January has flown by and we are already half way through February before we have had time to take stock and reflect on what we have been busy with since the festive period. Here is a quick run-down of all the activity you might have missed, full reports to come as we gather reflections from our Champions.
Champion Celebration and networking event: Friday 13th January, Inkwell, Elgin.
A fantastic turn out on such a wild evening with Champions, new and established, sharing ideas and updates on what was going on for them in the hub. As ever the food in the Inkwell was lovely and it gave us a focus to do more social activity, chatting and feeling welcomed as part of a team.
WRAP facilitator training: 16th-20th January, Mansion House, Elgin.
A powerful week of learning, supporting and training new facilitators to deliver WRAP in Moray in partnership with the Scottish Recovery Network. The quality of trainees was extremely high and amongst the mainly hub Champion turn out, it also included all current Penumbra peer support workers. This was an amazing experience for all involved, inspiring, exhausting, but invigorating – truly creating a diverse team of WRAP facilitators for Moray. A full report with feedback from those trained will be shared in the next few weeks.
Discussion group with S3: Elgin Academy, 25th January.
We were delighted to be invited back to Elgin Academy, this time to host a mental health and literacy discussion with S3 pupils looking at the book ‘Black Cairn Point’, by Claire McFall. As is often the case, the pupils started to warm up to the discussion and contribute very well near the end of the session.
What this discussion highlighted was a lack of understanding and knowledge in how to invest in their emotional and mental health as a resource, in the same way they did with their physical health by watching what they ate and how much activity they took.
Another surprising conversation was around equality and feminist issues, and their lack of understanding about stigma including self-stigma. We are very keen to help support projects that help young people explore and find solutions to these issues – something we will return to as our work with young people develops over time.
See Me Champion training – ongoing since 28th January.
We have brought this national training from See Me to Moray as a way to both support our local Champions to feel empowered and skilled in taking forward actions for change themselves, but also to connect them beyond Moray to a wider Champion network as part of See Me. We are almost half way through the process and the training has proved very useful and popular with those attending. Expect a full reflection on this next month when the training completes.
Visit to Mindspace in Perth – 2nd February 2017
Our goal to create a physical space for the hub in Moray relies on us having a sustainable business plan and attracting not only funding, but revenue through a functioning business. To do this we have been looking for ways we can learn from others who have started along this road, and Mindspace in Perth is an example of a recovery college that we wanted to learn from. Six of us travelled down to visit and meet with those who use Mindspace and provide its services. We received a warm welcome from Perth and will give a full report later in the month.
SRN Peer coaching training – Aberdeen 3rd February 2017
Four champions attended this days training arranged by the Scottish Recovery Network. It was a great day of new tips and exploring practice – very recommended by all who attended.
