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Cambridgeshire Employment Services update

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Changes to our Cambridgeshire Employment Services

Employment ServiceThe Richmond Fellowship Cambridgeshire Access To Work Service will be closing on the 30 November 2022. However, we continue to provide our Retain Regain and Autism Asperger’s Employment Services across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, and Bedfordshire.

Our specialist employment services provide one to one support for people who are:

  • In work, experiencing mental health challenges and need support to either retain their current employment, return to their current job role or find alternative employment.

OR

  • Out of work due to mental health challenges and are keen to return to employment, voluntary work, education or training.

Find out more about our Employment Services at Richmond Fellowship.

Any new referrals received for the Cambridgeshire Access to Work service between now and the end of November will be accepted and subject to their consent, their details will be transferred across to either the CPFT IPS service or Lifecraft Careers and Employment Service.

Should you wish to speak with an Employment Advisor to discuss your needs in greater detail or to find out how we can support you at this time, please get in touch by calling us on 01223 301032.

If you find yourselves in any kind of mental health distress and feel that you are in need of urgent support, you can access the following free of charge:

  • NHS 111, option 2 (24 hrs)
  • Lifeline 0808 8082121 (11am – 11pm every day including Bank Holidays.)
  • Samaritans 116 123 (24 hrs a day, 365 days a year or email jo@samaritans.org)
  • CPSL Mind 0300 3034363 or cpslmind.org.uk (24hrs a day, 365 days a year).

If you are a referrer and would like to speak with a member of the team to discuss your client’s needs in greater detail please do so by calling 01223 301032.

Cambridgeshire Retain Regain and Autism Asperger’s service remains open and accessible to all. All referrals can be made in the usual way using the following email address: cambs&beds.referrals@richmondfellowship.org.uk or by calling 01223 301032 or 01480 456257.

Find out more about our Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire Employment Service.

Richmond Fellowship joins Durham Alliance Partnership

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Robert Templeton, Richmond Fellowship Director of Operations (right) alongside Area Manager Karyn Ainsley and the team.

Richmond Fellowship is proud to be part of a new partnership that will support County Durham residents with all aspects of their mental health in one go.

The all-inclusive approach of the new Durham Mental Wellbeing Alliance, which brings together 13 individual organisations, will improve access to 21 separate services, helping people to get the help they need without having to write, telephone or attend each service individually.

The alliance has been commissioned by Durham County Council and includes Richmond Fellowship’s two existing Supported Housing services in County Durham and our Floating Support service in the area as well as partners Home Group, Creative Support, If U Care Share, Mental Health Matters, St Margaret’s Centre and Waddington Street.

The new service removes the need for people to approach a number of different organisations and instead means that people can call one telephone number, a single point of access, to have their needs assessed and automatically referred to the most appropriate teams.

People will no longer have to tell their story more than once to access a wide range of free mental health, wellbeing and recovery services, including those which help with relationships, bereavement and suicide. The service will also provide support with accommodation, education and employability, as well as physical activity, befriending, finances and more.

Mental Health Alliance at the Radisson, Durham. Photo by: Silverbird Photography Emily Carey (www.silverbirdphotography.com)

70-year-old Tom Raine, from Gilesgate, is a service user turned volunteer who helped to plan the launch of the new alliance. Former engineer Tom sought support from two of the services which are part of the Durham Mental Wellbeing Alliance, before progressing to become a volunteer with both members, Waddington Street Centre and Home Group.

After several years, a heart issue forced Tom to take some time out and, like many people, he found that living with a chronic illness had a negative impact on his mental health. He turned to Waddington Street Centre again for support and after a period of recovery, was keen to get more involved in helping others to receive the help he had found beneficial.

Tom, who has always been someone who thinks of others before himself, quickly became involved with the mental health, anti-stigma and discrimination charity, Stamp it Out, where he is now a very proud trustee.

He is also an active member of the County Wide Forum, a service-user-led group which acts to support and address the concerns of people living with mental health problems. Tom said:

“I enjoy giving back to the community and have been volunteering and supporting many community projects for years. I’m pleased that the new alliance recognises the importance of involving service users in the planning and delivery of its services and am looking forward to being involved in making it easier for people to access mental health support.

Approaching services for help is a big step for a lot of people who struggle with their mental health. Reducing the number of services that someone needs to contact to get support is a fantastic move towards helping people to live better lives, without fear of stigma or having to repeat information”.

Robert Templeton, Director of Operations at Richmond Fellowship, said:

“We’re thrilled to be part of the new Durham Alliance Partnership, bringing together the expertise of our Richmond Fellowship services in the area alongside other partners in the Alliance.

The new partnership will help create a more streamlined referral pathway for those accessing support in the local area, meaning we can deliver our services to as many individuals needing mental health support in Durham as possible”.

Councillor Paul Sexton, the council’s Cabinet member for Adults and Health Services, added:

“The alliance will have huge benefits for people experiencing issues with their mental health, providing a joined-up approach which will ensure they receive the most appropriate support to meet their needs.

The collaborative approach brings together the skills, knowledge and resources of a number of providers for the benefit of people in County Durham and will provide an improved streamlined service.”

For more information or to self-refer to the service, visit www.durhammentalwellbeingalliance.org, call 0300 304 5527 or to find out more about the services Richmond Fellowship offers in the area, click here.

Radio Sparky: February 2022 podcast

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Listen to our latest edition of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In this edition we’re focussing on our Employment services as part of our Employment services week on social media. Matt Webb, Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to Becky Ballentyne from our Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BANeS) Employment service about what her role as an Employment Advisor involves, her journey to becoming an Employment Advisor and how she finds working for a national mental health charity.

“Honestly, every day is completely different. On a Monday morning it’s admin, checking emails. We have a group meeting every Monday morning to catch up on our case loads, discuss any clients that are potentially in crisis, employer engagement which is going round to chat to various employers discussing any potential job vacancies, meeting clients face-to-face in the community, discussing their needs and expectations of the service, what kind of roles they’re looking for.” – Becky, Employment Advisor, BANeS Employment service.

 

Inspired by Becky? You can also make a difference by joining us at a leading mental health charity. Check out our latest vacancies on our online jobs portal at richmondfellowship.org.uk/jobs.

Radio Sparky: January 2022 podcast

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Listen to our latest edition of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In January’s edition, Matt Webb, Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to Antonia Minkova from our Health and Wellbeing community about Winter Wellbeing and ways you can look after your mental health, post the Christmas and New Year holidays.

“For me, trying to be mindful and clearing my head from the clutter is a really useful way, because we really can get lost in our thoughts and maybe even our schedules and that encourages stress. So, finding a way to declutter is really great and if you use some meditation techniques, I think they really do help”. – Antonia, Leecroft House.

Winter Wellbeing

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The month of January can be a difficult time of year for people, what with winter weather, the start of a new year and finances biting after the festive season.  All too often we’ve started to see and hear the term Blue Monday being used to describe this particular Monday in January – packaging all these effects up and applying them to one day, and how people might be feeling.  

As a leading mental health charity, we don’t believe Blue Monday is the best way to talk about mental health and wellbeing. As we all know, people experience mental ill health throughout the year, not just on one day. We do acknowledge that the winter can be particularly hard on people’s mental health though. So, we’re turning our social media and internal communications focus on Winter Wellbeing – today and through the rest of January.  

Many of our services are for people experiencing severe mental ill health, often for people who need long term specialist support and help – maybe through our Crisis Services, or our Supported Housing. However, as a national mental health charity, we know that from time to time we all need to remind ourselves of the simple acts that can support our wellbeing. Basics that we could all be doing more often – particularly after a challenging two years when many of us may have not noticed the long-term impact a pandemic has had on our mental health.   

One of our models to support recovery at Richmond Fellowship is Community Support, and we’ll be particularly drawing on their expertise this month. As we all know, having community around us that can help to lift us up is so important for our overall wellbeing.  Our Community Support services work to limit social isolation and reach individuals experiencing mental ill health to help reconnect them with their communities. They’re tailored to the individual and work in multiple ways to deliver support. This could be either 1:1 support with day-to-day activities such as shopping and finance, or group support sessions with opportunities to volunteer, get outside and involved with local people.  

“I could discuss my triggers with a staff member without feeling ashamed. His lived experience allowed me to become more confident in expressing myself and to feel less ashamed of my illness. I have never found this support anywhere else.”

Person we support

 

“I feel that every person should be given a chance to achieve things in their life, no matter how big or small. I enjoy building relationships with people we support and their families – this enables them to get the best support tailored for them.”

Community Link Advisor

Our community services and staff encourage the people we support to develop new skills and further their interests knowing the powerful impact that has on people’s wellbeing. For instance, at Our Time Community Support in Liverpool, Marshall, a person we support developed podcasting skills through his support from us. Marshall then featured on our very own RadioSparky Podcast to share his experience within our community support services and how the opportunities he had to develop his creative skills improved his mental health. You can find out more and listen to the RadioSparky podcast here.  

“I feel our community services have a massive impact on the people we support. We give them hope and a purpose as we help them achieve small meaningful goals they set themselves. Our support is very service user led and we work with them to develop their own ideas into achievements.”

Community Link Advisor

So, as you can see our Community Support teams are experts in everyday wellness and mental health recovery – and this week and month we will be sharing their advice on wellbeing, particularly in the winter season, whether that’s how they facilitate wellbeing in their own lives or with the people we support.  

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page to stay up to date with our #WinterWellbeing advice straight from our specialist staff. 

Find out more about our community services and the support in your area. 

Radio Sparky: October 2021 podcast

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Listen to our latest edition of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In this edition to mark World Mental Health Day 2021; Matt Webb Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to Richmond Fellowship’s Director of Operations Robert Templeton about this year’s theme ‘mental health in an unequal world’ and what the charity is doing to ensure mental health provision is available for all.

“Our crisis beds cost as little as £171 per night and that’s compared to an average cost of at least £400 to a hospital bed, or even £500 a night for an out of area placement. We believe that these Crisis Houses and this type of provision really is something that has a real future in terms of meeting those increasing demands from people who are needing the types of services we provide”. – Robert Templeton, Director of Operations.

World Mental Health Day 2021 – Our Employment Services

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At Richmond Fellowship we are marking World Mental Health Day. The theme this year is ‘Mental health in an unequal world’. In our blog earlier today we touched on the inequities we see ahead in mental health support and how the pandemic has intensified people’s needs. We know that we are facing a difficult economic and employment situation in the UK post-pandemic, which will see more people with mental health needs requiring employment support. Our employment services are a key part of our work that can combat this developing situation. In our blog we touch on the need to keep the pressure on for services like our employment services to be scaled up quickly across the country so that we can effectively face this situation and support as many people as we can across the country. 

Our Individual Placement Support (IPS) Employment Services specialise in providing support for people living with or recovering from mental ill health to find paid employment, voluntary work, education, and training or to retain their current employment. Our IPS employment advisors and specialists meet regularly with the people referred to us to not only find employment, but also develop a detailed and tailored work preference profile to ensure the work is suited to their needs. Throughout the pandemic our IPS employment services were able to help many people recovering from mental ill heath retain and find work, in what was and still is an uncertain time. 

The impact of our IPS employment services is undeniable, this model of quality mental health support can have a life-changing impact on the people we support, as well as the environments they work in as we see in Zach’s story below. To show this to you, today we are sharing two recovery stories written from the perspective of our staff from our Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire IPS Employment Service.  

The names in these two stories have been changed to protect the identity of the people we support. 

Julie’s Story 

The IPS employment specialist met Julie towards the end of the first lockdown. She had been afraid to go out, hadn’t worked for some time and had no confidence in herself. She found it hard to communicate with others due to not socialising for a long time. Initially, the employment specialist had phone calls and socially distanced walks with Julie. We came to learn how badly bullied she had been in previous corporate roles. She was very artistic and had a background in print and design and was keen to try this again. The employment specialist approached a small, family-based company in Somerset, who offered Julie an hour’s voluntary work a week. It wasn’t long before they were covering her travel expenses, wanting to give something back to reward her for the amazing work she was doing.  

Shortly afterwards, the company offered her an apprenticeship. She has gone from working a few hours a week to doing 4 days a week and her confidence has grown. She now aspires for the future, and it is a joy to see how happy she is in finding a supportive employer. 

Zach’s Story 

The employment specialist has been working with Zach for over 18 months. In this time Zach has experienced a decline in his mental health while at work. However, by working closely with IPS, Zach has gained the confidence to remain in work.  

Zach’s manager has worked closely with the IPS service to help support him within the workplace. He has requested mental health training from IPS for all employees, to allow them to have a greater understanding around mental health and how they can, not just support Zach but also each other. He has also requested extra training to learn more about Zach’s specific mental health diagnosis to help him understand how better to support Zach going forward.  

Zach has stated that he would not be in work without the support that has been given to him from the IPS service and is grateful for the ongoing support.  

Zach’s employer has stated that being supported by IPS has allowed them to better understand mental health within the work place which has inspired them to increase awareness and take a proactive stance within their company to support all employees to maintain good mental health.  

As a result of the ongoing work with IPS and seeing the progress Zach has made, the employer has now stated they are willing to help other clients within the IPS service by offering them the opportunity to earn valuable skills to help them get back into the working environment by offering work experience in several departments within the company. Zach is going to help with the scheme and be a mentor to other clients once this scheme has been set up.  

 

These stories are a positive example of mental health support having a huge impact on people and their daily lives. This World Mental Health Day we are calling for more of this specialist quality support, across the country. We know that it is needed, and for everyone who needs it, now more than ever. 

Make sure you continue to follow along with our conversations this #WorldMentalHealthDay on our Twitter and Facebook.  

Radio Sparky: September 2021 podcast

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Listen to our latest edition of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In September’s edition to coincide with Recovery Focus Week, Matt Webb, Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to Vicki Pritchard, Service Manager of Richmond Fellowship’s Our Time service in Liverpool and Marshall, a person we support about a podcast series they’ve been producing in collaboration with the BBC.

Listen to the full series of ‘It’s About Time’ podcasts by clicking here.

“I was diagnosed very late in life in my 40s with Asperger’s and it really changed my life completely. It made me understand a lot of things in my life that had happened previously and why I couldn’t do the things I should’ve been able to do. Since then I’ve gone on to learn that Asperger’s is this wonderful gift that I’ve been given. I’ve always been creative and I’ve always been involved in performing and creative arts and through Richmond Fellowship, this podcasting and other courses with them, I’ve been able to do so many things that I’ve never done before”. – Marshall, person we support.

Bath, Swindon & Wiltshire IPS Employment service achieves Centre of Excellence status

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Richmond Fellowship’s Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire IPS Employment service has been recognised as a high fidelity service and has once again become a recognised Centre of Excellence in IPS Employment Practice across the local Clinical Commissioning group by the Centre for Mental Health.

Following expansion with Wave 2 and 3 IPS funding, the Wiltshire service has grown from 7 staff to 19 across the Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire areas.

The team has been working to achieve a Centre of Excellence status for the 2 new services, building on the Wiltshire service’s original award 3 years ago.

Speaking to the Service Manager Mariana Law; Jan Hutchinson, lead auditor from the Centre for Mental Health said:

“Your team are a really vibrant and energetic group who are providing great examples of their work. Also your NHS colleagues are speaking very highly of them. I am impressed.

I am left with the lasting impression that Richmond Fellowship has been fabulously successful in recruiting a special group of people who have the right skills, but also the right attitude and are willing to go ‘the extra mile’ for their clients on a regular basis”.

The service has supported a total of 132 clients into paid employment from April 2020 up to February 2021 and a further 19 clients to retain their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

There are currently 23 Centres of Excellence in England and Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire will now be one of these.

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Richmond Fellowship is part of Recovery Focus, a group of charities with the shared aim to Inspire Recovery Together www.recoveryfocus.org.uk

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