We are delighted to announce that Touchstone has been awarded the new Mental Health Peer Led Brokerage contract by Kirklees Council, to commence on 1 October 2017. Touchstone has been delivering the pilot of this innovative service for the past four years, enabling people living with mental health difficulties to use their Direct Payments to…
Time to Change Leeds is looking for passionate volunteers who have experienced mental health problems. Joining the Champion Campaign Group is an opportunity to meet like-minded people and campaign together to celebrate mental health in the city. You are essential to making a difference. If you want to find out more, please attend the…
Touchstone supports people from a wide range of backgrounds and we aim to reflect the same diversity among our staff. To check how we’re doing, each year we ask staff to complete a brief survey. The results of our 2017 survey are summarised below. 16% of staff have a disability, compared to 14% the previous…
Depression is much more common than we often think; sometimes we do not even recognize what it is… Depression is debilitating and it can hit anyone of us: male or female, young or old, regardless of our social circumstances. The important thing to realize is that there is hope and things will get better –…
Steph Calvert will be speaking at the Touchstone Leadership Masterclass on Wednesday 26th July 12noon to 2pm at Hillside, Beeston Road, Leeds, LS11 8ND Steph was born in 1958, and only realised she was officially a boy on seeing her first brother in the bath when she was two. Decades of confusion and distress followed, along…
Hosted by local charity, Leeds Community Foundation (LCF), the Leeds Leads: Encouraging Happy Young Minds event will welcome special guest HRH Prince Henry of Wales on Thursday 6th July 2017 in Leeds. Leeds Leads: Encouraging Happy Young Minds is a beacon event addressing the mental wellbeing of the city’s young people. The event will bring…
At Touchstone we strive to model all that is great about coproduction. In 2016, we delivered Leeds’ first ever coproduction conference which included contributions from all sectors and – of course – experts by experience as a given. We also wrote a blog about the conference for SCIE, which can be found here: http://coproductionweek.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/coproduction-conference.html On…
Unpaid carers are crucial both to our communities and to the sustainability of health and care in the city. If Leeds is to be the best city in the UK for health and wellbeing then it has to be the best for carers. The Leeds Commitment to Carers has been co-produced by members of the Leeds Carers Partnership, which includes a significant contribution…
What do I need to become a WY-FI Peer Mentor? To become a WY-FI Peer Mentor you must have: previous experience of volunteering or peer mentoring (supporting people) lived experience of at least two of the following: homelessness addiction to drugs, substances and/or alcohol re-offending behaviour mental ill health How do I become a WY-FI…
As part of Dementia Awareness Week, Touchstone (in partnership wit the Reginald Centre and Feel Good Factor) is organising a dementia information event for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities on Thursday 18th May. We’ll be at the Reginald Centre on Chapeltown Road in Leeds from 9:30am to 1pm. Join us at this free information…
Last Friday Brudenell Groove – the not-for-profit dance party held an event at HiFi raising money for Touchstone and Yorkshire MESMAC. We’d like to say a huge thank to you Brudenell Groove, for supporting us and for challenging discrimination and for creating safer party spaces. To find out more about Brudenell Groove head over to…
Positive Care Programme What is this? A 4 week programme of complementary therapies and workshops How can this help? The treatments can help with: Depression Loneliness Anxiety Chronic physical pain Fibromyalgia Chronic stress Sleep Issues And a range of other conditions… What will be available? One to one Complementary Therapies to de-stress and deal with both…
We want to express our huge appreciation for Meenakshi Parmar, who not only volunteers for Touchstone, but who is also running the Leeds Half Marathon to raise money for the organisation. We hope that many of Touchstone’s friends and supporters will choose to sponsor Meenakshi or turn out to support her on Sunday 14th May. Sponsor…
Do you work in South Leeds with pregnant women and parents and carers of children aged 0-2? Come and find out about our new Peer Support Programme. Are you pregnant or a parent or carer yourself? If so why not come along and see how you can get involved. Thursday 18th May, 11am-2pm Come and…
We are excited to announce a new Touchstone partnership with Wakefield Youth Offending Team. Along with Together Women Project, Leeds Police and Leeds Youth Offending Service, we are expanding the already successful Wakefield service into Leeds. Funded by NHS England, this will be an innovative support service for people who have contact with the criminal…
Touchstone is excited to announce the launch of “Barnsley Futures” – a new service providing support for individuals experiencing complex needs in Barnsley. The new service will be delivered in partnership with West Yorkshire CRC (managing the service) and Foundation, and is funded by Barnsley Council. Barnsley Futures will work with individuals over 25 who…
BDPL (BME Diabetes Programme Leeds) Do you have Type 2 Diabetes? Join our course to learn how to manage and take control of your diabetes. Learn in Urdu, Punjabi and English with your own community. Free Structured 8 week diabetes education for Black , Minority & Ethnic communities. This course will increase your knowledge, skills…
FREE COOK 4 LIFE COURSE Free 4 week cooking course Provides a free Health Check Simple healthy meals to help lose weight How to reduce risks of cancer, diabetes & heart disease Wednesday 26th April 2017 Wednesdays 2pm – 4pm at The Meeting Point Café 409 Harehills Lane, LS9 6AP Everyone is welcome, just come…
IN:CHARGE is a new and exciting project by Touchstone and PATH Yorkshire, bringing together people from African, African Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Mixed Heritage backgrounds on a FREE 24-week Training Course to learn and develop as a ‘Mental Health Coach’. The project will give participants the chance to improve their employment prospects and leadership skills…
Sat Sri Akaal and Hello! Welcome to the Sikh Elders Service Newsletter. I know that it has been quite some time since you last heard from me, but I am happy to say that I am back from maternity leave! I am really pleased to see that while I have been away the SES Team…
In the run up to Trans Day of Visibility (31st March), Leeds City Council have released a series of short video presentation about gender identity. Watch the third video on “Titles and Pronouns” below.
Beacon is a consortium of 3 local organisations that has been commissioned by Leeds City Council to provide a new city wide Housing Related Support (HRS) accommodation service. Leeds Housing Concern, Touchstone and Foundation are working together to provide a new Housing Related Support accommodation service in Leeds from July 2017. The service will aim…
In the run up to Trans Day of Visibility (31st March), Leeds City Council have released a series of short video presentation about gender identity. Watch the second video on “Gender Identity and Gender Expression” below.
In the run up to Trans Day of Visibility (31st March), Leeds City Council have released a series of short video presentation about gender identity. Watch the first video on “Sex or Gender” below.
Tuesday 25th April 12noon to 2pm at Hillside, Beeston Road, Leeds, LS11 8ND Touchstone’s Leadership Masterclass series celebrates indviduals who have achieved great things in spite of circumastances in their lives. Adam Smith is a founder and co-director of the visionary, multi-award-winning, global initiative: The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP). Set up in December 2013,…
We’re getting better all the time – well, we like to think so, and our results in the Best 100 Not For Profit Organisations to Work For seem to confirm it. In 2013, Touchstone entered the Best 100 at number 72, since then, our results have improved every year, and we now find ourselves at…
Connect for Health is a friendly, local social prescribing service for people who live in South and East Leeds. We provide access to local groups and activities that could help you make a positive change. Who is the service for? The service may be for you if: you are at least 14 years old. you…
The WY-FI Project supports people with multiple needs across West Yorkshire. At their annual learning event this year, they will share their learning from year 3 of the WY-FI Project in relation to: effective beneficiary engagement the impact of integrated multi-agency work, and the benefits of co-production Touchstone’s own Alison Lowe and Jennie McCreight will…
Touchstone Business Development Team A Journey in Coproduction (Part 1) A few weeks ago I attended ‘News For You’ – Touchstone’s Service User Forum. A room filled with around 20 service users, each an expert in their own right, it was wonderful, and a privilege to see how the group runs. They rotate the chair/minute…
A new initiative from the Community Development Service is aiming to increase openness, discussion and knowledge about mental health within the Sikh community. Join in and engage with discussions on what mental health means within our community. Have a voice, engage and share your views and stories (both positive and negative). Tune into thought provoking…
