“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their performance.  It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them” (John Whitmore 2001)

By the end of the 2-day programme participants will:

• Be able to define coaching
• Understand the difference between coaching and other therapies
• Be introduced to The Core Principles of Mental Health and Wellbeing Coaching
• Have knowledge of the key skills required by a coach
• Be introduced to and have utilised core coaching tools
• Be introduced to Recovery to Discovery approach in mental health & wellbeing
• Be introduced to Resilience Coaching

Who is this course for?

• Those already working in the area of mental health and/or wellbeing
• Leaders, managers and supervisors who would like to learn more about the importance of using coaching to assist people dealing with mental health and wellbeing issues to discover new possibilities
• Individuals who want to develop themselves personally and realise how coaching can enhance their life

When: 6th & 7th December 2018 (9.30am – 4.30pm)

Where: MindWise Head Office, Pinewood House, 46 Newforge Lane, Malone Road, BELFAST BT9 5NW

Cost: £300 per participant (book by 16th November and receive 10% discount)

For further details or to book your place email: workwise@mindwisenv.org

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. 

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
• 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

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.

Four million people in the UK currently experience mental health and money problems. A further four million are at risk of developing mental illness because of their financial situations. MindWise, as part of Mental Health UK, recognise that this is wrong, and we've launched a new service to help take some of the pressure of those in need.

The Mental Health and Money Advice website has been specifically designed to offer clear and impartial advice to people experiencing both mental health and financial issues. Together these problems create an ongoing cycle that affects all aspects of our lives.

The website offers free information, support, and useful tools all in one place, creating an easy to use portal open to anyone affected by these matters, including carers, family members, and industry professionals.

Up until now there has been no UK wide service provide to offer both mental health and money advice together. We recognise that people experiencing a combination of issues do not need their lives made more difficult by having to visit many different sources/websites to get the information they desperately need. The service has been designed to offer detailed advice across a broad range of topics, including:

• Expert advice on the most common mental health and money related issues
• Free tools and calculators to help you create a clear plan for your financial future
• Sample letters and templates that can be used to contact creditors, healthcare professionals or organisations that you might need when dealing with money issues
• Real life stories from people that have been in similar situations to you and overcome their problems
• A list of useful contacts across all of our subject areas, should you really need to speak to someone

We have also set up a small team of advisers who are able to offer one to one advice and case work over the telephone. Access to the advice line is by referral from a small group of referral partners. We hope to increase the number of routes to be referred throughout 2018. If you’re already receiving support and services from Rethink Mental Illness, Hafal, MindWise or Support in Mind Scotland, and you are struggling with mental health and money issues, contact your support worker to ask if you can be referred to Mental Health & Money Advice.

This service was made possible thanks to the fundraising efforts of staff at Lloyds Banking Group. They voted to choose Mental Health UK as their Charity Partner for 2017/2018, and have successfully raised over £2 million to support those in desperate need of specialist support.

Click here to visit the Mental Health and Money Advice Service