HUBB - More Training!

February has proved a busy and succesful month for HUBB's training.

Rob Thomas & Lynn Burling spent a day in Coventry training members of the 'Social Care - Communitiy and Children's Services' in the Recovery Star. The group was made up of a great range of people - from CDW's to Admin Support to Managers. The programme was received well and it was fantastic to have such a variety of levels represented. This demonstrated that the organisation was looking carefully at how the Recovery Star could be used and engaged with from all persectives - the Client, the workers and the organisation.

Lynn Burling of HUBB (far left) with members of Coventry's

Social Care Communities and Children's Services

From HUBB's perspective it was great to receive such a warm response. IT was also very pleasing to see such creativity present within the group and evedence from the accross the organisation. The artwork and environment was exceptional! The background artwork in the photograph above is their version of a 'Recovery Star'.

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Youth Mental HEalth First Aid is gaining in popularity. Coopers Coborn School, Upminster, is to be one of the first schools in the country to working towards MHFA England's 'Kite Mark'. This pilot programme will be delivering the YMHFA programme in 8 sessions over 6 weeks. This programme is the result of a partneship collaboration between HUBB, Coopers Coborn and MHFA England and the local Employment Eligibility Forum.

Coopers Coborn are providing the venue for a YMHFA programme which will include 6 members of their staff, carefuly selected as people who are likely to have the most contact with most pupils, together with 6 members of other organisations within the borough. Other delegates include representatives from the Pupil Referral Unit, Bower Park School, the Employment Eligibility Forum, Connexions, Havering College of Further & Higher Education and the Havering Business & Education Partnership.

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Rob Thomas spent 11 days in late January and early February delivering a 7 Day Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor programme and a 4 Day Extention YMHFA (for those who are already MHFA instructors) for MHFA England.

2011 - A great start!

2011 looks to be a challenging year for everyone. The social and economic changes that are in progress will affect us all. What Britain will look like in a years time is difficult to predict...let alone trying to imagine five years ahead.

HUBB, although facing challenges like many individuals and organisations, has experienced a positive start to the year. Jenny Gray, our Director, has been recognised by Mental Health First Aid England as a 'Champion' for her support of Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid. An article was published in the Romford Recorder and other Archant Group newspapers.

Jenny Gray in the Romford Recorder 14th Jan 2011

We are in negotiation with a prominant local secondary school to be a 'Kite Mark' pilot for Youth Mental Health First Aid. HUBB is supporting the programme by providing free YMHFA Instruction. MHFA England are providing the course materials and certificates. The school will provide the venue. Whilst not fianlised at this moment in time, the prospects are looking very good for this programme to run over eight sessions in the half term before Easter. This will be one of the first schools in the country to be involved in YMHFA under the MHFA England Kite Mark Scheme - promoting health and wellbeing in schools and the wider community.

The pilot that HUBB is involved with is particularly exciting as it is hoped that 6 places will be taken by the school and six places provided to other schools and youth organisations in the local area. This will mean that 12 YMH First Aiders will be operational in a wide number of organisations to help identify young people cthat may be showing signs and symptoms of mental ill health and guiding them to the appropriate support. This early intervention will make a big difference in the lives of many young people..

Our mission to help MHFA England reach it's target of a 'Mental Health First Aider in every workplace' is moving forwards. We are meeting business leaders at every opportunity. It is our firm belief that the wellbeing of the nation can be improved by having MH First Aiders in similar proportion to physical Frist Aiders. Our Corporate Social Responsibility approach connects wellbeing to individual and business performance. More information can be found on our specific CSR website pages.

Our colleagues at Stredia are able to produce important diagnostic analysis of where companies may experience potential issues with stress and anxiety. The information  is generated via an anonymous online data collection system and presented in clean and effective reports. Combining this information with training key employees in Mental Health First Aid and developing specific training programmes in the areas recognised as generating higher levels of risk of stress and anxiety will not only create an improved working environment but can make big differences to the business balance sheet. Prevention of stress and anxiety is far more cost effective than dealing with the impact!

© Stredia 2011

HUBB is keen to link with any organisations that is interested in making a difference to their employee wellbeing.

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.