical Commissioning Group, Community Access Support Service Bristol, and South Gloucestershire Council.

October 4, 2019 at 12:38 pm

September 28, 2019 at 12:29 pm

Time to Change are a growing movement of people changing how we all think and act about mental health problems. The Time to Change Bristol hub is a partnership of local organisations and people within the city of Bristol who are committed to ending mental health stigma and discrimination.

The Bristol hub is organised by a partnership of local organisations. The Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN), IMHN’s Bristol branch, is a lead partner, and takes an active role in bringing local partners and stakeholder to deliver an effective and open campaign combatting mental health stigma.

What’s Happening this Autumn?

This October and November will see two sets of training delivered to local Time to Change Champions.

Social Contact Training will develop participants’ skills, knowledge, understanding and confidence in opening up a conversation in everyday life to improve negative attitudes surrounding mental health.

Speaking Out Training will build the confidence and skills of Time to Change Champions to speak out to an audience about mental health, their own experience of mental health problems, and why we need to continue to challenge stigma.

Furthermore, on Thursday 23 October, the hub will be hosting the Time to Change Bristol Celebration Event. This will see members of the public and local Time to Change Champions come together for an evening of networking, information, food and activities to celebrate the work and successes of the hub over recent months. Conversations will take place around how the hub can continue to have a positive impact in the future.

If you’re in Bristol on that date, there are still some spaces available at the event, but are limited – get your free ticket here!

September 28, 2019 at 12:29 pm

August 30, 2019 at 12:18 pm

Last month, one of IMHN’s trustees, Tracy Tainton, organised Lifting the Myth of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), an open discussion event that took place in North Bristol. The event was supported by the Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (IMHN’s Bristol branch), and the Time to Change Bristol hub.

The event was attended by members of the public and local Councillors. Tracy, who lives with a diagnosis of OCD, lead discussions about what the condition means for her, and how media-misinterpretation of the condition can be harmful. A type of anxiety disorder, OCD is experienced in the form of obsession with intensely negative, repetitive and intrusive thoughts, fear of harm, and/or compulsive patterns of behaviour to reduce the anxiety caused by these thoughts. It is not just about cleanliness or neatness, and many people tend to over-use the term ‘OCD-ish’ without understanding the distressing and debilitating nature of the disorder in its severest form.

The first in a planned series, the session provided a relaxed opportunity to chat in small groups, listen to people with lived experience of OCD with family members and friends who support them. Another aim of the event was to gauge interest in an OCD support / social group, which Tracy is promoting. If you would like more information, please visit BIMHN’s website.

More About IMHN’s Work

The Independent Mental Health Network also campaigns to ensure that local mental health services provide the best possible care and access for patients, with input from service users themselves, and for there to be greater parity of esteem between mental and physical health. If you would like to know more about the Independent Mental Health Network, or the work of their Bristol branch, BIMHN, then please email engagement[@]imhn.org (taking out the brackets in the email address).

This picture shows Tracy (centre in front of the purple banner) accompanied by other Trustees of IMHN and local Councillors who supported her at the event.

August 30, 2019 at 12:18 pm

October 23, 2018 at 10:15 pm

The Independent Mental Health Network has set up a Policy and Public Affairs Unit. At this stage, the Unit is a working group established to take the experiences of people with lived experience of mental health, and work to represent those views to key influencers and decision makers locally and nationally.

The work undertaken will aim to contribute, inform, and develop the national policy conversation relating to mental health in the UK.

Examples of planned work include:

Researching areas of interest in mental health that need development and further contribution
Researching and drafting responses to consultations locally and nationally relevant to mental health (e.g. Government green papers, proposals, Mental Health Act reforms etc)
Developing briefings on important topics to help inform the views of decision makers and a range of other key stakeholders
Arranging meetings with those key stakeholders to present findings / briefings.

IMHN are seeking those with experience in research to help with the development of the Unit’s work.

If you are interested in joining or contributing, read more here.

October 23, 2018 at 10:15 pm

September 26, 2018 at 6:40 pm

Time to Change (TTC) are a growing movement of people changing how we all think and act about mental health problems. Their work takes place throughout the UK, and ranges from awareness initiatives to employer training.

A recent initiative was TTC’s launch of ‘hubs’; hubs work with local people who have personal experience of mental health (‘Champions’), and combine the insights from the national campaign with local knowledge to support communities, workplaces and schools to work towards ending mental health stigma and discrimination.

One of IMHN’s branches, the Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN), is a member of a partnership that operates the Time to Change Bristol Hub. The Bristol Hub is made up of Bristol City Council, Wellbeans Initiative CIC, Rethink Bristol, and BIMHN; with support from partners across the city – including employers, unions, universities, police and the NHS.

IHMN is proud to support the work that BIMHN carry out within the Bristol Hub. There are many ways to get involved in the work of the hub – if you need more information, you can ">email the hub directly.

How is the Bristol Hub run?

Time to Change’s Bristol Hub is run by people with lived experience of mental health issues alongside organisations committed to challenging mental health stigma and discrimination that form the Bristol Anti Stigma Alliance (BASA).

The hub has a steering group made up of a wider partnership, with a Time to Change Champions group and hub co-ordinators group ensuring the work of the hub has lived experience of mental health leadership at its heart.

September 26, 2018 at 6:40 pm

September 26, 2018 at 4:39 pm

In 2017, IMHN’s Bristol branch, the Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN), made visits to mental health wards to review the quality of care that patients are receiving. The team who made the visits spoke to patients and staff, and looked at a number of areas, including: availability of information in understandable formats, access to advocacy, the general environment, ligature risks, and how the needs of patients are responded to.

BIMHN visited Silver Birch ward, the adult acute inpatient ward at Callington Road Hospital in Bristol; as well as Aspen, Lime and Elizabeth Casson wards. The frequency of visits had been stepped up in the wake of the closure of Laurel Ward earlier in 2017 following an incident where a patient was locked in their room. The team also visited Hazel Ward at Callington Road, the male adult Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and highlighted areas of best practice and concerns, as well as providing a number of recommendations to Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP).

September 26, 2018 at 4:39 pm