Annual Review2014

Contents pageIntroduction 1

A Word from the Chair 2

Directors Report 3

Mind Monmouthshire in context 4

Who uses our service? 6

Supported Living Project 7

HiWay Service 8

Signs 12

Welfare Rights Service 14

Nick Ramsey Visit 15

Financial Information 16

Open. We reach out to anyone who needs us

Together. We’re stronger in partnership

Responsive. We listen, we act

Independent. We speak out fearlessly

Unstoppable. We never give up.

OurValues

Our VisionTo support and respect anyone living with a mental health problem in Monmouthshire

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Introduction Welcome to the first annual report of Mind Monmouthshire Ltd. This document serves 2 related

purposes. The first is to celebrate the work we have completed over the past months and the

second is to provide information required by the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP).

Our MissionTo empower and support anyone

living with a mental health problem, deliver excellent services

and promote understanding

Public BenefitThis report looks at our achievements in our work from April 2013 to March 2014.

It also comments on the first period of activity for Mind Monmouthshire Ltd which ran

from June 1st 2013 to March 31st 2014.

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A Word fromthe ChairI am very pleased to sign off our first year as

a Registered Charity and a Company Limited

by Guarantee. This year we have been

able to provide high quality services to an

increased number of people. As we know,

1 in 4 of the population will report poor mental

health at some stage in their lives.

This document gives us the opportunity to

reflect on the challenges and triumphs we

have encountered on our way. The quotes

and stories we have shared here demonstrate

how our services have grown and developed.

Mind Monmouthshire’s Strategic Plan

‘Making a Difference’ has been the focus of

much hard work by the Board and Senior

Management Team this year and will ensure

that we focus our efforts to what matters for

the people who use or need our services in

the years to come.

We are unable to deliver our work without

the combined efforts of everyone involved:

People who use our services, staff, funders

and stakeholders and to all these we give

our heartfelt thanks. We continue in our aim

to deliver high quality services and deliver

excellent value for money.

We have had some significant changes

this year and I would like to acknowledge

everybody’s collective hard work which

significantly contributes to making Mind

Monmouthshire the friendly, supportive and

successful organisation that it is.

Steve Woods Chair

Directors ReportOur Welfare Rights Service and other

services have been directly involved with

helping people to cope with the changes in

welfare benefits and the impact of a changing

benefits system. Providing expert advice

on benefits was crucial for the population of

Monmouthshire so we decided that we would

match fund the funding we get from our

reserves, so that we could provide a service

more widely across Monmouthshire.

The development of the new Primary Mental

Health Care Services have provided us

with a new pathway of referral. Our staff

now also offer various courses based on

the principles of recovery which we deliver

across the County. This work co-exists and

is completed by our HiWay staff, who also

work with individuals on their recovery on an

individual basis.

We have re-structured our Central Services

and Vivienne Jones and Sian Baylis left the

organisation and Mandy Wills started with us

as Administrator. Stephanie Thomas joined us

as the HiWay Project Lead position.

The purchase of Henton House has provided

us with the space and potential to expand our

work further.

All in all this year has been very busy, very

focused and above all we have achieved so

much. Needless to say this could not have

been happened without the dedication and

hard work of the board, funders, stakeholders

and staff employed by Mind Monmouthshire.

Chris BowieDirector Mind Monmouthshire

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4

Total Of 904

Supported Hours

Total Of 364

Supported Hours

Total Of 6,960

Supported Hours

27,272hours of support delivery

during 2013/14

Group Work

Supported Living Service

Community Outreach Team

Personal Support Work

5

Total Of 737

Supported Hours

Total Of 13,728

Supported Hours

27,272hours of support delivery

during 2013/14

Total Of 4,579

Supported Hours

Community Outreach Team

Tenancy Support Service

Welfare Rights

What would make a diffrence? Comments from people who use our services...How do you know someone is going to get a mental health problem?

• If they (people) stay well – does that mean they were never going to become ill in the first place?

• If they become ill has Mind Monmouthshire failed?

• There will always be people who like being ill and want to be or stay ill.

Anti stigma work is very important

We need to speak to chil-dren to start

this work

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We need a counselling

service….CBT & DBT… There is an 18 month wait for

it on NHS

Don’t call us ‘service users’…

Over the first few months James was supported by us as we worked on the areas that he deemed the highest priority. We would assist with filling in forms, explain and demonstrate cooking and cleaning skills, explain James’ responsibilities under his tenancy agreement and made referrals to more specialist services for his drug and alcohol misuse and debt issues.

James started to settle in to communal living and established friends in the project and soon developed a core group of friends with the new area that he now lived.

Over the months James continued to engage with his support worker and also maintained contact and engagement with his Mental Health Team. Whilst James was still misusing alcohol and drugs, his life had become more stable with James no longer staying in cupboard at the hospital, was now receiving the benefits that we was entitled to and had established regular contact with his daughter. When James decided that he was now ready to move on to more independent living he was supported to register for and find suitable accommodation. After a relatively short period of time James was offered a suitable flat where he would be able to live independently.

James moved out of our Project and into his new flat. He was successful in applying for a Discretionary Assistance Fund payment which helped him to establish himself in his new flat as quickly as possible. We continued to support James for several weeks once he moved to independent living, and our James still receives low level floating support now. James continues to live independently, maintaining his own home and tenancy and has had no further readmissions to hospital since leaving our Supported Living Service.

Mind Monmouthshire’s Supported Living Project is a Welsh Government Supporting People Programme Grant funded project that provides secure, shared accommodation, along with support services, to aid people experiencing mental ill health to move towards independent living.

Example of our work Homeless – No fixed abodeEnduring Mental Illness (Schizophrenia)In HospitalNo contact with family or friends Sleeping in cupboards in various hospitals James moved into our project where he had his own bedsit and shared the communal kitchen, bathrooms and living spaces.

Once moved in we discussed his support needs in more detail and came up with his support plan. Support was needed in the following areas.

• Alcohol and Drug Misuse

• Daily Living Skills i.e. cooking, cleaning

• Personal Hygiene and Self Care

• Isolation

• Budgeting & Debt

• Low self-esteem/confidence.

• Anti-social behaviour

• Disengaging from the mental health services.

About Us - What do we doSupported Living Project

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Mark is 47 years old and was referred to the HiWay Project via the Community Mental Health Team with a diagnosis of depression.Mark also had low confidence and self-esteem, he thought everything he did was never “good enough”. We worked together to identify his goals of volunteering with a few agencies including Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Beauty and The Gwent Wildlife Trust helping with various outdoor tasks. Whilst undertaking these activities Mark also completed several HiWay Recovery Courses including Confidence Building, Depression Management and Understanding Anxiety. We ask clients we work with for feedback on both our 1:1 service and the courses we deliver in order for us to retain our high quality and meet the needs of the clients. Mark contributed a great deal and developed the confidence to provide us with constructive feedback.Mark enjoys animal tracking and he goes on courses around the country to further develop his skills (which he self-funds). Mark recently attended a course on how to track missing people, when after only three days the course instructor (who also owns the company) approached Mark and offered him a job with his company as a tracking instructor. After some thought Mark contacted the course instructor to discuss his job offer in more detail, negotiations are continuing.All of this has had a profound impact on Mark’s depression, which is why he first started having support from HiWay. He has learnt to manage his depression and is now actively involved in community activities. He has also noticed a significant improvement in his confidence and self-esteem.

HiWay Service HiWay has completed its second year of operation and is now well established within the mental health community as a successful and effective project, encouraging and assisting people to integrate back into the community, promoting recovery and reducing social isolation.Below is an example of our work

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Recovery and Beyond What Courses are delivered in the County?

Understanding Anger

Confidence Building

Understanding Mood

Anxiety Management

Depression Management

Communication

For further details or information about these courses please contact our office. You will find the number on the back of this document.

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We asked participants…What did you learn from the course?

Have become more aware of the need to set smaller goals instead

of concentrating on the long term and give myself credit

for achieving these.

To think more positively and ways to change your way of

thinking, strategies for coping in situations where I do not

feel confident. That there are other people experiencing the

same things as I am.

Learned to listen to other people’s problems and made it easier to relate to problems in

my life. Learned the confidence to speak in front of the group.

Knowing more about ourselves and rights and understanding. Make a plan, make a priority

to achieve our goals and accept ourselves as we are.

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What could be done differently?

I enjoyed the session about rational and irrational thoughts. Also discussing the differences between aggressive, assertive

and passive behaviour and thoughts.

Relaxed atmosphere. Able to listen to one another.

That other people were feeling the same.

Everyone being so friendly.

It was all enjoyable from the first week to the last.Enjoyed thinking or solving problems

Meeting with others who have experienced similar things.

Sometimes I thought it would have been good to

go through the worksheets we had been given

in the following week’s session? More acting

out problems.

Was there anything you found particularly interesting or enjoyable?

Nothing, was a really good course.

Nothing, it was clear and enjoyable.

There should be an online portal so

we can all stay in touch.

SIGNS

SIGNS is a Floating Tenancy Support Project which works with people in their own homes who are at risk of becoming homeless and have mental health problems.

We attend Multi-Disciplinary meetings in both the North and the South of the County and have developed good links with both the Community Mental Health Teams and Primary Care Mental Health Support Service.

We hold surgeries in 2 of the GP surgeries within Abergavenny at Tudor Gate and Old Station Road. Staff have also attended team meetings with various services, including housing staff at Monmouthshire Housing Association and the Home Treatment Team in Tal y Garn to promote the service, discuss service criteria and the referral process.Here are some examples of SIGNS work.

Alan from Abergavenny Area• Mid 50’s

• Issues presented to Support Worker

• Depression and Anxiety

• Needed re-housing due to Temp accommodation

• Budget plan required due to debts

• Not attending appointments

• Poorly equipped home

• Mattress on the floor, lack of furniture, no fridge, cooker or washing machine

• Employed but going through a disciplinary process

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OUTCOMES TO DATE• On Employment Support Allowance

• Attending appointments with medical professionals with support

• Re-housed

• Grants applied for and 3 received to purchase cooker, washing machine, bed and bedding

• Still receiving weekly support from Support worker

Sue from Caldicot Area• Mid 60’s

• Diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety

• Non Dependant daughter living with her also suffering from Depression.

• Victim of Domestic Abuse, in arrears with housing benefit. Bedroom tax issues which have no case law to helpwith how to deal with this.

• Budgeting problems

OUTCOMES TO DATE• Benefits check completed – PIP

assessment now arranged, expectation isthat her weekly money will increase.

• Housing Benefit Check - Appeal hearingnow in progress. Support being given to attend and deal with this.

• Awaiting counselling sessions via GP

• Budgeting help given.

The significance of our Welfare Benefits Service for people with a mental illness is threefold:

It provides financial support enabling a better focus on and opportunity for recovery of health for individuals using the service

It reduces anxiety caused by the benefits process and outcomes (quite separately from the actual financial aspects). The need to deal with the benefits process is frequently a cause of significant anxiety for the individual in itself. People who cannot deal with correspondence, officialdom, visits to official premises and budgeting find benefits forms immensely troubling. Where the results are unfavourable it is often perceived as confirmation that society sees the client as worthless.

The Service removes this anxiety and deals with adverse (and often deeply flawed) results.

We use the benefits interaction with the client as a positive process, oriented to self-realisation and acceptance of the illness and its effects, rather than taking away the responsibility for form-filling. It is thus a therapeutic process in itself.

Surgeries were held in Abergavenny, Monmouth, Usk, Chepstow and Caldicot

We worked with a total of 295 service users.

This resulted in a total extra income for these tenants for a 12 month period of £975,000.

This year we spent £27,139 on this service

Therefore for every £1 spent on the service we brought £35 approximately into to Monmouthshire.

Welfare Rights Service

How is the service paid for?

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Welfare Rights Income

Mind Monmouthshire Reserve£8,949

A.B.U,B.H£6,000

M.C.C£6,125

Supporting People Grant

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Mind Monmouthshire LaunchMind Monmouthshire Vice Chair John Matthews meets Nick Ramsay. In June 2013 to celebrate the launch of Mind Monmouthshire as a Charity and a LTD Company Nick Ramsay, AM for Monmouthshire came to visit us at our refurbished Cross St offices.

Helen Jones and Chris Browning talk to Nick Ramsay about Tenancy Support in the Community.

Nick Ramsay listens to Nick Price and Siobhan Brereton as they explain their rolein the HiWay project.

AcknowledgementPhotographs taken byRose Edwards,Abergavenny

Supported Living

HiWay

SIGNS

Personal Support

Welfare Rights

Leasehold Properties

Investment Income

Transferred from old charity

Incoming Resources June 2014 to March 2014

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£164,644.00 10.48%

£101,515.00 6.46%

£90,430.00 5.75%

£4,807.00 0.31%

£10,283.00 0.65%

£237,225.00 15.09%

£4,127.00 0.26%

£958,601.00 60.99%

Total £1,571,633.00

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L

Governance Costs

Supported Living

HiWay

SIGNS

Personal Support

Welfare Rights

easehold Properties

Costs of Generating Voluntary Income

Resources Expended June 2013 to March 2014

£40,290.00 6.14%

£142,449.00 21.69%

£142,449.00 21.69%

£88,214.00 13.43%

£3,889.00 0.59%

£18,793.00 2.86%

£215,294.00 32.79%

£5,303.00 0.81%

Total £656,681.00

Mind Monmouth Ltd, Trading as Mind Monmouthshire is a Registered Charity (1150165) and a Company Limited by

Guarantee (4715435). Registered in Wales.

45b Cross St, Abergavenny,

Monmouthshire NP7 5ER

01873 858275

Info@mindmonmouthshire.org.uk www.mindmonmouthshire.org.uk

Monmouthshire