WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 2023 | IN COLLABORATION WITH RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP

I won’t lie, I kind of failed to think about the fact that not everyone has Twitter (X) or Instagram and so, if I don’t share my World Mental Health Day content with Richmond Fellowship on I’m NOT Disordered, you guys might not ever see our content!

So, over on their Twitter account was this…

RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP WORKING TOGETHER FORUM NOVEMBER 2019 VLOGS

RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP ENRICH AWARDS 2019 | PART FOUR

We returned from our final break refreshed and ready for the final three Awards of the day; presented by Chief Executive of Richmond Fellowship, Derek, a client of Aquarius; Mary, and Barrie, a person previously supported by Richmond Fellowship. The first award being announced was the Inspiring Staff Award, which was for a staff member who has made an outstanding contribution to the work of Richmond Fellowship. 

The Award presenters said of this Award: 
“We had 50 nominations for this Award – so instead of three finalists, we have seven and instead of one winner, we have two. We broke the rules slightly, but for the right reasons.” 

RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP ENRICH AWARDS 2019 | PART THREE

After a bit of a disastrous lunch – the vegetarian food didn’t arrive until almost the end of the scheduled lunch break! But the whole Team worked as a Team and we took the challenge in our stride! I caught up on some tweets for the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside twitte raccount and met and had a very exciting chat with, the soon-to-be Comms Manager (more on that over the next few months!).

The first two awards were presented by myself and my Co-Chair; Rachel; Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Working Together Committee. Rachel presented the Hope Award first which was described as being for the team who had made the most difference in supporting the people, we support on their recovery journey. The most special feature of this Award is that the nominees were voted for by the people they support. The three finalists were Mid and West Surrey Employment Service, Leicestershire Life Links, and North West Surrey Employment Service and the winner was Leicestershire Life Links. This Team provide a wellness service tailored to the needs of the local community by focusing on the individual’s strengths, needs, and future aspirations.

RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP ENRICH AWARDS 2019 | PART TWO

After a productive break catching up on tweets for the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside account - that I was managing for the day – and meeting a few new faces; Rachel and I called everyone to order to introduce our next Award presenters. 


Helen, Chair of the Recovery Focus Board and Michael, a client with Aquarius, announced the shortlist for the Excellence in Innovation Award. The criteria for this Award was for a team or project to demonstrate the most innovative approach to improving the quality of a service or increasing Richmond Fellowship’s productivity or efficiency. The ‘top three’ nominees were Lowther Street Crisis House, Macclesfield Homeless and Complex Needs Service, and Trevayler Care Home. The winner was Lowther Street Crisis House, the only community crisis house in Cumbria who provide 24-hour support for up at six people at a time in Whitehaven.

RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP ENRICH AWARDS 2019 | PART ONE

You know when there just seems to be no words that are good enough to talk about something? That’s how I feel about the Richmond Fellowship Enrich Awards! And I guess this is the reason why I’ve decided to make this event into four posts... 


To be asked to join the judging panel was a huge achievement and then when I got the email asked if I would co-chair the event with Rachel (Chair of the Working Together Committee); I was speechless – except I wasn’t really because it was via email so… but you know what I mean! And then I was asked to present one of the awards and then when the Manager of the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside team offered me the reigns of their Twitter account… well! It was such an honour to be trusted with so much - and so many - responsibilities and to know that it obviously meant Richmond Fellowship believed in me and believed that I was capable of doing all these things. 

ENRICH AWARDS | PRE-EVENT PROMO | THREE LESSONS RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP HAVE TAUGHT ME

It's officially one sleep until the Richmond Fellowship ENRICH Awards!! 

To celebrate, I decided to write a quick post about the three lessons the organization have taught me...

After my two and a half years in Cygnet Bierley, I was transferred to a ‘rehab’ ward at my local psychiatric hospital so as to gently get used to the idea of not having staff around me 24/7. I think that all my concentration was so focused on adapting to the changes that I remember very little from my time there. Which means I can’t remember when I first met with Richmond Fellowship, but it was in 2014 so I’ve been with them for five years now!


I’d like to dedicate this post to my most recent support worker (who now has a new job!); Georgie, who has become one of my greatest friends. Oh! And a special thank you to the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside Team Manager; Alice, for always ensuring I get the greatest service available from the team.

ENRICH AWARDS | PRE-EVENT PROMO | 60 SECONDS WITH RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP'S HELEN EDWARDS

Today marks two days until the Richmond Fellowship Enrich awards 2019. I’m very proud to have been on the judging panel to shortlist all of the nominations and to now be co-chairing the entire ceremony as well as taking over the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside Twitter account!

To keep up with all of the goings on, follow #EnrichAwards on Twitter

Every day for the next week, there’ll be a new post of ‘60 seconds with…’ someone involved in the Awards. I hope you enjoy!

Name and Job Title:

Helen Edwards, Chair Richmond Fellowship and Recovery Focus 

How long have you been involved with Richmond Fellowship?

I’ve been Chair since April 2016.

What drew you to this role?

The work which Richmond Fellowship does and its good reputation.

ENRICH AWARDS | PRE-EVENT PROMO | 60 SECONDS WITH RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP'S SERVICE USER: AIMEE WILSON

Today marks three days until the Richmond Fellowship Enrich awards 2019. I’m very proud to have been on the judging panel to shortlist all of the nominations and to now be co-chairing the entire ceremony as well as taking over the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside Twitter account!

To keep up with all of the goings on, follow #EnrichAwards on Twitter

Every day for the next week, there’ll be a new post of ‘60 seconds with…’ someone involved in the Awards. I hope you enjoy!

Name and job title: 

Aimee Wilson, Working Together Committee member

How long have you been involved with Richmond Fellowship?

I’ve been a service user with Richmond Fellowship Tyneside since 2014 and joined the  Working Together Committee in 2018

What drew you to this role? 

ENRICH AWARDS | PRE-EVENT PROMO | 60 SECONDS WITH RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP'S CHIEF EXECUTIVE DEREK CAREN

Today marks four days until the Richmond Fellowship Enrich awards 2019. I’m very proud to have been on the judging panel to shortlist all of the nominations and to now be co-chairing the entire ceremony as well as taking over the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside Twitter account!

To keep up with all of the goings on, follow #EnrichAwards on Twitter

Every day for the next week, there’ll be a new post of ‘60 seconds with…’ someone involved in the Awards. I hope you enjoy!

Name and job title:

Derek Caren, Chief Executive

How long have you worked at Richmond Fellowship?

Six years.

What drew you to this role?

ENRICH AWARDS | PRE-EVENT PROMO | 60 SECONDS WITH RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP'S WILL FISHER

Today five days until the Richmond Fellowship Enrich awards 2019. I’m very proud to have been on the judging panel to shortlist all of the nominations and to now be co-chairing the entire ceremony as well as taking over the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside Twitter account!

To keep up with all of the goings on, follow #EnrichAwards on Twitter

Every day for the next week, there’ll be a new post of ‘60 seconds with…’ someone involved in the Awards. I hope you enjoy!

Name and job title:

Will Fisher, Senior Practitioner, Midlands Locality.

How long have you worked at Richmond Fellowship?

Five years.

What drew you to this role?

ENRICH AWARDS | PRE-EVENT PROMO | 60 SECONDS WITH RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP'S RACHEL PERKINS

Today marks six days until the Richmond Fellowship Enrich awards 2019. I’m very proud to have been on the judging panel to shortlist all of the nominations and to now be co-chairing the entire ceremony as well as taking over the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside Twitter account!

To keep up with all of the goings on, follow #EnrichAwards on Twitter

Every day for the next week, there’ll be a new post of ‘60 seconds with…’ someone involved in the Awards. I hope you enjoy!

Name and job title:

Rachel Perkins, Non-Executive Director and Chair of Working Together Committee

How long have you worked at Richmond Fellowship?

I joined the Recovery Focus Board last year

What drew you to this role?

I have done work in the past for Richmond Fellowship and was very impressed with what I saw – particularly the commitment to co-production across the organisation. So when I heard about the vacancy on the Board I jumped at the chance to apply.

ENRICH AWARDS | PRE-EVENT PROMO | 60 SECONDS WITH RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP'S TRACEY BELL

Today marks a week until the Richmond Fellowship Enrich awards 2019. I’m very proud to have been on the judging panel to shortlist all of the nominations and to now be co-chairing the entire ceremony as well as taking over the Richmond Fellowship Tyneside Twitter account!

To keep up with all of the goings on, follow #EnrichAwards on Twitter

Every day for the next week, there’ll be a new post of ‘60 seconds with…’ someone involved in the Awards. I hope you enjoy!

Name and job title: 
Tracey Bell Group Director of Performance, Quality and Innovation

How long have you worked at Richmond Fellowship?

15 months

What drew you to this role?

ALL OF MY THANK YOU’S FOR 2018 | HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019

Previous New Years with I'm NOT Disordered:

2013/2014 featured a list (what I didn’t achieve from it, carried on to 2014/2015) but now, in 2017, I’ve now achieved/completed the entire list - 12/12!

2014/2015 was a list of goals for the year ahead – and if you go read it and are wondering, I did/have done 9/10

2015/2016 featured a short list of upcoming projects, plans, and goals for the year ahead.

2016/2017 I celebrated with a completely new design – I can’t believe I’ve had this new logo for a year! I guess I need to stop calling it my new logo! I also asked myself – and some others – two questions: 1. What was one of your favourite things about 2016? And 2. What one thing are you looking forward to in 2017?

To mark the end of 2018, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all those who have made the year so very special.

*To all those not specifically mentioned (you know who you are) I have an equal amount of gratitude for you too! But there’s only so long a post can be before people stop reading it!*

People:

Mum, thank you for: never straying from my side, always trusting me, playing with Emmy when I’m too tired to, putting faith and determination into my recovery, making the phonecalls that would make me anxious, the laughs and inside jokes, the hugs when I cry and the tears when you’re proud.  

RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP WORKING TOGETHER FORUM | EVENT POST | AD

I was so proud to be asked to join the planning Committee for the Working Together Forum this year and when the position came up to Chair the entire event, I jumped at the chance!

The more work I do with a particular organization, the more eager I am to take on more responsibilities and bigger opportunities.  I guess I see it almost like most work where there’s a promotion in sight and like many things in my blogging career, I’ve had to discover and sort of, decide for myself, what this means. What a ‘promotion’ means to me. What I’d class as a ‘step up;’ and chairing an entire event for such a wonderful, supportive, and inspirational organization like Richmond Fellowship (RF), seemed like the right role to do just that. And as I did last year, I also agreed to co-facilitate a workshop with the awesome Emily Dell from the RF Communications team (more on that later!).

FROM CUTS TO CARLISLE | HOW I CHANGED MY MENTAL HEALTH AROUND IN A WEEK

*Note: This post contains talk of self-harm*

Last Friday (15^th June) I had a complete mental health crisis in the form of two dissociative episodes within hours of one another.

One minute I was at home watching Netflix and the next thing I knew I was staring at a huge cut in the palm of my hand, blood dripping from it and covering the floor; which was littered in pieces of a broken cup. I still can’t for certain that I smashed the cup on purpose and cut myself but since I’ve done that in the past it seems like the logical explanation(!) I think that the only thing stopping me from accepting that as the case is the fear that comes with it. If I’m capable of completely switching off from the world and self-harming without knowing it, then what the hell else am I capable of doing?!

THE IMPORTANCE OF TELLING YOUR STORY

You’ve got the words to change a nation

But you’re biting your tongue

You’ve spent a life time stuck in silence

Afraid you’ll say something wrong

If no one ever hears it how we gunna learn your song?

Emeli Sande – Read All About It (pt III)

I’ve recently had a few bits of media work going on – filming with Channel 4, the BBC, Richmond Fellowship, and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS FoundationTrust, as well as an interview with Koast Radio – and it got me thinking about my decision to tell the world about my mental health journey. And I’d like to encourage others to do the same.

When the abuse first began my instinct was to tell someone about it; to report it. His threats and warnings didn’t really matter when the real reluctance was coming from inside my own head. I was so afraid that I’d be judged for what had happened. That people would look at me differently and believe that I’d deserved it. They’d think less of me. Because ultimately, when abuse is reported – no matter who to – and one person is denying it ever took place, a person has to decide who they believe. You have to choose a side. And I didn’t know how I would cope if the people I knew chose his. Would it mean that actually, I hadn’t known them at all?

24HRS WITH... ME!

24 hours with... me!

Date: Thursday June 7^th 2018

Why have you chosen to write about today?

A ton of amazing things happened!

Good morning!



What time did you wake up?

10am


Why did you wake up at that time?

I had a support session with my worker from Richmond Fellowship at 11am



Did you have a dream?

Not that I remember.

RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP WORKING TOGETHER FORUM | #RFWORKINGTOGETHERFORUM | AD

Not too long ago the Manager of my local Richmond Fellowship got in touch with me and asked if I’d like to Chair the upcoming WorkingTogether Forum. Having co-chaired the previous one, I was confident with the idea and agreed. They then told me that I’d again be co-chairing but when it came to the day the co-chair got ‘stage fright’ and I was left to chair the entire event! In addition to this, two days before the event, a group delivering one of the four workshops dropped out and I offered to help run the stand-in workshop which, we basically invented in 48 hours! So, I had many roles in this event and yes, it was stressful; but it was a nice-productive-lots-of-responsibilities-kind-of stress!