Hello June! As we enter the sixth month of the year, we can be grateful that we have had some lovely sunny weather recently. Read on to hear about some of the wonderful things Capital have been up to and some of the exciting things coming up in the future.

CEO News

It’s been an exciting and busy time. All the team have been preparing for different events coming up including Chichester Pride. We’ll be featuring much more about that in next month’s newsletter.

This month we also took part in Mental Health Awareness Week, which saw extra activities to compliment events with colleagues at United Response, House 48.

The team also worked with different organisations on an event that took place in Crawley, discussing and generating ideas of how a central mental health hub might/should/could work in Crawley. This hub will include a range of service providers including NHS, Social Care, Voluntary Sector, and specialist services. This pilot hub idea will eventually be rolled out across other areas.

We’re looking forward to getting our new project ‘A Different View’ off the ground. We spoke about this in last month’s news. We’ve decided to start these courses in Littlehampton first, starting Weds 14th June.

If you are interested in joining the photography, journalling 10-week sessions, taking place in Crawley and Littlehampton

Please contact Anthony: a.stevens@recovery-partners.org.uk or 07826 094533.

We’re still looking for volunteers for Patient Viewpoint. If you are interested, please contact us for more information. We’d be particularly keen to hear from you if you were interested in covering Meadowfield in Worthing. Full training and support are provided.

We’re also looking for Relief Peers to cover our regular teams during periods of sickness or annual leave. These are relief casual roles for all three hospital sites in Worthing, Chichester, and Crawley. For more information: https://www.capitalproject.org/bank-peer-support-workers

Coordinator News:

“Hello to all you wonderful members!

How lucky are we to finally have some beautiful weather. Hope your all making the most of it as I certainly have.

I just wanted to firstly say Thank you so much to our volunteers who worked so hard at Chichester Pride! You guys were awesome.

It was a huge event and we were very proud to represent and promote CAPITAL. I also wanted to say thankyou to Helen for all the hard work behind the scenes. We couldn’t have done it without you!!

The Hotham Park picnic was also a massive success. Thank you to everyone who came along, we definitely made Jaqcui and Shaun proud.

Looking forward to this month’s up and coming activities and events. Please if anyone else would like to volunteer at future events please get in touch.

Take care everyone and can’t wait to see you all very soon. From Lisa.”

“Just wanted to say a massive thank you for all the help and support from members this past month. Heidi”

Membership News:

“Our Mental Health Awareness week Events went very well and highlighted the partnership of peer support and creativity at its very best. We are also really looking forward to seeing Members at our Members Day Event on the 28th June, more details to follow.

We have an open invitation for all members to get involved in the Focus Group sessions, please do get in touch to learn more or to put your name down to attend. We would love to see you there!

Due to popular demand, we are going to trial a hybrid (online and face to face) Yarn and Yabber Peer Led Group on Monday 5th June from 10.30am until 12.30pm.

This group is for all those that knit, crochet, embroider, cross stitch, felt, pom-pom make or any other yarn-based craft that benefits our wellbeing, who would like to be creative together with the added bonus of informal peer support.

We are looking for two or three members who would be happy to facilitate the group going forwards. This would be to set up the Zoom link for those attending online, ensure that everyone feels welcome and supported and be responsible for the group to clear up following each session. Any training and or support will be given.

Please let me know if you are interested in attending this initial trial session and if you would consider volunteering to run the group. If we have enough volunteers to facilitate the sessions this could become a weekly group.

Many thanks and kindest regards, Helen"

Mobile: 07522 227945

Email: helen.hayward@capitalproject.org

Coproduction Update

An independent review has taken place to help us plan forward in the coming year, now that we know that future funding is secured.

SCALE (Sussex Coproduction and Lived Experience) meets monthly. Please visit our website if you would like to join the SCALE network. As CAPITAL Project Trust hosts the work, you will need to join the network – it is separate from CAPITAL membership.

If you need any immediate support with accessing the coproduction team, please get in touch via the dedicated email: coproduction@capitalproject.org.

For more information about coproduction and to become a SCALE member, see: https://www.capitalproject.org/scale-network

Peer Support in Mental Health Accredited Course

Later this year we’ll bring back our Level 4 course, accredited by Middlesex University.

If you want to put your name down for early information when its ready, please email: Kirsty.potter@capitalproject.org

Northern meetings

We’ve postponed the Northern Locality Meetings for the time being. This is due to lack of interest in the meetings. Some members and peers are starting to make plans and alternatives to re-establish CAPITAL meet ups in the Crawley and surrounding area.

If you’re in the area and want to help out, please email Sara: sara.shepherd@capitalproject.org