2010 - That was the year, that was...

HUBB has had a very successful year in respect the services we provide. On top of that our staff have worked hard on their own development and received personal recognition for their hard work in a number of ways.

All our advocates (IMCA & IMHA) have successfully completed the specialist module stage of the National Advocacy Qualification Certificate. They are currently preparing their core modules and completion of the certificate is confidently expected in February 2011. A number of advocates are also keen to carry their development by working toward the Diploma. Well done to Ian, Alistair, Dinah, Eve, Suzana, Kay for their success so far, and we wish them well on their journey to further success!

Lynn Burling, from our Training & Development Department, successfully completed a   Foundation Degree (Patient Educator in Health & Social Care) London South Bank University. Well done, Lynn!

Pam Macklin, HUBB’s Advocacy Manager, was also successful in completing the Certificate in Managing for Excellence in Advocacy Services from the Institute of Leadership and Management. Well done, Pam!

Jenny received the accolade of Mental Health First Aid Champion from Mental Health First Aid England for her promotion and support of the Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid programmes.

It has been a very busy year for the organisation.

January marked a great start for 2010 as Investors in People reviewed our organisation. The assessor reported ‘This is a very inclusive workplace, where staff are empowered to make decisions as appropriate, and to feel involved in what HUBB is aiming to do in the future. Staff also confirmed that their ideas and feedback was sought and that HUBB worked very much as a team.’

March saw HUBB awarded the ‘Quality Performance Mark in Advocacy’. The assessor wrote ‘I came away with the impression that HUBB are so well known in the area that they can tackle any issue with confidence and I would imagine they are a force to be reckoned with….HUBB is a high quality service with one of the longest records of service delivery in the country.’ Martin Coyle, Head of Quality and Development for ‘Action 4 Advocacy’ added ‘Service Users speak in glowing terms of the way they lead their own advocacy process, the skills and commitment of the advocates and the trust they have that the service they provide is independent and on their side.’

HUBB was awarded the status of an Approved Centre by Advantage Accreditation. We were also successfully receiving accreditation for our programme ‘Mental Health Act and the role of the IMCA’. Just before Christmas our ‘Recovering Jane’ programme was submitted for accreditation approval and we should hear news on its success early in 2011.

Our Independent Mental Capacity Advocates, Independent Mental Health Advocates and Generic Advocates all continue to provide sterling service to the London Boroughs of Havering and Barking & Dagenham. This quote from a decision maker typifies the response to our service. ‘The IMCA service was very easy and very helpful. I was quite nervous as this was my first referral to HUBB, but the staff were very helpful and knowledgeable and after speaking with them I had gained with them I had gained a better understanding in this case.’ A Senior Practitioner in a Learning Disabilities Team stated ‘HUBB IMCA provided an independent voice and useful (indeed vital!) professional judgement in what was a sensitive and complex case.’ More importantly one service user commented ‘I would like to thank HUBB from the bottom of my heart. If it wasn’t for them on the end of the phone I wouldn’t be here now.’ It is comments like these, and especially the service user perspective that make us proud of what we do.

Our Training & Development Department goes from strength to strength. We have delivered training to nearly four hundred people in the last twelve months. Of particular interest is how we are being asked to provide training programmes further afield. We continue to provide training in Havering, Barking in Dagenham, but 2010 saw us spread our wings on a regular basis. Sevenoaks and Sittingbourne in Kent, Islington, Croydon, Harmondsworth (near Heathrow) and even as far as Burton-upon-Trent!

We are gaining a strong reputation for our ‘Recovery Star’ programmes. This has been delivered to a wide range of organisations in public, private and voluntary sectors. We have been commissioned to provide Recovery Star training to the health services in Coventry in 2011, as well as many more programmes in Barking and Dagenham across multiple services following a successful pilot in December.

HUBB continues to promote and deliver Mental Health First Aid programmes. We were particularly proud to deliver an MHFA to the Gypsy & Traveller Community in Kent. Rob also co-delivered an MHFA course to the staff of the Immigration Centre in Harmondsworth.

Rob was selected as a member of the National Training Team for Youth MHFA and MHFA England in May. Youth Mental Health continues to gather interest and momentum. It was officially launched in November by an august team that included Esther Rantzen. A number of potential pilots in Havering and Barking & Dagenham are in the pipeline. Like many areas of life at the moment this will be dependent on funding, but the signs are looking good.

Poppy Jaman, Director MHFA England, with Esther Rantzen

Well, that is a quick review of HUBB in 2010. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our clients, supporters, friends and colleagues, in fact anyone that has had contact with us in any form over the last 12 months!

2011 is set to be an interesting year. Financially it will prove challenging for many individuals and organisations. Many will see the negative. However, out of such times there will be the seeds of creativity and positivity. HUBB not only promotes the recovery ethos to individuals working with mental ill health issues but also promotes this approach to any one and any organisation. The bedrock of recovery is hope. From this hope appears optimism. Through these two prisms new light is cast giving a new perspective on possibilities.

We wish everyone a happy and successful 2011.

Emotional & Psychological Wellbeing & Reslience Strategy (EmPWR)

HUBB atteended the EmPWER Commissioning Workshop on the 12th November at the Barking Learning Centre.

Introduced by Meena Kishinani, Head of Children's Policy and Trust Commissioning for London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, and facilitated by LisaWilliams of the Department of Health National Support Team, this event looked to reflect upon the strategic priorities for the emotional wellbeing for children and young people and develop effective actions to move LBBD forward to new and effective implementation.

Over 40 people representing varios interested parties across the borough attended. This included Senior Practioners, Head and Deputy Head teachers, a GP, Multi Action Location Team (MALT) members, Youth & Social Workers. There were also a number of representatives from the voluntary sector.


As well as providing a comprehensive update on the strategy implementation, Lisa facilitated the action planning. The ideas and suggestions are too numerous to list here but are being collated ready for the next stage of the strategy implementation by Paul Cosens, author of the EmPWR Strategy (Children & Young People) Project Brief.

As well as a positive and constructive session it is HUBB's belief that the Youth Mental Health Frist Aid programme will fit exceptionally well in to future implementation of mental health, wellbeing and resiliance in Barking & Dagenham.

Launch of Youth Mental Health First Aid

The official launch of the Youth Mental HEalth First Aid programme will take place in London on the 10th November. Further details are available from the MHFA England website.

HUBB is subsidising a number of YMHFA programmes to those who live and/or work in Havering and Barking & Dagenham. See our website for more information. Rob Thomas is one of MHFA England's YMHFA National Training Team members as well as delivering the 14 hour programme as an instructor.

"MHFA England CIC is excited to announce the launch of Youth Mental Health First Aid (Youth MHFA).  Following the huge national success of Mental Health First Aid, Youth MHFA is an internationally recognised course designed specifically for those people that live, work or care for young people aged 11 - 18. MHFA England have adapted the course to be specific for people living with, caring for and working with young people in England. The course provides information and training to promote a young person's mental and emotional wellbeing and to enable participants to support a young person who might be experiencing mental and emotional distress.

The Youth MHFA course will teach people how to:

• Spot the early signs of a mental health problem in young people
• Feel confident helping a young person experiencing a problem
• Provide help on a first aid basis
• Help prevent a young person from hurting themselves or others
• Help prevent a mental health illness from getting worse
• Help a young person recover faster
• Guide a young person towards the right support
• Reduce the stigma of mental health problems

Why is it important?

• 1 in 10 young people experience emotional and mental health problems
• By the time young people become adults the incidence of mental health problems rises
• to somewhere between 1 in 4 and 1 in 6 people.
• For those aged 15-24 suicide is the most common cause of death
• There is evidence to suggest early intervention is hugely beneficial"

Together Report - Peer Support - Lived Experience Leading the Way

An important new report - 'Peer Support - Lived Experience Leading The Way' - was launched by 'Together' on September 30th. The full report along with associated material can be downloaded from the highlighted links to the relevant pages on the Together Website.

HUBB Annual Report and other news...

The HUBB Annual Report 2010 is now available as a pdf download from the HUBB website. Scroll to the foot of the Homepage where a 'quick link' to the report is located.

HUB was involved in two Mental Health First Aid programmes. The first took place at the Ardleigh Training & Education Suite at St. Georges Hospital, Hornchurch with 13 delegates. This was for Havering PCT for people working and living in the borough and delivered by Pam Macklin and Rob Thomas. The second took place at the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, near Heathrow Airport. Rob was invited to co-train with Jessica McKoen as part of her training provision for staff at the centre.

Lynn Burling is to deliver a one hour interactive lecture at Robert Clack Scholl on communication for those involved in social care this week.

HUBB AGM 2nd September

Over 50 members and guests attended HUBB's Annual General Meeting at Romford Baptist Church on the 2nd Septemeber 2010. Guest speaker was Poppy Jaman, Director of Mental HEalth First Aid England. She gave a great presentation on mental health awareness and support in England and how the Mental Health First Aid programme is progressing. There are now over 500 MHFA Instructors, of which HUBB has four, and they have trained over 23,000 people to become Mental Health First Aiders.

Poppy gave an overview of MHFA England and how it is establishing MHFA as good practise in business, simialr to how First Aid is an accepted part of our society, She also expalined about the Youth Mental Health First Aid programme.

The meeting was chaired by Neil Wood, who was also re-elected as chairperson for HUBB for 2010-2011.

Unfortunately Jenny Gray, HUBB's Director, was unable to attend due to illness, but was very ablely duputised by HUBB's Advocacy Manager, Pam Macklin and Office MAnager, Dawn Byrne. Pam presented the Annual Report 2009 and Dawn chaired the announcement of the new Committe for 2010 - 2011. These are:

Officers:

          Neil Wood – Chair

          Steve Marsh Treasurer

          Liz Cadzow Committee secretary

Members:

          John Potter

          Mary Larkin

HUBb would like to thank all those attended and a special thanks to our guests, Fiona Weir, Robert Keys, Claire Stritton, Simon Cannell and Sue Gibbs.

MHFA New Website Launched

The Mental Health First Aid England website has undergone a complete refurbishment. It covers comprehensive information on the Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid Programmes along with supporting material around them.

HUBB has four instructors listed on their 'Instructor Database' - Jenny Gray, Pam Macklin, Lynn Burling and Rob Thomas. We will be listing our MHFA and YMHFA programmes on the MHFA England website as well as updating progress on our own HUBB site.

HUBB & Advantage - accreditation for Training Programmes

HUBB is now approved as an Accreditied Training Centre through Advantage - an independent accreditation organisation. This will lead to HUBB being able to offer a recognised certification process for our own unique training programmes, including 'Mental Capacity (2005)', 'Deprivation of Libery Safeguards' and 'Recovering Jane'.

Dawn McClements awarding Jenny Gray and HUBB 'Advantage Training Centre Approval' 

As well as HUBB being awarded Accreditied Centre status, Jenny, Pam Lynn and Rob were also recognised as Approved Trainiers.

HUBB are looking for new committee members

As a Committee Member you would be expected to regularly attend Committee Meetings. These are held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 109 Rose Lane, Marks Gate. The meetings begin at 2.00pm and usually end by 4.30pm.

At these meetings you would be involved in discussions about HUBB and its work including policies, procedures and finances. We also discuss issues that affect the future services across NELFT (North East London Foundation Trust)


You may also be invited to attend meetings with other local organisations to act as a representative of HUBB, to put forward the view of service users. There will be opportunities to take advantage of free training for Management Committee Members. Your expenses will be paid by HUBB.

Committee Members are also encouraged to attend the HUBB Monthly Meetings from 5.00pm – 7.00pm at the Baptist Church in Romford on the first Thursday of each month.

If you are elected at the AGM, you would need to undertake a Criminal Records Bureau Check. Any conviction involving theft, financial dishonesty, violence or fraud would prohibit you from being a HUBB Committee Member.

If you would like to know more about becoming a Committee Member before you make this decision, please do not hesitate to contact Jenny or Dawn at the HUBB office.
Tel: 020 8590 2666

Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid England is undergoing some important changes.

A facelift for materials including the logos and it's ALGEE process.


The Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor dates are being circulated.

The MHFA England website is about to go live. This is a vast improvement on the old site and will host a lot of valuable information on the MHFA and YMHFA.

 ______________________________________________________

Our collaborative project with people who have experienced some form of mental distress is about to be launched. If you are interested in contributing material - photographs, poems, short stories, paintings, drawings, etc - to be included in a book demonstrating what recovery means and looks like to you, get in touch with Rob - T: 020 8590 2498 - Email here. We have set up a separate 'Recovery Is...' Blog to keep you updated, as well as showcase work we receive. We hope that this will provide inspiration to others to get involved. Here are some examples to help stimulate your creativity:

We hope that the creation of the book will challenge stigma and descrimination around mental ill health issues. We are also very aware that some may want to provide material but want to remain anonymous. This is absolutely fine. Contact us to find out more Or visit the HUBB website which has a dedicated page to the project.

If you are interested in the potential of this form of collaborative and participative project you can view pages from a book 'Through Our Eyes' that Rob created with four young people from the communities in Mumbai HERE,

HUBB at 'Community Care - Live 2010'

HUBB had a very successful two days exhibiting our training services at the 'CC Live 2010' at the Business Design Centre, Islington on the 18th & 19th May.

Pam Macklin, Jenny Gray and Lynn Burling on the HUBB stand

Demonstrating humour helps wellbeing!

We managed to increase the profile of HUBB, it's advocacy provision and especially our training initiatives. The team of Jenny, Pam, Lynn and Rob provided different areas of expertise which enabled us to create a very positive and professional impression. Primarily our aim was to promote our training, especially the Mental Health First Aid, Recovery Star and 'Recovering Jane' programmes.

There was great interest from many people who spent time at our stand. Rob's involvement as a member of the National Training Team for the new MHFA England programme, 'Youth Mental Health First Aid' also allowed us to test the water to see how this initiative would be received. There is huge interest! We collected details of numerous individuals from a wide range of organisations across the South East in particular, but also further afield who want to be kept informed as YMHFA roll out in the Autumn. If you would like more information on any of our training initiatives we can be contacted through the HUBB website.

HUBB was very pleased to discover how well it's advocacy provision stands up against other service providers across the region. We had questions from all manner of representatives from Social Workers to Directors of different organisations. All were quite startled by our ability to speak to individuals within 24 hours of being contacted. That is great recognition of all HUBB advocates!

HUBB also made contact with some very interesting and useful organisations. Rob managed to see an excellent presentation by Steve Scown (Dimensions) and Helen Sanderson (Helen Sanderson Associates) on Personalisation. They were rightly proud of their achievements in this field but were also humble in recognising the unique difficulties presented by Mental Health in working with personalised budgets and the work that needs to be done.

Rob was particularly pleased to see that Dimensions and Helen Sanderson Associates recognise that 'change management' and 'organisational transition' will be required across the board. There are people who access services who will be able to champion personalisation from their own experiences and senior managers and directors who will positive and creative enough to lead with vision and clarity. But it will not be easy! A mindset will need to be challenged in all areas of personalisation provision. 'Institutionalisation' doesn't just refer to those who have experienced severe mental ill health difficulties. It also refers to any individual who blocks change. 

Steve Scown - Executive Director, Dimensions

HUBB is in an excellent position to provide information and signpost various parties into strong and creative partnerships, with people managing Mental  ill Health issues at the core of the decision making process. Why? HUBB is a Service User led organisation. Our committee comprises of Service Users. Service Users established HUBB as a self advocating organisation 20 years ago. Recovery and Wellbeing is at the core of its role and responsibility. HUBB has been working in a 'Personalised' way for 20 years.

Race Equality Project Launch - Barking & Dagenham

Jenny and Rob attended the launch of the 'Race Equality Project' at Harmony House, Dagenham on the 1st April. This looks to connect all agencies and groups in order to promote a quick and positive response to any 'hate incidents' in the Barking & Dagenham. Group0s reperented at the launch included Hat Incident Panel (HIP), Comunity Safety Team, Domestic Violence Team, Stop Hate, Victim Support, Young Offenders Team, Anti Social Behaviour Team, Safer Neighbourhood Team, Caress, Young Offenders Team, Metropolitan Police and Comunity Support Officers.

The lauch provided a framework that Harmony House aims to operate:

• Educating people on how to correctly gather evidence and monitor incidents
• Being an advocate, a voice, for the victim
• Coordinating joint inter-agency plans - acting as an intermediary ensuring clients are progressing as planned and keeping them informed of progress and what is expected of them
• Encouraging victims to report race hate crime to the police
• Use targeted publicity campaigns to promote equality and comunity cohesion within B & D and to raise awareness of the damaging effects of racial discrimination
• To provide 'resilience building training' for victims of race hate crime, helping them to cope better

Jenny and Rob met a number of people and highlighted the issues with Mental Health difficulties in such situations. It was recognised that HUBB may connect with people who would find the Race Equality Project of value, and some who approach the REP who may find HUBB's services of value.

Izuka Soligbo, Harmony House Dagenham Centre Manager with the new poster for the Race Equality Project.

Quality Performance Mark for Advocacy

HUBB has recieved it's plaque for the Quality Performance Mark of the Advocacy Quality Services.

A very big 'Well Done' to all our advocates! 

Quality Performance Mark for Advocacy Provision 

Direct Quotes from the Executive Summary of HUBB’s Report

'It is clear from all the evidence that HUBB is an established, service user led advocacy service which values the knowledge, skills and opinions of the people with whom it works. The organisation is committed to ensuring that service users retain control of activities and seeks to find many ways to involve service users in organisational activity and culture. This is reflected in the schedule of evidence below, where the service receives two (rarely given) commendations in the area of Empowerment and Putting People First.'

'The service strikes a fine balance between being accessible and welcoming whilst guarding against creating culture of dependency. Service users speak in glowing terms of the way they lead their own advocacy process, the skill and commitment of the advocates and the trust they have that the service is independent and 'on their side'. All interviewed from the service were proud of the trust that they had created with service users and were clear on what was required of them to ensure that they live up to the obligations that this trust places upon them.”

'HUBB is a clearly focused organisation which has developed a professional advocacy service without compromising its user led roots. Service users, advocates, management and board members are clear in their expectations of independent advocacy and the service strives to live up to these standards. Evidence from both stages of the assessment show that HUBB is consistently reaching high quality advocacy provision, with skilled and committed advocates working in an empowering way which is highly valued by service users.'

'I am satisfied that HUBB meets the requirements of the QPM and am delighted to award the Quality Performance Mark for a period of three years. The challenge for the organisation now will be to live up to the high standards which it has set.'

Head of Quality and Development 8/3/10

Direct Quotes from Assessor's Report

'I came away with the impression that they are so well known in the area that they can tackle any issue with confidence and I would imagine they are a force to be reckoned with. They are very focussed on the safety of their clients not only during the advocacy process, with clear boundaries and checks in place, but within the wider community. They have a rigorous approach that I coincidentally witnessed during my visit when one of the service users disclosed a concern about a potential threat posed to service users ….'

'HUBB manages the complex balance between appearing relaxed, friendly and available to service users and implementing robust policies, systems and procedures. Both are seen as equally important. The 2 service users interviewed spoke highly of their consistency and reliability. They were both clear that advocacy is about people learning to do as much for themselves as possible. In addition to working towards the QPM with A4A, they already have achieved ratification with Investors in People, Mindful Employer, PQASSO and are registered with Community Legal Services.'

We also received two COMMENDATIONS in the report, which are rarely given:

1. 'There is a process for obtaining service-users’ satisfaction level with the service.'
2. 'Service-users are meaningfully involved in the advocacy scheme’s management and culture.'

Mental Health First Aid and Recovery Star - more successful training delivery!

It's been a busy week in HUBB's Training Department. We delivered a well recieved training programme on the Recovery Star to 16 people from Islington Mind. Our approach is to concentrate on engaging people to want to use the Star and then how facilitate the Star effectively. Although 'Person Centred', that is towards the benefit of the Service User, there is pressure on pushing the Recovery Star to them rather than looking at how Services Users can find out about its benefits and asking to use it. The new posters and postcards on the Ladder of Change and the Recovery Star work really well in helping understand this approach.

It was also recognised how using the language in the Recovery Star - 'Stuck', 'Accepting Help', 'Believing', Learning' and 'Self-Reliance' - in an organisation can be very useful in developing a 'Recovery Oriented' approach. This in turn develops confidence in using the language of the Recovery Star in a 'natural' way with Service Users rather than the false, jargonistic, 'buzz word' manner that can appear when the key worker themselves lacks belief and understanding.

This week saw Lynn and Rob also deliver another Mental Health First Aid programme. The participants were all from, or working in, Havering.

Comments included "this programme should be as widespread as 'First Aid!'", and "I wish to become an ambassador for promoting MHFA in the Asian community!"

 

Breathing Exercises to help reduce anxiety as part of the MHFA

Awareness of how valuable it would be to have Mental Health First Aiders in the community and at work, similar to the number of 'First Aiders', is gradually improving.

Finally, on a different note, HUBB has also been asked to promote awareness of the 'Fearfighter' event at HASWA. Please contact Ravinder Binning (NOT the HUBB Office!) on 01708 550 322 or 0778 738 9358

 

 

Ways 2 Work - Colchester

Jenny, Lynn and Rob attended the 'Ways 2 Work' Conference at Charter Hall, Colchester on 12th February.

A 5.00 am start saw us driving the oposite way to heavy traffic on the A12. Always a nice sight to see! We set up our stand and were soon ready for breakfast.

 

HUBB is signed up to the 'Mindful Employer' and this event saw it being launched accross Essex. We wanted to promote our training services, particularly the Mental Health First Aid and Recovery Star programmes and highlight being a signatory of the Mindful Employer.

After the launch of Mindful Employer the emphasis of the conference was on linking organisations to help those with disabilities into work.

Rob's interest in photography drew him to the stand of George Fossey. He has produced some beautiful photographic work and the two of them spent quite a while discussing all aspects of the subject. As Rob was leaving George said 'Have a picture!'. Rob was particularly humbled by this - no payment, just a coment from George that it is often better to give a gift to someone who appreciates it. A lovely philosphy!

Heres that photograph - a photograph, I believe, of graffiti in Paris. The texture realy helps the vibrant colours jump from the frame. We are now in the process of getting it framed and hung in our office. George's website is currently undergoing a revamp. As soon as we have the new link we will post it. There are some stunning images!

February Monthly Meeting

A quiet start to the evening as people drifted in. By 5.30 pm the venue was full! But no food! Fortunately our first speaker was able to step in.

Sarah Yiannoullou, Manager of NSUN (National Survivor User Network), gave a presentation on networking for Service User groups, and the role NSUN is playing in contecting and fostering links to a packed February Monthly Meeting.

A number of HUBB members asked questions on funding access and  support for lobbying on key issues. It was explained that NSUN is non-political and does not speak for people or groups, but can provide valuable support to help support those to obtain a 'louder voice' by facilitating connections. With direct links already to the National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU) and looking to connect directly with goernment departments, this could be of value to some of our members who are already very active in particular mental health issues.

Food arrived just as Sarah finished. It gave the impression of excellent timing!


Our second guest was Andy McGeeney. He is mentioned in the last post. Andy was dogged with technical problems but comfortably faced the crowd and explained about his ecotherapy work. Again, one or two of our members found this particularly interesting and useful. Some of their connections may be of value to Andy as he promotes various projects, as the projects will be of value to some of the HUBB members.

The Ecotherapy work is in early development but information will be posted onto the HUBB website as we get it.

The next Monthly Meeting will take place at Romford Baptist Church between 5.00 pm and 7.00 pm on March 4th. The link will take you to their website and map.

Ecotherapy With Andy McGeeney

Andy McGeeney is the Psychologist Specialising in Ecotherapy. He visited HUBB to explain his work and to look at promoting the Ecotherapy Projects throughout the NELFT region. Andy will be talking at the HUBB Monthly Meeting on February 4th at ROMFORD BAPTIST CHURCH (Main Road, Romford (Next to ASDA)).



He has a background in psychology, counselling, wildlife conservation, training and development.

His role in the Trust is to:

- Run ecotherapy programmes for service users;
- Conduct research and evaluation of the ecotherapy work;
- Support others who want to use ecotherapy in their work, through mentoring, training and development.
- Tell others about the work we are doing and encourage the wider use of ecotherapy.

An informative leafelt on Andy's work can be downloaded from the HUBB website.
NELFT has been very innovative in introducing Ecotherapy for its users; it fits very well with star wards activities and is empowering for users wishing to improve their quality of life.

The work is being externally evaluated by the University of Essex.

Ecotherapy Activities

The type of activities, by its innovative nature, will shift and change according to circumstances. If you have your own ideas come and talk to Andy. At the moment there are plans to offer:

• Well Being in Nature sessions and workshops

• Walking in Nature sessions 6 week programmes

• Fit n’ Green conservation sessions

• Allotment gardening sessions

• Staff workshops and training programmes

Further information can be obtained by contacting Andy at:

Andy McGeeney
T: 0844 600 1201 x5256
E: andy.mcgeeney@nelft.nhs.uk

North East London Foundation Trust
Therapy Block, Mascalls Park
Mascalls Lane, Warley
Brentwood CM14 5LJ

Katie Francis Paintings

Our office is now displaying these paintings by Katie Francis. Jenny and Lynn bought them at a gallery showing by Together last year.







They are all the right way up!

IMCA Success for HUBB

The Second Annual Report of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy Service was published on 23rd December 2009. HUBB logged a total of 71 referrals in Barking and Dagenham (28 out of 152 regions) and 60 in Havering (=33 out of 152). Combined this would move us to 6th in the table!

Thoughout England there was a 27% increase in the number of people recieving representation from an IMCA compared to the first year.

The Report states ‘The Department of Health is pleased that there has been an increase in referrals, to reflect the greater awareness of the IMCA service. At the same time, a greater rate of increase had been expected, and it is not thought that the IMCA service is reaching all the people it needs to as yet.’

The full report can be downloaded from the Department of Health website.