Category: News

Local fundraiser and Wiltshire Mind supporter, Ben Budd recently walked 325 miles across Southern England, raising an incredible £3,000 for our charity. Its an inspirational story, captured here in his own words and photos of the event.

Finding my way back home – by Ben Budd

Like Broken Stones. They’re all trying to get home (Paul Weller)

I’m no expert but it seems to me that many mental disorders and crises may stem from a sense of alienation from one’s true self. I certainly felt that after 20 years in the advertising and marketing world I had lost my true sense of self and had become someone different – someone I really didn’t like too much. I had wound myself up like a coiled spring and I needed to start unwinding again quickly if I was to survive.

One step of the transition was to get out of London and return to a quieter space. Eventually I found myself in Avebury, home to the world’s largest neolithic stone circle and a place of spiritual pilgrimage. Living here and practising Tai Chi I became aware of two supposedly important ley lines which uniquely intersect at 3 points all within the Avebury complex. All of their many other intersections can also be plotted and joined to form a diagonal straight line running from Carn Les Boel near Land’s End in the extreme South West to Hopton on Sea in Norfolk on England’s east coast.

Another step on my journey was a career change, and a fairly drastic one. From the cab rides, expense accounts and pitch presentations synonymous with the advertising and marketing world I – perhaps rather recklessly – threw in the towel and lifted the trowel. The horticultural trowel. I became a gardener! I also designed gardens as wells as buying and selling plants, but was happiest in the peace of a border dappled with warm sunlight. The outdoor life was transformative in lifting my spirits.

With the advent of lockdown I think we all became aware of people formerly considered to be ‘resilient’ and confident, yet who for the first time suffered debilitating instances of doubt, anxiety or depression. My own pre-lockdown experiences and those of family members and friends convinced me that when the cost of living crisis hit, hot on the heels of the pandemic, it was time to help others.

I hope I have achieved that by walking 325 miles across southern England, following the intersectional route of the St Michael and St Mary lines, back to my home in Avebury. In the process I trust I have increased awareness of MIND’s fantastic work to help people with mental health issues whilst generating £3k, donated by my kind sponsors. As well as assisting others who really need it, the journey has certainly helped me to uncoil some of that that tightly wound spring, and although I still feel a bit broken, the great outdoors continues to drive the healing process.

Ben Budd

If you are inspired to raise money too, contact Wiltshire Mind today. Fundraising@wiltshiremind.co.uk . Wiltshire Mind provides support to over 300 people in our county each year, and relies on the generosity of the community to help raise funds. This year is our 30th Anniversary. Help us celebrate by raising funds if you can – and help make a difference.

Raising £30,000 in 2023 to mark 30 years of Wiltshire Mind

This year Wiltshire Mind celebrates our 30th anniversary as your local mental health and wellbeing charity.

Over those years, we have supported around 8000 people, providing local peer support groups, adult 1-1 counselling, and young people’s counselling. Along the way we have trained several hundred people in Mental Health Awareness, and worked with countless organisations and delivery partners to provide mental health and wellbeing support across Wiltshire.

Throughout this year, we will be marking our anniversary with fundraising events.

Our aim is to raise £30,000 which goes directly into providing support not just for individuals, but for schools, GP surgeries, care homes, charities and companies across our county.

During 2023, we are inviting you, our supporters, to create a fundraising challenge involving the number 30.

Simply set up a donations page on Just-Giving, and ask your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues to sponsor you, with donations going to Wiltshire Mind.

Some ideas to get you started with your fundraising

Create a treasure hunt for the kids – with 30 items to find

Organise a bake sale with 30 colleagues

Run 30 miles

Swim 30 lengths

Cycle 30 miles

Hold a themed quiz night with 30 people

Host an online cookalong for 30 people

Watch 30 films

Read 30 books

Host an afternoon tea for 30 people

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your own idea for a 30th fundraiser, we’d be delighted to hear from you!

If you’d simply like to donate to us, scan the QR code below or visit our Just-Giving page.

Thank you for your support!

fundraising@wiltshiremind.co.uk

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/WiltshireMind30

Last week marked Children’s Mental health Week and Wiltshire Mind launched their new Wellbeing Programme for Schools.

In a pilot programme, our Wiltshire Mental Health Charity is supporting a number of schools in delivering wellbeing support for students, teachers and parents.

The programme includes mental health and wellbeing awareness workshops at schools, mentoring programmes for students and parent support. To introduce the wellbeing topics, assemblies were held to kick-start the initiative last week.

Aimed at key stages 1-4, the pilot programme is provided by the Wiltshire Mind team and financed by school fundraisers using donations and event income to pay for the programme developed for each school. For example a ‘non uniform day’ or a bake sale.

Head of Service Delivery at Wiltshire Mind, Philippa Collins commented “We all know of the importance of supporting our mental health. This programme gives us the opportunity to offer guidance and support to children as young as 4, and up to the age of 18. This early intervention is critical in laying the foundations for positive mental health”.

The pilot scheme provides a number of supporting activities and resources, helping students, parents and teachers alike. Each school has a slightly different programme. Resources such as handouts, posters and workbooks accompany the support provided by the Wiltshire Mind team.

Wiltshire Mind is talking to a number of schools in our county, so if your school will benefit, and would like to actively fundraise to help the pilot scheme along, get in contact today.

If you’d like to know more about our work with schools in Wiltshire, email us at Fundraising@wiltshiremind.co.uk.

For many people living in Wiltshire, accessing mental health services can be frustrating, with lengthy waiting times. Self-referring to a local private therapeutic counselling service can mean a wait of up to 12 months.

Wiltshire Mind has recently been awarded a two-year Community Partnership Grant from NHS Charities Together and RUHX for an innovative pilot project aimed at providing a direct referral route from selected county GP surgeries to free counselling for adults and young people – reducing the waiting time and providing equity of access for those seeking support.

The pilot project will offer therapeutic counselling support to those who face anxiety, stress, mild depression, worry, low confidence, anger or grief. Between 12 and 24 sessions will be provided by an experienced counsellor.

The grant will cover the cost of the trial for two years, and Wiltshire Mind will work closely with 2 GP surgeries in the county to develop and test the trial. The project aims to reduce the burden on the local NHS, and improvement access to mental health services in our community. The trial is expected to start just before Christmas 2022.

Wiltshire Mind’s Head of Service Delivery, Philippa Collins commented.

“We are delighted to receive the grant from NHS Charities Together and RUHX. With funding agreed for two years, we can work in partnership with NHS Primary care to make a huge difference to those who need support with their mental health, particularly for those people experiencing low mood, anxiety, depression or grief for example”.

Wiltshire Mind is an independent charity and relies on the generosity of the community to help raise funds to pay for services. The charity has tried to secure funding in recent years to provide a sustainable future for the 300 people they support every year with their mental health.

CEO Paul Mills explained

“Since the pandemic, we have seen a substantial drop in our fundraising income, so investing in new services to meet the increasing demand for mental health support across our county has been challenging. This grant enables a joined-up approach between our charity and GP surgeries locally, designed for those seeking support“.

Wiltshire Mind will be approaching a small number of GP surgeries over the next few months to participate in the trial, which is expected to help between 30 and 40 people over the next two years. If the trial is successful, it is hoped that a full county-wide referral service will be rolled-out across the county in 2024-25, subject to further funding.

For more information contact Paul Mills, CEO, at paul.mills@wiltshiremind.co.uk

To find our more about Wiltshire Mind visit our website.

In the last year we have helped over 200 people, supporting them with their mental health and wellbeing through low-cost counselling and peer support.

In the past, thanks to your generosity, we have been able to continue to deliver our services, including through the Covid-19 pandemic. We are now facing even greater challenges as global economic effects take hold.

We do not receive any statutory or government funding to help towards providing our mental health and wellbeing services locally, but we are working hard to secure future funding where we can. We now need to raise £465 a day, every day, to keep providing our much-needed services across Wiltshire.

The immediate threat is the increasing demand for mental health support, yet our fundraising income, which pays for services, is declining. In most cases our beneficiaries, our service users, have nowhere else to turn for support locally.

You can make a difference today by either donating or helping fundraise. Just £30 pays for a one-to-one counselling session for a child or young person. Our counselling for young people provides a safe space where highly specialist counsellors use a range of creative therapeutic methods to help young people connect to, and express, their emotions. Helping young people develop coping strategies can mean they are able to thrive rather than just survive.

If you can, please help today.

To donate today, please visit our Just-Giving page.

Or scan our QR code below to go directly to our donation page.

If you’d like to fundraise on behalf of Wiltshire Mind, please do email us fundraising@wiltshiremind.co.uk

Wiltshire Mind is holding its Annual General Meeting on 29th November 2022.

We welcome all interested parties to our Annual General Meeting. Places are limited, so please register your interest.

To register your interest in attending, email office@wiltshiremind.co.uk.

Counselling Volunteers (Adult Service)

We offer placement opportunities for counsellors who are currently undertaking appropriate training. We also welcome applications from counsellors who have completed their training and may be working towards accreditation or looking for an opportunity to support people in our community.

We ask volunteers to commit to a minimum of three client sessions per week at a regular time slot, and for up to one year. Sessions are usually based at our office in Trowbridge.

We are an organisational member of the BACP. We offer fortnightly group supervision, with a maximum of four supervisees per group. We also provide management support from a qualified counsellor on a day-to-day basis.

This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check (including barred list).

The current round of applications close on 7th October 2022, so please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested. Counselling@wiltshiremind.co.uk

Interviews are expected to take place by the end of October, and placements commence in January 2023.

Here at Wiltshire Mind we have a number of volunteer vacancies.

Volunteers are an essential part of our charity and we couldn’t operate without their dedication and hard work.

Choosing to volunteer for Wiltshire Mind not only means you can help us support the people in our community who need us but it can also help with your own wellbeing. Supporting and helping others can improve your happiness, give you a sense of purpose and improve your self-confidence. It can also help you further your skills and experience, and is a good addition to your CV.

We are looking for volunteers to help out at our Support Groups in Tidworth and Trowbridge.

The groups provide a friendly space for anyone experiencing mental health problems. They bring together people with shared experiences to support each other and provide a place where members can feel accepted and understood.

The volunteer supports our skilled Group Facilitators in creating a safe and open space for our service users. You do not need any particular experience for this role, just a willingness to participate. We welcome applications from people with lived experience of mental health. If you have previously attended one of our support groups as a member, you are welcome to apply but we ask that you are no longer attending the group.

If you’d like to find our more, email us today at counselling@wiltshiremind.co.uk