1 June 2009

Tens of thousands of people affected by, or at risk of, mental illness throughout Northern Ireland have a greater chance of improving their quality of life thanks to funding from the Big Lottery Fund.  The Health in Mind Partnership was delighted to hear that their Information, Reading and Learning Project has been awarded almost £1million.  The partnership is also seeking to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness by improving understanding of mental health in the wider community.

The “Health in Mind” partnership is made up of Libraries NI and the leading mental health charities, Action Mental Health, Aware Defeat Depression, CAUSE and MindWise.  The development of Health in Mind has involved extensive consultation, and now that funding has been secured the partners are looking forward to rolling out the project and making a real difference.

“As the new public library service for Northern Ireland, Libraries NI is delighted to be working with our partners to improve access to information about mental health and well being” says Libraries NI Chairperson, Dr David Elliott. “We will be designing and maintaining a website to act as a central resource for Health in Mind.  This information will also be available in print form.  An important element of the project will be a range of training sessions including some in I.T.  We have all had the experience of searching for something on the Web and getting thousands of hits. Health in Mind will give people the skills to avoid this and to make sure they are getting high quality reliable information.”

“Action Mental Health will deliver I.T. training and extend opportunities for participants to develop their daily living skills, including opportunities to undertake accredited qualifications”, explains Bernadette Best, AMH General Manager.  

 
“We will also facilitate the production, dissemination and publication of case studies and personal testimonies of users of mental health services, recognising that these go such a long way in tackling the stigma of mental illness and offer useful channels for learning.”

Chief Executive for CAUSE, Marie Crossin, also believes that “Health in Mind will lead to real benefits for local people caring for a family member with a mental illness. Classes will be delivered to equip people with the skills for caring and supporting someone with mental ill-heath and this will also provide opportunities for social interaction with people going through similar experiences.  We hope that the project will also improve carers’ access to services which will tackle the problems of isolation and high stress levels while improving their support network.”

Since one in four of us is likely to experience depression, the most common form of mental illness, Aware Defeat Depression is offering its unique life skills programme, Overcoming Depression, for people with mild to moderate depression through the library network. Sharon Sinclair, Chief Executive of Aware said “Being able to attend a free class for overcoming depression in  your local library is great, as libraries provide a relaxed and convenient place in the heart of local communities. The Health in Mind initiative will enable us to help so many more people to recover from depression and stay well afterwards.”

The recruitment and training of volunteers is an important part of the project.  The volunteers will be supported by MindWise.   Anne Doherty, Deputy Chief Executive of Mindwise, explained, “As a voluntary organisation founded by volunteers, we have no doubt that volunteers will add immense value to the project and support active citizenship within our communities. Through both Investing in Volunteer and Investing in People programmes, MindWise will recruit twenty volunteers in each year of the project who will be trained as learning coaches, mentors and group facilitators.”

Bernadette Best summed up the feelings of the partners; “We are all delighted to be involved in Health and Mind, knowing that we will be supporting the project’s aim of improving the quality of life of people affected by or at risk of mental ill-health, and at a practical level, making a positive contribution to the provision of better information and resources for the local community.”

For more information on the project please contact Helen Osborn helen.osborn@librariesni.org.uk