Joe Goes to our Working Together Forum
On Thursday 4th May, Richmond Fellowship hosted their National Working Together Forum at The Studio in Manchester. The National Working Together Forum is an event that takes place twice a year, where people using our services across the country come together to share stories, listen to speakers from within and outside the organisation and take part in interactive workshops. This year, Joe, one of our volunteers went along to find out what was happening. He took part in some workshops, heard about people’s life stories, and got to meet Derek Caren, our Chief Executive.
Joe said:
“The working together forum in Manchester was a really good and interesting opportunity to listen and speak to different people, including staff, people using services and those who have successfully recovered from their own mental health problems.
In the morning I went to the ‘My Life, My Way’ workshop, which was led by a young woman, who has been supported by one of Richmond Fellowship’s services and who spoke about the methods she used to deal with her own mental health problems. I learned several different coping techniques, including mindful colouring and using jars to store positive thoughts about yourself.
Overall, the day was interesting and I got to meet a variety of different people. I also got to see the various different ways that Richmond Fellowship’s services are run, from housing and community-based support, to the crisis houses and similar services to ours here at Life Links in Leicester. The day put Richmond fellowship in a really positive light and also allowed both staff and service users to take away positive things that they probably did not know of before”.
