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Posted on October 17, 2022 by The Cellar Trust

Menopause and Me

Written by Becky, Peer Support Worker

I didn’t know, back when I use to mock my mother for making genuine mistakes and having hot flashes, that this was the start of the M word. Nor did I know of any more symptoms. I just knew that we all go through this process. And I certainly didn’t know about ‘the bigger picture’.

I am thankful that I have a lot of understanding people around me at The Cellar Trust who are going through this with me, or who ask questions, like my peers. They have been totally amazing, and I am so grateful we can laugh and cry about it together. Because in going through this I haven’t always been kind to myself (although that is our motto in terms of mental health… and we have to practice what we preach… RIGHT?!)

Yet I find this subject hard to talk about. I know, in my line of work, the power of being able to talk about difficult things. Suicide rates in this country have increased 6% in 20 years between ages of 45-65. In my work, I have to present to groups every day, something people struggling with menopause find difficult. Yet I still feel incompetent right now. I have to explain to groups why I can’t get their names right or pronounce words. I can laugh about it some days, but it is a learning process. Everyone is different but the anxiety around it can be tough.

I am highlighting the menopause, because of how it’s making me feel. Because a lady took her life in Keighley a few years ago. Because her husband is now doing amazing things in terms of peer support and groups. Because the stigma and lack of awareness needs to be addressed. I didn’t know that it extended beyond hot flashes and sleep problems and memory fog. And they feel pretty bad in themselves.

My Mum, who I took the mick out of bless her, thinks I am queen for highlighting this. I feel sad that it wasn’t mentioned back in the day and sorry I had those views back then. Because every day is something out of the ordinary and I am scared because I don’t feel professional. I just know we are NOT alone in this and thankful I am able to share our experiences in a comfortable space like staff peer support and other support networks.

I welcome a menopause policy dearly and with open arms. Albeit I feel I can’t do my job, and the feelings intensify, and I make stupid little mistakes. The feeling of being useless and not worthy. I am combating those feelings everyday with the help of my team who have been so amazing. I just wanted to have my say in this – my first blog. We do understand and can do this together, bless you all xxx and be kind to yourself whatever you are going though, you are never alone.

Information

World Menopause Day is held every year on 18th October, to raise awareness, break the stigma and highlight the support options available for improving health and wellbeing. Awareness on this topic is fundamental and reducing the stigma attached to it is vital so that more people will talk openly about it so it can begin to be normalised and people can get the support they need.

The theme for 2022 is cognition and mood.

The International Menopause Society has a range of resources to support this year’s theme:

Brain fog and menopause: a healthcare professional’s guide for decision making and counselling on cognition download
Brain fog and memory difficulties in menopause download
How employers can engage employees in marking menopause awareness day download

If you’re experiencing a mental health crisis or feel like your mental health is deteriorating, you can access crisis support by calling First Response 0800 952 1181. Trained professionals are available to take your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Posted on October 13, 2022 by The Cellar Trust

The Cellar Trust wins prestigious national mental health award

The Cellar Trust has won The Peer Support Award 2022 at the National Positive Practice in Mental Health Awards.

The award recognised the essential role peer support has in mental health services and how The Cellar Trust uses this type of support to underpin its vital services.

The Cellar Trust has been delivering peer support since 2016 beginning with its crisis service: Haven and has continued to build on this through a range of services from the Safe Spaces to the Pathways to Employment Team, and the MAST which includes Peer Support Workers in Bradford Royal Infirmary and Airedale Hospital.

Peer support is a non-clinical form of support and involves people using their own experiences of mental health challenges to share understanding, hope and improved wellbeing with others. 96% of The Cellar Trusts clients said that peer support was an important part of the service to them. Building on its own positive experiences, The Cellar Trust charity also delivers accredited Peer Support Training and supervision to other organisations locally and nationally.

Speaking after the awards Kim Shutler, CEO at The Cellar Trust said:

“Peer Support has been fundamental to how we deliver our crisis support services, in hospitals and in the community. We know the huge positive impact it can have on individuals struggling with their mental health and wellbeing because, above all else, it gives people hope. It’s wonderful to be recognised with this award as we continue to provide this support to people when they need it most. The pandemic and the current cost of living crisis means people are really feeling the impact on their mental health. Having this kind of support available makes such a difference.”

Speaking of his experience joining one of The Cellar Trust’s peer support groups, Gary said:

“The one place I felt like I was actually listened to and taken seriously was my Peer Support Group. They helped me cope with all the stress, anger and negative emotions the more acute services were causing me. In particular, the way the group was led by the Peer Support Workers amazed me. I cannot express how much they have helped me and supported me in my progress.’

Posted on July 21, 2022 by The Cellar Trust

Introducing our new Trustees

Introducing our new Trustees

The Cellar Trust is delighted to be welcoming 6 new trustees to the Board this July. They join at an exciting time for the organisation as we continue to deliver on our strategy and mission, and with lots of new developments underway. Of course, this is also a challenging time following on from the pandemic and as we experience increased demand for services.

A key focus of our recruitment of Trustees has been on ensuring the diversity of our Board. Equality, diversity and inclusion is central to everything we deliver, and ensuring that this is led from the Board has been an important area for development.

Kim Shutler, CEO at The Cellar Trust, said, ‘We are thrilled to be able to welcome some brilliant new Trustees to join our Board. We have been purposeful in recruiting for diversity to ensure that our Board is more reflective of our diverse communities, which has included recruiting both experienced Board members as well as those who are keen to develop their leadership and governance skills. As with the majority of our colleagues at The Cellar Trust, many of our Board have their own personal lived experience, which we believe passionately is essential to the success and impact of the work we do.’

Introducing and welcome to:

Professor Uduak Archibong PhD MBE
Uduak Archibong PhD MBE is the Pro Vice-Chancellor [Equality, Diversity and Inclusion], directs the Centre for Inclusion and Diversity and provides strategic oversight for equality, diversity and inclusion [EDI] across the institution. She is a Fellow of the West African College of Nursing and a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. She was listed in the New Year Honours list 2015 and was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to higher education and equality. Recognised as a foremost authority with a sustained, distinguished presence in the field of diversity management, she is currently leading in setting agenda to drive research, learning and knowledge exchange activities internationally and has published extensively on inclusion and diversity. She is at the forefront of transforming organisational culture for sustainable diversity and inclusion approaches. Her research has provided a unique international definition of positive action and application for representational and participative diversity.. She is currently leading a portfolio of research on residential segregation, school segregation and factors in hate crime reporting in the city of Bradford as part of the Bradford for Everyone Programme.

Jamie Chiekh
Jamie has lived in Yorkshire all his life and has been active in a variety of voluntary roles locally. He joins the board after graduating with a Masters in Sport, Business Management and Policy. As an experienced manager, he aims to gain experience in third sector management, strategy and healthcare. Jamie is passionate about giving back to others in the community, ensuring support is available to everyone, and everyone has the opportunities to be their best self. Jamie says: “ I am fortunate to have had support from within the community at several important points in my life. I believe very strongly that it is important for me to provide similar help to others, especially in my local area, and I am excited to give my time and energy towards achieving this as part of The Cellar Trust. I am very interested in how mental health affect individuals but also different communities, and am looking forward to increasing my own learning and knowledge, and making a lasting contribution locally.”

Melvyn Ingleson
Melvyn is joining the Board having been a member of the Board of Bradford Counselling Services since 2020. He recently returned to Yorkshire after thirty years In Scotland. Melvyn has enjoyed as many years running his own advisory firm, serving as an interface between private companies in many sectors who need to build relationships or sell services to the Government or wider public sector. He has a strong professional interest in organisational transformation enabled by digital technologies having supported Microsoft’s public sector business growth in recent years. He is passionate about all sectors serving the needs of the most vulnerable in society. He was educated in Bradford and committed to giving back to the city on his return. He is also a non-executive director for Spectrum Community Health CIC. Spectrum is a Wakefield based CIC that plays a leading role in the North of England, providing health care inside prisons, also supporting drug and alcohol rehabilitation and sexual health services in the community. He is a governor of the Heights Federation, three rural Junior & Infant schools in Kirklees and a long time non-executive director of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy in Edinburgh. Newly resident in Brighouse, he is very active in Brighouse Central Methodist Church and serves on an informal advisory group for the Digital Economy in the region.

Dr Shehla Khalid

As Senior Evaluation and Insights Manager at NHS England, Shehla is currently leading evaluations and insights gathering of a large national programme to improve health and wellbeing of 1.3 million NHS workforce. After completing two Masters degrees (computing and data governance) and a doctorate from the University of Bradford for work exploring user requirements for secondary uses of data for improving the quality of dementia care, Shehla has previously successfully led a number of analytical and impact programmes in academia, private sector, voluntary sector and in the local government. Shehla is a highly experienced researcher with expertise in data analytics, data management and evaluation solutions. Shehla is a published author with a number of papers published in high-quality national and International Healthcare and informatics journals. Shehla is always keen to explore innovative and pragmatic approaches to measuring impact of health and social interventions and policies. She says “I am personally committed to values of social justice, equality and inclusion, with a strong passion to promoting mental health and reducing health inequalities. I am honoured to volunteer my time to help The Cellar Trust measure and showcase the value of their work, and personally achieve happiness and contentment in making a real difference to people’s lives.”

Samantha McLean

Sam joined the board in 2022, and this is her first formal role in the voluntary sector. She is currently an Associate Professor in Pharmacology at the University of Bradford and is a Research Fellow of the Wolfson Centre of Applied Health Research. Her research is centred around understanding changes in the brain in psychiatric disorders in an attempt to develop new drugs for the benefit of patients.

Sam is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and teaches the science of mental health and the medicines used to treat the symptoms to students in the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences.

She says “Having worked in academia for many years I’m looking forward to the opportunity to influence and be part of change and growth at a very exciting time for the Cellar Trust. As a scientist, I’m hoping to gain a more holistic view of the experiences and challenges faced by people living locally and was delighted to be appointed to the board to give something back to the community.

Gabby Voinea

Gabby has, for the past 7 years, worked in the health and care sector (both frontline and at strategic level) whilst studying for 2 part-time postgraduate degrees. She has trained and worked as an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate, Independent Mental Health Advocate and as a health complaints advocate, worked in the public legal sector, dealing with Court of Protection matters and in the third sector developing Representatives to be involved in a range of strategic roles. This has included working closely with CCG colleagues to ensure the third sector has an equal voice within the Population and Care Delivery Boards in the local Health and Care Partnership. She is currently working as Paralegal in Clinical Law.

She says: ‘My ethnic background and experiences have provided me with the insight to recognize (and empathise with) some of the struggles faced by ethnic minority individuals. Add to those extra layers of complexity, such as language barriers and the results can indeed be devastating. I believe in what The Cellar Trust is working to achieve, and I am excited about the opportunity to contribute towards the strategic direction of the organisation, to give back to the community and I feel privileged to volunteer for an organisation in which I believe.’