Shared Power - the training

How to use your lived experience to help in the planning and delivery of 

health and wellbeing services in Powys

Late last year the Health & Wellbeing team at PAVO launched Shared Power - An Introduction, an animated video, as a training tool for individuals who want to use their experiences of health services to help shape future services. The film delves into the different types of power, and how they interact with each other, when service user and carer representatives attend partnership board meetings in Powys.

The film is also aimed at those working in services so that they can avoid some of the barriers to co-production. Co-production means service users and carers work together with health professionals to design future services that work better for everyone. We received some excellent feedback about the film at the time.

Then, just a few weeks ago, came the perfect opportunity to show the film again - at the latest Shared Power face to face training session at our Ddole Road offices in Llandrindod Wells. Delivered by Owen Griffkin (Mental Health Participation Officer) with support from Sue Newham (Health & Wellbeing Engagement Officer), the training aimed to build the confidence, knowledge and skills of participants. Some of those attending were already volunteering as citizen or individual reps, and the training aimed to help them participate effectively in the planning and reviewing of services with public bodies.

Citizen reps volunteer their time, energy and passion to make a difference for others and to the services we receive, and are helping influence change at local, regional and national levels. Some of the participants are citizen reps on the Powys Mental Health Planning & Development Board and the Talk to Me 2 (Suicide & Self-Harm Prevention Forum), whilst others regularly sit on the Powys Regional Partnership Board.

Learning opportunities on the day included:

• How to influence positive changes in health and wellbeing services in Powys.
• Understanding the theories underpinning service user and carer involvement in planning services.
• Gaining practical experience of how partnership boards work with service users and carers in meetings.
• Recognising barriers to participation and how to overcome them.
• Finding out about current opportunities and how to apply for them.
• The opportunity to learn from current service user and carer representatives who sit on Health and Wellbeing Boards about their experiences.
• Learning assertiveness techniques and how to prepare for meetings.
• How to share personal experiences and avoid ‘trigger points’.
  
  

Here are some highlights from the day’s training.

Co-production demystified 

As a citizen rep, you are an equal partner with other professionals in the room. You are an expert by experience. But how do you gain the experience of other people and take their stories to a partnership board?

Owen updated the group about the work of the current mental health representatives, who regularly go out into the community at Meet the Rep events to listen to people’s voices about mental health services.

One of our experienced reps, John, spoke about how important it is to find out what is happening in the rest of Wales and about being aware of current mental health legislation. “Preparation is key! Ask yourself what are some of the key messages you want people to hear.”

John also described some of the resources available to people who want to engage in a co-productive way. The Co-production Network for Wales is a good starting point for finding out more.

And volunteering as a rep is a two-way street! We regularly hear that taking on the role “does improve confidence and help with personal recovery.”

Meetings - with remarkable people

Even introducing yourself at a meeting can be hard when in a room full of strangers, especially when most of them are there in a professional capacity. “A few years ago asking who I am would have been a really distressing question as I thought I was a nobody!”

Participants were introduced to Imposter Syndrome - it might feel daunting to be at a partnership board meeting, but as a rep you probably deserve to be there more than anyone else. “You are the most valuable person here,” someone was told at one meeting.

Everyone in the room is equal. Those working as heads of service for the NHS, or other statutory bodies, may be constrained in their work roles as to exactly what changes they can bring about and when - but they are people too. They may have a mother with dementia, a nephew who needs care, a friend struggling to access services…

As someone pointed out, “Town councils, health boards and councils are slow moving, which can be discouraging, but once they get going in the right direction they are hard to stop!”

Assertiveness is key - and learning the difference between being passive, aggressive and assertive an important skill. As a rep you need to think about being:

• Proactive about what you want to say.
• Confident and engaged.
• Self aware and aware of others.
• Sure your needs are met and that you are heard.
  
  

Hotspots, triggers & flashpoints

Participants spoke about their own triggers. These included being talked over, being told that there was not enough money, “mansplaining" and not being listened to.

One said, “I used to get in a tizz when people didn’t listen and I would storm out crying, but nothing good came from that!”

“You need a strong assertive Chair so that the meeting does not go off track and any problems can be shut down.”

“There will always be quiet people - it’s about managing a meeting to let all voices be heard.”

Dealing with difficult conversations

There was some very interesting group debate amongst the participants about what to do around some specific tricky scenarios which Owen had set up.

“Health staff are there for you. It’s about having the confidence and assertiveness to say, ‘I respect your views but I don’t agree with them.’”

“Ground rules are important to set the tone for the meeting.”

If there is a lack of respect someone suggested saying: “I have respect for your professionalism, so please have respect for my lived experience.”

The mock meeting

To round off the training session, Sue chaired a mock meeting designed to put into practice all the learning from earlier in the day. It turned out to be an extremely interesting and valuable exercise.

All those attending agreed that they had benefitted hugely from Shared Power training, both from the learning and also the opportunity to network with others with a similar role.

And finally…

Would you be interested in joining these citizen reps to take grass-root views and opinions to local board meetings where service providers can find out what is working and what needs to change? For further information about becoming a citizen rep, in the field of mental health or health and social care, just get in touch with us by emailing owen.griffkin@pavo.org.uk or ringing 01597 822191.

The next Shared Power training session will take place on 13 September 2023. 

Do get in touch with Owen if you would like to sign up.

Shared Power - an introduction

The Health and Wellbeing Team at Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations is pleased to announce the launch of a new animation film called "Shared Power - An Introduction".

PAVO’s Mental Health Participation Officer, Owen Griffkin, who worked on pulling together the different elements of the film, explains why this was an important subject to make a film about.

For some time now PAVO has delivered training to the service user and carer representatives who sit on the local health and wellbeing partnership boards. These people have a seat on the boards to provide a voice for anyone who uses these services and their input is vital to ensuring a health service that is fit for purpose and effective. We called this training ‘Shared Power’ training and it was designed to give people confidence and knowledge when taking part in high level planning meetings.

When we delivered this training we would often look at the nature of power, and how different types of power interact with each other. One of the theories we discussed was called the POWERCUBE, which expanded on previous theories around the different forms of power. We found that this theory often provoked some interesting discussions, although it could sometimes seem quite daunting when presented in a training session. Therefore, when the opportunity arose to apply for a training grant from the Powys Area Planning Board, we thought that making a short film looking at this theory might be useful in future training courses. 

We also wanted to aim the film at professionals who sit on these boards, so that they could avoid some of the barriers presented by power imbalances that might exclude service users and carers from engaging with co-production opportunities.

We were successful with the funding so we began working with current representatives from the main health and wellbeing partnership boards to get their input on how the film should progress. (These boards include the Mental Health Planning and Development Partnership, the Regional Partnership Board and the Area Planning Board).

We thought an animation might be a good way to highlight the important points, using the opinions and voices of current and past reps, and we hoped to involve the reps in all creative aspects of the film-making process. We worked with Jim Elliott, a Powys-based animator and musician, and I held interviews where possible with the reps so we could use their voices (and likenesses). Unfortunately we were now in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown so some of the original ideas were hard to do, and the reps weren’t able to be as ‘hands-on’ with the animation as we wanted to, but they still had input into the look and feel of the film.

We had discussed some of the old 1970s Open University graphics as a starting point for the aesthetic of the animation, and decided on a ‘stop-motion’ process to animate the talking head pieces. We also ensured there was a full Welsh version and worked with a local actor from Mid Powys Youth Theatre to provide the Welsh narration.

The initial reaction has been really good, and we plan to use the film in future training sessions as a way to break up the day and provide a break to whoever is leading the training. We hope that other organisations in Wales might want to use the film as well. To help with this we also produced some training materials that can be downloaded from the Powys Mental Health website - Shared Power additional materials.

If you would like to know more about the shared power training please contact mentalhealth@pavo.org.uk

You can view the films in English:

And Welsh:

Celebrating the One Powys Connecting Voices project

On a wintery Tuesday in late March, Carl Cooper, the PAVO Chief Executive Officer, spoke at the Powys COVERED (Connecting Our Voices Embracing Real Engagement and Dialogue) event which celebrated the achievements and legacy of the lottery funded One Powys Connecting Voices project. PAVO managed a portfolio of six projects over five years aiming to empower citizens to have a greater influence on the design and delivery of statutory services in Powys.

Over the past five years on this blog we have observed and recorded some of the achievements of one of the portfolio projects in particular: YAPS (Young Adult Peer Support project) run by Ponthafren Association (read The YAPS project at Ponthafren Association, Young Adult Peer Support project @ PAVO AGM and YAPS Sharing the Voice).

Carl summed up some of the achievements of the OPCV project as a whole at the event:

 “About 7 years ago the Big Lottery Fund in Wales had an idea. It wanted to try to support people in getting their voice heard and in influencing decisions that affected them. They then invited County Voluntary Councils such as Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations to put in a bid (it was a competitive process - not every area of Wales was successful), in relation to getting voices heard to make a difference, but also in a way that reflected the local context and local environment.

To be frank, I was surprised we were awarded the money. That’s not because I thought that what we set out to do wasn’t important, but our approach here in Powys has been very unique in that if you were to look at the projects elsewhere in Wales they have a very, very distinct focus. One was focussing exclusively on mental health. Another on learning disabilities and so on. We took a risk I think, in that at the time, together with the council and health board and other partners, we were developing the One Powys Plan. And the OPP was a diverse plan wanting to do lots of things. So we brought together a portfolio of projects to enable voices to have an influence on different aspects of the OPP. So as you will see around the room we have got people supporting carers, people that were focussing on neurological conditions, others that focussed on older people, others that focussed on the environment and sustainability, on younger people, on children and so on. 

My slight nervousness was that the Big Lottery Fund might look at this and say, hmmmnn, not sure about this because it feels a bit fragmented. It doesn’t really hang together very well. Gladly they didn’t, and I think what we have been able to do over the last five years is bring that diversity of people’s voices to bear on planning and decision making here in Powys. And it’s been a delight to work with our partner organisations represented in this room and I want to thank you for working with us so readily, so effectively and in a way that I think has built relationships between ourselves but also within the wider sector and partnership arena.

So what has this project actually done? Well, in one way it’s very simple. We wanted to try to support people in getting their views, observations, comments and concerns heard by Welsh Government, by the commissioners of services, by our statutory partners in the council and health board, by emergency services such as the police and many others. And I’m pleased to say that that was done and it was done well. Nothing is perfect and it would be invidious of me to stand here and pretend that things are ever perfect. But this project has made a difference. And that is crucial.

Barbara Perkins, OPCV Officer and Martin Nosworthy, Chair of the PAVO Board

So when I look at some of the evidence and information from this portfolio of projects, I see some of these things we know are true of Powys, for example how the geography of Powys is a constant challenge, particularly when it comes to access to services. But over the last five years, when you look at what has actually emerged, we now have virtual wards operating in Powys that the voluntary sector, health, social services and so on come together to realise and to run. We have video links, which connect patients to GPs and special consultants, be they local or a further distance away. That’s just the first of a number of examples really. I don’t want to claim that this project was the one and only influence on those decisions, but the crucial thing is that we can evidence that this project influenced those decisions.

You, and the people you represent, not only got your voices heard but your voices were listened to and they made a difference. That is crucial. Also the way in which young carers were brought into contact with social workers. The way in which those young carers were then involved in the training of social workers. So that workforce development, as well as operational delivery, was part of how the voice was mobilised to make things different. The commissioners for older people’s and children’s services have been involved in discussion and dialogue around transport, around social isolation, loneliness, and certainly if you look at some of the initiatives that have been taking place over the last years, and that will continue under the new area plan and wellbeing plans, then again things are different.

We’ve seen lots of other things develop. Again partly influenced by this project, be it around recycling and the involvement of communities and volunteers in recycling. So called upcycling. So, you take what might one time have been discarded and you give it fresh life for new use. We have repair cafes that have emerged over Powys over the last years. Again partly as a result of this project. 

Julia Gorman and Robin Green ran the YAPS Project at Ponthafren Association

Further examples include dementia cafes, and dementia support groups. Children have led campaigns about children’s rights. Young adults have provided services to local employers especially around training and workforce development. We’ve also seen in this project, and because of it, impact around helping people with shopping and making sure that particularly older people who find it difficult, if not impossible, to get out of the house, get affordable goods delivered to them. And we’ve been able to link that with some support around cooking and healthy eating and again that wouldn’t have happened, certainly not in the same way, had it not been for what this project was doing. 

My last example is around digital accessibility. We all know that transport is a perennial intractable problem here in Powys. But crucially we are very aware that people need to be plugged in digitally in the 21st century in order to be able to access health, social and commercial services at all times. And part of what this project has done is to help people in terms of upskilling and training and information when it comes to technology and internet services. Again another example of an accessibility barrier that has been overcome.

So, I’ve just tried to focus on literally ten or so examples of where what we’re doing today is not just saying well done and let’s go home, but well done and you’ve made a difference. Things are not the same in Powys today as they were five years ago because of what you and colleagues have done. And that’s a testimony not just to the project but to the value of participation, the effectiveness of public engagement, and to use a bit of more modern jargon, the importance of so-called co-production. 

And so I'll end my comments by saying that this work does not stop here. During the lifespan of this project we’ve had a so called Issues Log. And each of the projects has added issues to that log and so we have been able to see what issues and what comments people have been presenting with. Over the five years we’ve had thousands of issues. But six hundred of those issues were taken forward in dialogue and engagement and in conversation with local partners and with local agencies. And that will continue. Because PAVO is building a new website and this will be live very soon. And one of the things you will see on the website is an online portal which will be the updated version of our Issues Log. So, although the project is coming to an end it will still be possible for environmental groups, for carers, for children, for older people, for younger people and many others to go to the PAVO website and actually make sure that your issue is logged.

But it doesn’t stop there. We will then regularly collate and analyse that information, and make sure that it continues to influence decisions through our links with partners and strategic partnerships. So it’s not the end today. The end of the project, but things will still continue.”

Comic Relief award of £110,605 for Powys project to develop Mental Health Networks

PAVO's mental health team celebrates news of the award
Back: Glynis Luke, Jane Cooke, Freda Lacey
Front: Jackie Newey

Shaping Our Services - "Together For Powys Mental Health" 

Local Participation Networks

Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations is pleased to announce that it has been awarded £110,605 from Comic Relief for a three year project, to be managed by the mental health team, to develop local mental health participation networks around Powys. The work is being funded under Comic Relief’s Fairer Society theme, which aims to: “empower and give a voice to marginalised groups of people, enabling them to challenge injustice and bring about positive changes for those who face discrimination and stigma”.

Freda Lacey, our team's Participation Officer, who worked on the funding bid to Comic Relief, told me more about the new project.

“Our county mental health participation network has made a positive difference to marginalised people’s lives since 2010. Using principles of collaboration and co-production, we have successfully challenged injustice and ensured that people excluded from decision-making processes have had their voice heard and been involved in shaping services both in Powys and nationally.

This county-wide work has identified the need to develop participation networks in local communities. Here people face local problems sometimes not appropriate for county discussion, they lack confidence to participate at this level, and are unable to access meetings centrally or to participate remotely. Statistics show that we only reach 10% of people in contact with services as the majority live in more rural areas.

Decisions about mental health services are being made nationally, but 90% of people in Powys currently do not know how to ensure their voice is heard at this level. This means that they cannot participate in decisions that affect their lives. In 2013 we recruited local individuals to participate on local/national mental health strategic decision boards. These individual representatives require local networks to be in place to listen and share with other people, from all ages, in contact with services, and those close to them, to ensure that they are reaching as many people as possible in local communities. This not only empowers grassroots community voice but also supports the individual representatives as carriers/channellers of that collective voice.
 

Freda (far left) at Comic Relief HQ in  London on February 5
meeting people from other award-winning projects

People will use their lived experience to make a positive difference, to their own lives and the lives of others. Their voices, lived experience, and skills will be used to help reduce the disadvantages, discrimination, social inequality and stigma faced by people experiencing mental distress and influence and improve services and opportunities available to “all of us” across Powys.

Participants in the project will increase their negotiating, listening and influencing skills and their understanding of public sector delivery, decision making and strategy. People in Powys, from children to older people, will know how to access local, county and national participation opportunities. They will know how to speak out and get their voice heard, and how to actively engage with those working in mental health services and help shape service delivery."

If you would like to find out more about mental health participation opportunities in Powys, please take a look at the Getting Involved pages on our website here.

You can find out more about the work of Comic Relief here, and Red Nose Day Friday 13 March 2015 here. 

Make your face funny for money!

                                 
Red Nose Day comes along every two years and combines two very British things: having a laugh and helping others. Be it at school, work or home, people across the land put on Red Noses and pull out all the stops to raise as much money as possible. Then, once everyone’s run out of fundraising juice, they tune into BBC One for some top entertainment from their favourite comedians and to donate even more cash! And why do they do it? To help poor and vulnerable people living incredibly tough lives both here in the UK and across Africa.

Update: The Participation Worker post related to this project is now being advertised. Closing date 7 April 2015. More info here.

Life on the ward: the patient's voice

This week Rhydian Parry tells us about volunteering with Powys Patients’ Council at Bronllys Hospital in South Powys.

I have been a volunteer with Patients’ Council for about a year and a half. I have first-hand experience of what life on the ward is like, having been a patient at Bronllys several times over the past eleven years. I know how tough life can get on the inside and how big an impact seemingly trivial stuff can have. I’m lucky to be in a position where I can try and use my experience of being on that ward from the age of 17 to help others and ensure that the voice of the patients at Bronllys is heard and represented.

We had a very productive meeting last time on the 11 December. It gave us a huge amount of information to take forward and highlighted the importance of some issues that have been consistently coming up. Some are in the process of being dealt with at the appropriate levels such as the lack of activities on the ward. It is an issue we have been working closely with senior and ward managers for a while and are now at a stage where discussions are taking place with Brecon and District Mind (formerly Brecon & District Contact Association - “the Loft”) amongst others to provide structured activity on the ward, as well as some in the community.

The need for a quiet room is another prevalent issue which, sadly, still has not been sorted. We are currently waiting for the walls to be painted; this needs to be done before anything else in the room and is holding the whole project up. I just hope that work can begin soon.

Many people raised issues around the weekly case conferences. It was felt that these were already very intimidating and asking whether patients minded student doctors being there when arriving was too late. People found it very difficult to say 'no' face to face with the students. Having a tick box on the pro forma was suggested by a patient and passed on to the ward manager. She agreed that it was a good idea and will be adding one to the form straight away.

Concerns were also raised around a perceived neglect of patients’ physical health. These were passed on and I was informed that a ward-based doctor was due to start on 23rd December. This will hopefully alleviate the situation somewhat.

It's also important to recognise some of the actions that have been completed over the past year. Good examples of these are having a decent TV, wall mounted and working well making a big difference to the dayroom, and the Mobile Phone Policy. Patients had only very restricted access to their phones and it was a difficult issue to overcome. But, after a lot of hard work, we now have a new Mobile Phone Policy which does allow patients to have access to their phones.

I would also like to thank the staff on Felindre ward at Bronllys. Not only do we hear a lot of good things said at meetings (although people would love more staff!) we are made very welcome when we visit, ensuring we have the ideal room and we also have a healthy working relationship. Without effective co-operation positive action and changes would be very hard to come by.

Many thanks to Rhydian for his insight into the Patients’ Council operating out of Bronllys Hospital in the South of Powys. Patients’ Council aims to give a voice to Powys residents wherever they are offered acute in-patient mental health services - you can find out more, including meeting notes, on our website. And more good news - some of my colleagues are currently working to develop a similar arrangement to give a voice to patients in the North of Powys.

How important do you think it is for patients to have a voice?

The YAPS project @ Ponthafren Association

The YAPS Project, which is delivered by Ponthafren Association, offers peer support mentoring to young people (16 - 25 years old) who experience mental health issues, by helping to give them a voice of their own in the development of services. Here at Powys Mental Health we spoke to Zoe Greenslade, one of the volunteer mentors with the project.

Why did you decide to become part of the group?

I’m Zoe Hannah Greenslade, I am 18 years old and in early January I started volunteering at the Ponthafren Centre, in Newtown. Since then, my time here has been amazing – with no two days being the same. I was thrown straight in at the deep end and within days of being here I was asked whether I would be interested in joining the YAPS Project.

YAPS stands for ‘Young Adult Peer Support’ and I think it is a brilliant way of helping other young people to share their own experience on mental health. Peer Support isn’t as formal as counselling. We young mentors are providing this service to other young people because we care. All of the mentors are volunteers, meaning we don’t get paid to be a part of this project. We are dedicating our time to help and support other young people who may be suffering in silence, and thinking that they are alone.

Mentoring is a confidential and non-judgmental relationship, in which we provide a friendly face and support in order to help other young people feel happier. By meeting in a safe environment, both mentors and mentees can feel at ease, knowing anything they discuss will remain confidential. Previously, I have had several attempts at counselling, however in most cases I gave up attending my meetings. I always felt like the counsellor wasn’t really interested in helping me and was only talking to me because they were paid to do so. With YAPS, this isn’t the case as all mentors are volunteers with an interest in helping others and using their experiences to support their peers. I am really looking forward to being a mentor for so many reasons. Firstly, because I wish I had the opportunity to have a mentor for myself, when I most needed one. I wish I’d had someone who I felt actually wanted to listen to me, purely because they cared and wanted to help me get better.

What has been the response to the meetings so far?

Once a month all of the mentors meet up at Ponthafren in a ‘focus group’ and discuss any issues or ideas we have regarding the YAPS Project. We are asked by the Project Coordinator for our views and input to all parts of the project from leaflet design, promoting the project and to the content of the mentor training. As the whole idea is still quite new to us, it is lovely being able to learn from one another, to be consulted and listened to and being able to put together loads of ideas that we believe will make the YAPS Project stand out and become a fantastic resource.

Who can join the group?

Anyone aged 16 - 25 who is interested in becoming a mentor.

The YAPS Project is looking for young people who can commit to becoming a mentor, there are no set hours - you may be able to give an hour or two a week or a month, either is fine. Once you are a mentor there will be training and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check then you will be paired with a mentee. If you are looking to become a mentor – or know anyone who may be interested – or for any other information regarding the YAPS Project, then contact Caroline Mercer (YAPS Co-ordinator) on 07792 346 519 or email yaps.project@ponthafren.org.uk

When is the next meeting?

20th February 4pm @ Ponthafren in Newtown.

What do you hope to achieve from being a mentor?

I want to be able to feel satisfied. Satisfied that I have:

• Made a difference to even one young person’s life, for the better.
• Put a smile on their face.
• Given them the confidence that there are still people who want to help and care for them.
• Reassure the mentee that, most importantly, they are not alone.

A big thank you to Zoe for telling us all about the YAPS Project and her involvement. YAPS is one of seven projects funded by the Big Lottery Fund as part of the One Powys Connecting Voices programme. You can read more about YAPS in the latest One Powys - Connecting Voices newsletter, or on the Ponthafren Association website.

Tell us what you think about mentoring. Is it a good idea? And can it help shape mental health services for the better?

National Mental Health Partnership Board update

In early November Freda updated us in her post Citizen Power, Active Participation about the process for selecting representatives for the National Mental Health Partnership Board – along with details of the National Forum for Service Users & Carers and the local groups that feed into this board, and representation on those.

 

As stated on the Welsh Government website, the National Mental Health Partnership Board (NPB) will “oversee the delivery and implementation of Together for Mental Health – A Strategy for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Wales and its Delivery Plan; guiding and monitoring progress, and facilitating co-ordination of the cross-cutting approach required across Welsh Government, Statutory agencies, the Third and Independent Sectors.”

Together for Mental Health is the Welsh Government 10 year strategy for improving the lives of people using mental health services, their carers and their families. At the Shaping Services Together conference, which took place on 19 September in Llandrindod Wells, we were introduced to several members of the NPB, see photo below.

We have now received further updates from David Crepaz-Keay, Mental Health National Forum for Service Users & Carers and Sian Richards, Strategy Lead, Mental Health & Vulnerable Groups Division, Welsh Government. 

Let’s start with David:

“Back in the spring the Wales Alliance for Mental Health was asked by 
Welsh Government to oversee the process to identify two service users and two carers to become members of the National Mental Health Partnership Board (NPB) in time for the December meeting. I’m proud to report that we have achieved this.

Junaid Iqbal, Jane Treharne-Davies, Carina Edwards and Rhydian Parry have become members of the NPB; we also have a team of skilled deputies to support them in these roles and to step onto the board when needed. Alan Meudell, Julie Murray, Tracy Elliott and Steve Hails have been selected deputies. All eight people will become members of the Forum and met the other Forum members at the Forum meeting in Swansea (in late November).

The eight people were chosen following an open recruitment process by a panel of Forum members following interviews (in mid November). The process has been a long and challenging one and has only been made possible by the hard work of a few and the good will and support of many.

We now have Forum members from Betsi Cadwaladr, Hywel Dda, Cardiff and Vale, Powys and ABMU. We have also completed selection of the ten national members of the Forum, but this will be revisited once all Local Partnership Board service user and carer members are in place as we already have a number of vacancies.”

And over to Sian:

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the roles that you have played in establishing service user and carer arrangements for the National Mental Health Partnership Board.

The importance of strong service user and carer engagement at both an individual care level and strategically in the planning and monitoring of services is one of the underpinning goals of Together for Mental Health. The need for a national forum bringing together service users and carers who are active across Wales and the establishment of an open and transparent mechanism to appoint service users and carers on to the new National Partnership Board were clear recommendations from last year’s service user conferences. Earlier in the year Welsh Government asked the Wales Alliance for Mental Health to co-ordinate the process to respond to these requirements. David took on the lead role and has done absolutely sterling work to get us to a position this week where the recruitment process is now complete for the Partnership Board and we had over 40 people from across Wales attending our National Forum meeting in late November.

Every one of you has had a key role in this process and I would very much like to thank you for the energy and enthusiasm that you have shown in helping us to deliver this, and for the time commitment that you have been prepared to put in to it, often at short notice and on top of many other demands.

I think that we are now in a very exciting place in terms of the development of this approach in Wales and it would not have happened without your input.

Many, many thanks and I look forward to meeting with many of you over the coming months.”

Rhydian Parry, one of four people recruited from across Wales to the NPB, is from Powys, as is one of the reserves, Steve Hails. Congratulations to them!

5 of the 9 representatives from Powys attended the first Powys Mental Health Planning and Development partnership as new members of the group on December 5th 2013. 

Over to Freda:

“Wow, what a week it's been! I was really in awe yesterday as we sat around the table at the first Powys Local Partnership Board meeting where we had individuals in contact with services around the table. Laura and I were speaking afterwards and we felt it was the best Local Partnership Board meeting we'd attended. The atmosphere and energy in the room was very different, it really felt like we were coming together, management were listening and your contribution was really valued.”

We’ll keep you updated about how the National Mental Health Partnership Board and National Forum for Service Users & Carers are going. Meanwhile, if you have any questions just get in touch with us or leave a comment below. You can email pamhinfo@pavo.org.uk

Citizen Power, Active Participation

Blog by Freda Lacey, Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (PAVO)

The Person in the Arena – Theodore Roosevelt    

"It is not the critic who counts; not the person who points out how the strong …stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends themselves in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if they fail, at least fails while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."



24th October 2014.  Left to right, back row;

Rhydian Parry, Neil Saunders, Kate Van Den Ende,

Steve Hails, Liz Hails, Phil Pashley, Meriel Richards,

Phil Moisson.  Front: Freda Lacey, Lotte McGregor,

Ali Lloyd-Jones, Michelle Willingham, Jill Dibling

On Thursday,  24th October, I gave the above quote, a personal favourite of mine (one which has boosted me many times during some of my darker days) to a group of twelve enthusiastic, devoted citizens of Powys, who came together for the day with me to discuss active participation on local and national Mental Health Partnership Boards. 

 

 

 

 

The Road Trip

This meeting was the culmination of a long road trip across Powys over the last few months, engaging with people in local groups, teams, towns and localities.  I gleefully sent out some photos to my family of my journey to work that first day of travel, captioned, “my road to work this morning”.  I feel incredibly lucky to live in a county and drive roads which take me to views like this in the work I do. 

My mission? 
To inform and encourage people to participate at our annual Stronger in Partnership conference, this year entitled, “Shaping Services Together”.  People would get to meet with Jacqui Dillon, a well known activist and public speaker on the de-medicalisation of mental health distress and chair of the “Hearing Voices Network”, actively participate in speaking up about the impact of the UK Welfare Reform (workshop video here) and meet with key decision makers locally and nationally to report on personal experiences (watch out for a subsequent Blog on this topic!). 


Welshpool Outreach - Ponthafren

They would also get to speak directly with members of the relatively new National Partnership Board driving the “Together for Mental Health” strategy and delivery plans across Wales.  People would also learn more about how to actively engage and participate in shaping mental health services (you can access their talk here), locally and through a newly forming National Forum for citizens in contact with mental health services across Wales.  


Llanidloes Outreach - Ponthafren

I combined visits to local mental health voluntary services/groups and statutory mental health staff/teams closely in contact with people who have been diagnosed with "mental illness". 

My journey took me to places such as Machynlleth and visits with Mind Aberystwyth’s “UsMach” and a local counseling services called “The Listening Point”.  To Llanidloes’ Mental Health Outreach Group, Welshpool Mental Health Resource Centre, both managed by Ponthafren Association.  
 

Older People's team, South Powys

Newtown’s Mental Health Resource Centre (managed by Ponthafren Association), Builth Wells Mental Health Outreach Group and Llandrindod Wells Resource Centre, through Mid Powys Mind, Brecon and District Mind’s (note new name), Mental Health Resource Centre.   Bryntirion’s multi-disciplinary team of social workers, community psychiatric nurses and team leaders in Welshpool, multi-disciplinary staff team at Ty Illtyd in Brecon, the older people’s multi-disciplinary staff team gathered at Bronllys Hospital and the multi-disciplinary staff team at The Larches in Ystradgynlais.

This event was also going to uniquely focus on “across all ages” and we actively worked with the Participation Team working with the Powys Youth Forum and Tros Gynnal, who provide Children’s Advocacy, to get their involvement.  Several young people came, with the support of these two local organisations and they worked with Theatr Clwyd on a workshop to put across their points/issues to the audience.  There was also quite a bit of audience participation as you can see in the picture here and below.

We had over 120 people registered for the event here in Powys which happened on September 19th and the momentum for people to get involved in shaping mental health services, both locally and nationally, has continued since then with great interest.  It feels as if a great shift is happening with people really wanting to become more actively involved, raising their voice, campaigning for the rights of individuals (and themselves) to be heard.  People are passionately wanting to help change the way services are delivered so that they have the services they need, when they need them.  It is interesting that this is strongly aligned with the Welsh Government’s drive to involve more citizens in public consultations, engagement and participation at all levels.  For a list of the most recent opportunities to get involved, please visit this page on our website.

This all brings us to last Thursday’s day at Gregynog Hall, where originally, fifteen people had put themselves forward as interested in coming together to discuss active participation and representation on the Powys local Mental Health Planning and Development Partnership and the National Forum. Unfortunately, three people were unable to attend on the day due to unforeseen reasons. 

The local partnership board is a requirement, as part of the strategy for Mental Health across Wales, and each of the seven health boards in Wales need to create such a partnership.  They are also required to have people in contact with services and those close to them as active members on these partnership boards.  There are no minimum or maximum numbers, but most Boards have over four people as active members.  In Powys, we have three people who can participate on the partnership at any one meeting.

There were six people who organically fell out of the day’s selection process, but three others who really wished to participate, but were unsure of their abilities and perhaps lacking in some confidence.  The group, as a whole, really wished to encourage and support these three people to be actively involved and so they wished me to see whether the three people participating on the local partnership could be pulled from a pool of nine people.  The remaining three people all wished to be very actively involved in supporting the local and national engagement process.  Nine people from Powys will actively be part of the National Forum that is forming and this will consist of over 50 people from across Wales.

Jo Mussen (right) Vice Chair Powys teaching Health Board & Jackie Newey, PAVO

The nine people are a good mixture of people who have varied and diverse experiences.

It will be one of the widest, most diverse groups of people to ever come together, with one common purpose.  This is to ensure that those in contact with or close to people who have experience of mental health services in Wales are valued as equals in shaping mental health services for the future, that they are consulted, valued, actively involved through meaningful dialogue, ensuring that this is not tokenistic.  This Forum will also choose the four people who will participate on the National Partnership Board.  Importantly, communication to and from the National Partnership Board on issues affecting people and progress on key areas of interest in terms of service development and action, needs to be whole-heartedly carried through this Forum, by this Forum to local networks, groups and citizens represented from communities across Wales.  In this way, a strong, inter-dependent link will exist between local citizenship and Welsh Government, in relation to mental health and well-being.

Community Mental Health Team, Brecon

The ongoing challenge remains how we actively engage, communicate and dialogue with the silent majority of people, whose voice may not yet have been heard and indeed, who do not wish to participate via membership of a forum or board, but who do want to actively contribute and be heard.  Further development of local groups, local mechanisms for ensuring active participation is facilitated and helping forge meaningful connections are next steps for the group who met at Gregynog, as is utilising the widest and most innovative means possible to engage with people. 

Along with supporting this group, my role requires me to be mindful of linking opportunities for involvement in services with people with particular interests or experiences.  Most recent examples of this include: linking an individual in Newtown with Department of Health, Expert Reference Group meetings in London, reviewing the Mental Health Code of Practice and we’ll ensure that we are involved when/if the Welsh Code of Practice is also reviewed, ensuring individuals who have experience of being detained by the police (in relation to mental health distress) are linked in with a two year research project headed by the University of Bangor into Police practice, linking people with the group overseeing the implementation of the Mental Health Measure (Act) across Wales and seeking to involve people in the formation of the Powys Psychological Therapies Management Committee.

Finally, I shared with the “Twelve” a poem which means a great deal to me.  It is called “To Risk” and you can view it here on our website.  It felt right to hand people this poem before they attend the first meeting of the Powys Mental Health Planning and Development Partnership in December and the National Forum in November.  It may help if you’ve never gotten involved in participating before. 

 
So, if you wish to join in, get actively involved and have particular interests or experience in different aspects of services that makes you think you can make a difference for others and/or for yourself, please email me at Freda.Lacey@pavo.org.uk or ring me on 01597 822191 for further information.

By Freda Lacey