Bristol Mayoral Hustings for Disabled people/organisations – Wednesday 28 April 7pm
April 19, 2021 at 11:55 am
Come and ask the future Mayor of Bristol your questions.
If you are a Disabled person living in Bristol, or you are an organisation working with or representing Disabled people, this is your chance to come and ask the person who will be Mayor of Bristol your question. The Bristol Sight Loss Council together with the Bristol Disability Equality Forum, Bristol Reclaiming Independent Living, Centre for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People, the Independent Mental Health Network and WECIL are organising a mayoral hustings. It will take place on the evening of Wednesday 28th April from 7.00 – 9.00 pm. The meeting will be a zoom webinar.
We have invited the candidates from the four main party’s – Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrats. Each of the candidates will be given 10 minutes to make opening remarks. They have been asked to focus on issues that particularly affect Disabled people and their policies to address these issues. The candidates will then answer questions that people have sent in by 21st April 2021. The questions can be on any issue that you as a Disabled person have about something In Bristol that the Mayor could do something about.
If you would like to attend, to send in a question please contact or ring 07779 169019. The closing date for booking your place and sending in your questions is 12.00pm on Monday 26th April. You do not have to attend to have your question asked, but priority will be given to those people who attend the evening.
The Bristol Sight Loss Council is a consultation and engagement group of people who are blind or partially sighted living in Bristol. They are supported by Thomas Pocklington Trust a national charity working with people with a visual impairment.
April 19, 2021 at 11:55 am | News | No comment
Changes to accessing the Bristol Sanctuary
February 25, 2021 at 3:26 pm
The Bristol Sanctuary is a place for people to go when they are in serious emotional distress.
The Sanctuary has recently moved from the centre of Bristol to a new site at Gloucester House, near Southmead Hospital. The team are able to support people in-person – please call them on 07709 295 661 (please note that the team will need you to consent to access the NHS patient record system).
After concerns raised by members of IMHN about accessing the service following the move to the new site, the Sanctuary are now able to provide a taxi to an appointment, for people who live outside a one mile radius from Southmead Hospital.
In addition to taxis, the Sanctuary are able to reimburse bus tickets up to the value of a single journey to the service, or a day ticket if people are also returning home via bus. The service continues to offer a taxi home as normal. Taxis to the Sanctuary will be available until the end of March.
For more information about the Bristol Sanctuary, click here.
February 25, 2021 at 3:26 pm | News | No comment
BIMHN member attends National Suicide Prevention Alliance annual conference
February 23, 2021 at 11:35 am
In January 2021, Francesco, a member of BIMHN, represented the network by attending the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA)’s annual conference. For the first time, this conference took place online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Francesco shared a summary and his thoughts on the event. The event included updates about local ‘real time surveillance’ data that will support effective bereavement support in communities, national NHS funding increases, and experiences shared by people who have been bereaved by suicide.
Click here to read the write-up of the event.
You can also watch the presentations made at the conference by clicking here.
February 23, 2021 at 11:35 am | News | No comment
Mental health support over the 2020 festive period
December 23, 2020 at 10:06 am
The Independent Mental Health Network (IMHN) has published the annual Christmas mental health guide for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Each year, IMHN produces a written guide about changes to the operating hours of local mental health support during the festive period. The guide includes information about services operating over the seasonal period, making note of any changes to opening or operating times, and contact details. It brings together information about mental health support from both NHS and voluntary & community sector partners that can be accessed. Also included are details of national crisis and helplines.
The resource has been written for both members of the public and mental health professionals alike. We are encouraging people to share this with others who might find it useful.
Click here to read the guide: www.imhn.org/christmas2020
December 23, 2020 at 10:06 am | News | No comment
Coronavirus: local mental health service information
March 25, 2020 at 7:03 pm
BIMHN is the Bristol branch of the Independent Mental Health Network.
The Independent Mental Health Network is building a guide covering local mental health support. It includes information about how mental health services are changing how they work in response to the measures being taken to tackle the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). There is also additional signposting advice.
New information is being added daily, as it becomes available.
Click below to access the guide’s webpages.
Do you have information about a local service, organisation, charity, or helpline that isn’t on the webpages? Get in touch and we will update the guide. Email us at engagement[@]imhn.org (removing the square brackets from the email address).
March 25, 2020 at 7:03 pm | News | No comment
BIMHN members gathering views on mental health apps to help improve local crisis care
February 24, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Members of the Bristol Independent Mental Health Network are currently working on a project to improve support and care pathways for those experiencing a mental health crisis in Bristol.
In order to investigate how the support that is being offered can be improved, we have launched a survey asking about peoples’ experiences and views about mobile apps that aim to support and improve mental health and wellbeing. Mobile phone apps can be used by people experiencing a mental health crisis. Sometimes, apps can be shared or suggested by mental health professionals to people experiencing an emotional or mental health crisis.
The survey can be found by clicking the following link: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MentalHealthApps.
We are encouraging people with all kinds of lived experience of mental health, including people that support those with mental health difficulties, to take part in the survey.
If you have any comments or suggestions about this project, or would like to hear more about how you can get further involved, please email bimhn[at]imhn.org (removing the square brackets from the email address).
February 24, 2020 at 4:00 pm | News | No comment
Bristol Time to Change Champions Fund re-opened for Time to Talk Day 2020!
February 6, 2020 at 9:00 am
To celebrate Time to Talk Day 2020, the Bristol Time to Change Hub has re-opened the Time to Change Champions Fund for a final round of funding. The Fund is available to Time to Change Champions to support them in delivering an event or project that challenges mental health stigma where they live.
The Fund has already completed numerous successful funding rounds, and supported activities such as drop-ins, awareness events, discussion workshops exploring the myths surrounding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, health festivals, and more.
The Bristol Time to Change Hub is excited to support further applications to the Champions Fund. There is a limited amount of funding available, and applications will be considered on an as-received basis. For more information about the Champions Fund, frequently asked questions, and an application form, click here.
The Champions Fund supported ‘Lifting the Myth of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,’ an open discussion workshop that explored the harmful myths and stereotypes surrounding OCD.
February 6, 2020 at 9:00 am | News, Time to Change | No comment
Time to Talk Day 2020 in Bristol
January 30, 2020 at 6:10 pm
Time To Talk Day is an annual national event, lead by Time to Change. Time to Change is a national campaign against mental health stigma, and Time to Talk Day is all about making time to talk about mental health.
Mental health problems affect one in four of us, yet people are still afraid to talk about it – talking about mental health problems and sharing real life stories helps to change the way we all think and act about mental health problems.
This year, Time to Talk Day takes place on Thursday 6th February.
In Bristol, there’s a lot going on! Check out this guide, compiled by the Bristol Time to Change Hub, detailing what’s happening. From pub quizzes to coffee mornings, bowling competitions to poetry nights, there’s bound to be something going on near you.
If you’re posting to social media, we’ll be using two hashtags; #TimeToTalk and #TTCBristol.
Has Time to Talk Day inspired you to get more involved in campaigning against mental health stigma? Maybe you’ve had an idea for an event or activity that you would like to run? Watch out for a special announcement coming on Time to Talk day, which will explain how we can help you make that idea a reality.
Some Time to Talk events are organised by the Bristol Time to Change Hub. The Bristol Hub are a group of organisations who have come together to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination in the city of Bristol.
These organisations are the Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (a branch of the Independent Mental Health Network, a membership-lead organisation for those with lived experience of mental health), Rethink (Bristol), Wellbeans Initiative, Community Access Support Service (CASS) Bristol, and Bristol City Council. Find out more about the Hub here.
January 30, 2020 at 6:10 pm | News, Time to Change | No comment
Suicide Prevention Summit – January 2020
December 21, 2019 at 12:07 pm
Please note: this item was originally published in December 2019. Thank you to everyone that attended the Summit. To keep up to date with work in this area, and outcomes from the Summit, click here.
[Content note; this news post deals with the topic of suicide]
BIMHN are supporting an event taking place this coming January 2020, bringing people, professionals, and those with lived experience of mental health together to agree a clear call-to-action on working together to prevent suicide across the local area of Bristol, as well as South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.
The Suicide Prevention Summit takes place on Monday 13 January 2020 at Bristol City Hall. The event will consider the latest research into suicide prevention, work happening nationally, and will focus on initiatives and stories by people in the local area. We will also be inviting attendees to share their experiences and ideas about suicide prevention, exploring the role that communities should be playing in this work going forwards.
The summit will be lead and facilitated with those with lived experience of mental health, mental health professionals, and those with personal experience of suicide and bereavement by suicide. Because of the range of individuals and organisations expected to attend, spaces are limited. Please click here to book an individual free place.
The Summit is the final keynote event of Shine On, our Suicide Prevention campaign.
Please note: the BIMHN committee have decided to defer January’s BIMHN Monthly Members Meeting so that members can attend the summit. As a result, the scheduled meeting between 12:30 – 15:00 at St James Priory, Bristol City Centre, will not take place.
December 21, 2019 at 12:07 pm | News | No comment
Christmas Mental Health Services Guide 2019
December 20, 2019 at 6:44 pm
Please note: this item was posted ahead of the Christmas 2019 period. The information contained in the guide mentioned below is therefore outdated.
BIMHN are pleased to share the news that this year’s Christmas Mental Health and Wellbeing Services guide has been published. This guide outlines the services providing wellbeing and mental health support available to people in the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire period over the Christmas 2019 and New Year 2020 period.
The guide has been produced with input from BIMHN members, in collaboration with members of Clarity-North Somerset Independent Mental Health Network. This year’s guide follows on from the success of last year’s guide in helping people and communities navigate what is available at this time of this year.
Included is information about services operating over the seasonal period, making note of any changes to opening or operating times, and contact details. It brings together information about mental health support from both NHS and voluntary & community sector partners that can be accessed. Also included are details of national crisis and helplines.
You can view or download a copy of the guide on the Independent Mental Health Network’s website, here.
December 20, 2019 at 6:44 pm | News | No comment