On September 20th in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, we held our Annual General Meeting, opened by Charles Bamford, Chair of MindWise.  This year was a little bit different, in which we dedicated half the event to celebrating our staff and volunteers who Make a Difference.  Well done to all our wonderful volunteers and staff who were nominated for awards. And huge thanks to the Ballyclare Music Group, who provided a gorgeous trad accompaniment to our lunch and really set a wonderful tone for the day (you can watch a short video on the MindWise Facebook page)  We said goodbye to Edward... We said goodbye to our Chief Executive Edward Gorringe after 5 years at MindWise.  Edward is moving on to a new role as Diocesan Secretary for Durham, and we said goodbye to him in style at our AGM.  Deputy CEO Anne Doherty gave a presentation highlighting some of Edward's achievements and contributions to MindWise over the last half a decade, including securing our new home in the beautiful surroundings of Newforge Lane, and of course, our lucrative partnership with Lloyds Banking Group, which has funded services such as our Mum's Wellness Project and our Carer Support. Trustee and volunteer Stephen Carson delivered a funny and touching speech, presenting him with a leaving gift to show our appreciation.  Edward also said his thanks and goodbyes to MindWise, honouring the work of our staff and volunteers in making a real difference to people living with mental ill health across Northern Ireland and supporting people to discover a recovery that's right for them. He also thanks the Chair, Charles Bamford, the board of Trustees, Anne Doherty and the team of Directors.   Thank you Edward, we'll miss you and wish you all the best.  We looked to the past year and the year ahead Our Trustees and Chair were re-elected, with no changes. We also launched our annual report, which details some of the year's highlights, including our continuing partnership with Mental Health UK, the opening of Ben Crom and our Healthy Body, Healthy Minds campaign alongside the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke.  You can download a copy of our annual report here.   Our guest speaker was Nicole Devlin.  Nicole is a blogger, psychology student at Queens, a person with lived experience of personality disorder and is part of Harm-Ed, which provides bespoke training to organisations on self harm. Nicole has been working with us over the last few months to research and develop a peer led personality disorder training programme, with people with lived experience of borderline personality disorder its heart. Nicole outlined the plans for the training programme, which will be piloted before the new year and is hoped to have a genuine impact across multiple settings. She shared how she felt about the surreal moment she went for a meeting at St Luke's hospital where she'd been in inpatient in 2004, and how it signified just how far she's come.  We'll keep you up to date with this innovative new programme.  We've loved having Nicole in the office, thanks for all her hard work, and for sharing her experiences with us.  We premiered our, "Making a Difference" videos To celebrate what our volunteers and staff contribute to MindWise and our clients' lives, we worked with Redcap Productions to make two videos highlighting your stories.  A massive thanks to everyone who took part - we know it can be really nervewracking being filmed but you all did a fantastic job! Watch the videos below: Our staff Making a Difference  Our volunteers Making a Difference  We celebrated our staff and volunteers who Make a Difference Volunteer Awards Then it was onto the main part of the day in which we celebrated our staff and volunteers Making a Difference in 2018. Our volunteers were presented with a certificate, and the award winners with a prize, too. Well done to all our volunteers! Here's the full list of winners and runners up: Award for Ten Years Volunteering - Georgina Glassey and  David Simmons Community Ambassador Award   - Runner-up : Noel McKee of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Community Ambassador Award - Winner: Maria Scullion Miriam Walsh Charity Shop Volunteer Award - Runner-up: Anne Dillon Miriam Walsh Charity Shop Volunteer Award - Winner: Lyn Vokes Community Partner Award   - Runner-up: Hagan Homes Community Partner Award   - Winner: Noel McKee and The NI Fire and Rescue Service Patsy England Volunteer of the Year Award - Runner-up: Cheryll Taylor Patsy England Volunteer of the Year Award- Winner: Celine Bradley   Staff Award nominees and winners This year, our staff awards were decided by you, our colleagues, in a staff vote. There were lots of nominees who were all celebrated with a personalised certificate from Edward: Their nominees were: Ashleigh Beggs Rebecca Cooper Lisa Devine-Caldwell Anne Doherty Caitlin Leatham Raymond McGurk William McKee Marie Mullholland Phillip Salinger Fiona Scullion Elaine Sherridan Matt Thompson Siobhan Weinger Sally Wishart   The team nominations were: NIAAS team  Corporate Services Team  Downpatrick Team Huge congratulations to our winners, who were presented with a certificate and the Tom Beare Award.  Phillip Salinger, who manages our housing services in Kilkeel.  You said,  "Phillip was instrumental in the development of the new Ben Crom Housing service in Kilkeel. Without Phillip's flexibility and willingness to to see challenges as opportunities, MindWise would have been unable to have transitioned with such ease to this new service" Lisa Devine-Caldwall, Team Leader of our community support services "Lisa displays such passion for her job and staff team. She has been instrumental in developing the community based services within MindWise" "Without Lisa at the helm of the community services, MindWise would not be able to provide this excellent service". And to our team winners of the Making A Difference award, NIAAS, the Northern Ireland Appropriate Adult Service.  "I am nominating the team for "making a difference to people in crisis".  The people may be facing a scary experience in a police station, some as young at 10 years of age. They are supported in a non judgemental way, whether they have broken the law or not.  The team have made a difference for approx 3,800 people supporting them 24/7, every day of the year; all contribute to making a difference for the service users and the professionals seeking their services. The NIAAS staff make a difference by responding 24/7 to reduce time in custody which makes a real difference to children held in a cell. We see staff getting out of bed at 1am or working late in to the night to provide support. We also see staff travelling to police stations across country, as well as attending to calls on public holidays, not knowing how long they will be away for. Staff make a difference by remaining with people no matter how long it takes, which is a relief for people in custody under stress, staff go to assist people not knowing how long it will be before they can return home".

If you'd like to come to our next AGM, and get involved with MindWise's work, become a member today. 

As we complete our ninth year of operations as an independent charity, our Annual General Meeting will take place on 20^th September 2018 to report on what we've been doing over the past twelve months and to outline some planned developments for the year ahead.

This year the theme of our AGM is ‘Making a Difference’, and we will be celebrating the achievements of our volunteers and staff members who have really gone that ‘extra mile’ in support of our work. We'd be nothing without our wonderful staff, volunteers and service users, and this is why we've been creating a new video which tells their stories.  The video will be debutted on the day, but here's a sneak peek below.

The MindWise Annual General Meeting will take place in Crowne Plaza Hotel, 117 Milltown Road, Belfast BT8 7XP between 1.15pm and 2.25pm (registration and light lunch from 12.30pm), followed by a celebration of volunteering and those who have ‘Made a Difference’. 

Download the agenda for the day 

Download last year's minutes

Between October and November, we asked all our service users for their feedback on how being part of MindWise was helping them in their recovery, and what we could do better.  177 people responded, and here's what they said.

Benefits of using a MindWise Service

• 98% of respondents stated that they felt that they are benefiting from their MindWise service. The remaining respondents stated they were unsure if they were benefitting from the service.
• The top five choices on what respondents felt was most important about attending their service were time to talk at 83% with staff support and having company joint second at 74%, emotional support was rated fourth at 70% with feeling safe and feeling understood joint fifth choices at 65%. 

Staff Support

• 92% of respondents agreed that they felt that MindWise staff support them with the remaining 8% stating they supported them to some extent
• 91% said they found staff approachable, with 7% said that staff were approachable, to some extent and 2% said staff could be more approachable
• 93% indicated that they felt that staff treat them with dignity and respect, with the remaining 7% said to some extent
• 91% confirmed that they have trust and confidence in staff, with a further 7% said to some extent, and 2% of respondents said no

Recovery

• 96% of respondents said attending their service helped them with their recovery with 4% saying they were unsure.
• 97% were fully satisfied or partially satisfied with the sessions/activities/outing provided.

​The top five things that would make the most difference to people’s lives were:         

• Greater public understanding/ reduction in stigma and discrimination
• Greater access to talking therapies 
• More information on mental health
• More social contact
• Partnership working

Participation and Engagement (SUPER)

• 71% of respondents said they were involved in decision making at their service, with 20% saying they were not sure.
• 68% said they were happy with the opportunities to get involved, with a further 27% said they were happy to some extent.

Family Involvement

• 19% of respondents said they had family members involved in their support, and of those with no family involvement, 15% said they would like them to be involved.
• 56% said more information for families about services and support in their local area would be beneficial 

The types of information that would help were rated as leaflets, information sessions, carers/family support groups and advocacy..

​Volunteers

• 91% of respondents said that volunteers were approachable
• 93% said volunteers treated them with dignity and respect
• 91% said they had trust and respect for the volunteers.
• 89% felt that volunteers were actively involved in supporting them
• 90% said that volunteers had sufficient time to carry out their role.
• 90% said volunteers provided valuable activities in the services

Suggestions for volunteer roles that people would find helpful included befriending, help with client information days, arts and crafts, gardening, music lessons, educational roles such as learning healthy eating and cooking, first aid classes, confidence building, and martial arts as well as exercise, drivers and support for outings.

MindWise is a leading mental health charity which supports those affected by severe mental illness and other mental health difficulties and promotes earlier intervention. To help make this a success we are looking for individuals to spare a few hours a week to volunteer. We currently have volunteer opportunities in the following roles:

• Experienced Fundraising and Event Volunteers – to help with a range of fundraising events (e.g. bag packs, street collections, marathons etc)
• Walking Group Leader – Thursday morning, Belfast Resource Centre
• Chess Volunteer – Belfast
• IT Volunteer – to provide IT classes to service-users in the Belfast Resource Centre
• Admin Volunteer – NI Appropriate Adults (based in Head Office)
• Woodwork Volunteer – Magherafelt
• Volunteer to teach Guitar  - Magherafelt
• Gardening Volunteer - Carrickfergus
• Activities/Walking Group Volunteers –Newry, Antrim, Armagh, Dungannon
• Arts and Crafts Volunteers – Newry, Armagh, Dungannon
• Befriending Volunteers (Newtownabbey, Antrim, Cookstown)

If you are interested in applying for any of these roles please contact the volunteer co-ordinator on 028 9031 5060 or email elaine.sheridan@mindwisenv.org for an application pack and role description.