Blog

Mental Health Awareness Week 9th – 15th May 2022

Written by Quenby Harley - Community Health Development Analyst – Data & Intelligence.  Loneliness has always been difficult for me. While I enjoy time to myself as much as the next person, the feeling of being lonely or isolated is one of the main triggers for my depression. Building and maintaining connections to other people is absolutely crucial for my own mental wellbeing. It’s great to see this all too

2022-05-12T15:03:40+01:0012th May 2022|Blog, Mental Health Awareness Week|

What is Ramadan and how to support colleagues who are fasting

When is Ramadan? The Islamic calendar is calculated according to the lunar cycles, so the month of Ramadan begins when the new moon is sighted. As a result, the start and finish times change from year-to-year, usually advancing 10 days earlier every year. Ramadan lasts for 29-30 days and ends with the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr. This year Ramadan is due predicted to start on 2nd April and will last until

2022-03-24T14:50:39+00:0024th March 2022|Blog|

A night in Wortley Well-Bean Café

Blog by Mark Robinson - Touchstone Business Development Officer As a Business Development Officer, I spend a lot of time writing about the services that Touchstone deliver.  I usually get my information from our website, quarterly reports and from phone conversations with service managers.  We are doing quite a bit of work around Crisis Cafes / Safe Spaces at the moment, so I thought it would be really useful to

2022-02-23T16:39:49+00:0010th February 2022|Blog, Crisis support|

Touchstone turning #BlueMonday to #YouMonday

The third Monday of January has been awarded the gloomy name 'Blue Monday' due to a combination of post-festive blues and cold dark nights. At Touchstone, we're challenging the title by asking our amazing service users, volunteers and staff what things they do to keep well. Let's turn this Blue Monday into a You Monday! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLlqEmO83SE   Important websites and numbers: West Yorkshire mental health 24/7 support line, provides confidential

2022-01-20T13:48:52+00:0020th January 2022|Blog|

16 Days of Action 2021

Touchstone as an organisation is committed to supporting the 16 days of action to end the global violence experienced by women and girls. The campaign runs from 25th November (UN Day For the Elimination of Violence against Women) to 10th December 2021.  The 16 Days of Action campaign is an important opportunity to raise awareness and call for changes at an international, national and local level to end violence against women and

2021-11-25T12:38:53+00:0025th November 2021|Blog|

Potentially triggering blog about Black Maternal Health Awareness Week

Black maternal health awareness week runs from 13-18th September 2021 and is dedicated to raising awareness about the disparities in maternal outcomes for Black women and birthing people. It was founded in 2020 by Five X More [footnote 1], “a grassroots organisation committed to changing Black women's maternal health. Black Women and birthing people in the UK are four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth [footnote 2].

2021-09-14T11:30:46+01:0014th September 2021|Blog|

Touchstone Loves Food initiative, the charity’s open and trusting culture, and the power of really listening.

Touchstone is a mental health and wellbeing charity that specialises in eliminating health inequalities in underserved and marginalised communities, including Black African, Caribbean and South East Asian communities, refugees and asylum seekers, and LGBTQI+  groups across West and South Yorkshire. The Leeds-based charity not only delivers vital services to meet these groups’ mental health and wellbeing needs but uses its expertise to amplify the voices of vulnerable groups with service

2021-08-13T14:57:54+01:0013th August 2021|Blog, Touchstone Loves Food|

Delivery of wellbeing kits to Sikh Elders service users

Everyone has and are still going through their own Covid-19 pandemic journey. To support Sikh Elders Service Users the Team delivered over forty Wellbeing Kits during the month of April 2021. I could always sense the Service User’s loneliness and isolation during the regular phone calls I made to check up on their wellbeing. The same question “When are you opening up CDC sessions again?”, “When can we meet up

2021-06-29T12:18:06+01:0029th June 2021|Blog|

How To Practice Using They/Them Pronouns

This blog is about pronouns, and it will include a game to practice using they/them pronouns.  You can read our Pronouns 101 blog here to find out more about pronouns. Example of she/her pronouns: I went to see a horror film with Sarah. She jumped at all the scary bits so it’s a good job I went with her.  After the film, Sarah drove us home in her car and

2021-06-09T16:59:33+01:009th June 2021|Blog|

Pronouns 101

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHahV5Ts56o Click on the video above to listen to the audio version of the below blog. What are gender identity, gender expression and biological sex? Gender identity is an individual’s sense of their own gender. Their internal sense of being a man, a woman, both, neither, something in between, or something else entirely, irrespective of their biological sex. Gender expression refers to the way a person shows their gender externally,

2021-06-10T15:19:57+01:009th June 2021|Blog|