| Colchester Mind’s Young Persons Advisory Board (YPAB) produces a bi-monthly newsletter. If you would like a copy of the latest edition of this newsletter by email please contact colchestermind@btconnect.com
Young people on the YPAB continue to campaign against the stigma associated with mental health amongst their peers and strive to empower those who have suffered or continue to suffer from mental health problems. For further information about the YPAB please contact the YPAB Coordinator on
ypabcoord@btconnect.com
NIMHE POSITIVE PRACTICE AWARDS FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Earlier this year The Junction entered the NIMHE Positive Practice Awards and we were very pleased to be given a 'highly commended' award for provision of services to 16 - 17 year olds.
The award ceremony was on the 28th November and was held at Chelsea Football Club. Cathy, Sharon and Chris went and were pleased to be accompanied by a Service User and J - one of our Volunteers.
We were introduced to Bob Foster who is the director of the National CAMHS Support Services and one of the judges of the awards. He pointed out the judges were impressed that Colchester Mind had chosen to work with young people as well as adults and they were also impressed with the positive working relationships that we have forged with statutory agencies.
After a sumptuous lunch, we were introduced to Liam Byrne MP (Parliamentary Under - Secretary of State for Health). After introductions, J went straight for the jugular and questioned the Minister about the lack of sustained funding for services such as ours and the impact that this instability has on young peoples lives as the likelihood is our young people may have already been in services that have been cut at short notice and this is not helpful for them. Cathy added that another difficulty charities have is that we learn whether we have been funded or not late in the financial year and this is not helpful for the service either. Mr. Byrne said he was very aware of the problems around funding and the Government's aim was to provide funding three yearly for projects. He also added that another problem was that funding timetables for the NHS and local authorities worked to different deadlines so his aim is to get them in line with each other. Other projects had also questioned him about funding.
There was a good atmosphere and we were pleased to be recognised for our hard work and the input of our young people in the development of the service. It was also reassuring to hear from other projects that they also struggle with the same issues and frustrations as we do.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of The Junction young people and staff for all their hard work they put into developing the service. This award confirms that all the hard work over the past four years has been worth it. I would also like to thank our partners for supporting us and the ethos of The Junction.
Information about all the services who applied for the award will be available on The Positive Practice Library, which is being developed in the National CAMHS Support Service (NCCS) website - www.camhs.org.uk
Cathy Constable – The Junction Project Coordinator
November 2005
Article released to Colchester Evening Gazette
Wednesday 12th April 2006
Barbie, a young person who was accessing The Junction, is known for her artistic ability and has previously been commissioned by Connexions to produce art work for their offices. Barbie was invited to design and paint a mural for our "Chill Out Room" to replace a mural inherited from the previous organisation using the building. Barbie designed the mural at the end of last year and began painting in January. Over the course of five visits to The Junction, Barbie has completed a bright, stunning, fantasy based piece of artwork. We intend to have an unveiling of Barbie's art work on Thursday 20th April 2006 at 10a.m.
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