VISIONARIES ...
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 06 November 2014 21:00
- Written by Marian Moore
Marian @ Krysan
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
Planting Golden Seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham
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And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
V I S I O N A R I E S
Pause ... Ponder ... Reflect ... Wonder
by
A North East Storyteller
The story model of happiness.
Please consider (or re-consider) this:
"In the story model, we find happiness by engaging with life, facing what is and applying our strengths in giving our best response. I use the term ‘active hope’ for this, as happiness is more likely when we’re active in the story of creating the future we hope for. We take steps for happiness just by becoming more interested in how its story goes, and then seeking to play our part in that. When we do this, we not only become happier, we change our culture too." CHRIS JOHNSTONE (2014) writing on sustainable happiness.
A heartfelt 'Thank you'.
Today, I drop by my website to say a heartfelt thank you to some fellow travellers - visionaries one and all. They are people who ascribe wholeheartedly to 'the story model of happiness' as described above. Furthermore, they are all people of passion giving willingly of their time and expertise; all are fighting on the side of fairness and social justice; and all are actively creating the future we hope for.
This week, they have been extra busy, as noted below.
(1) Visionaries: One and All ...
@ HEALING OPPORTUNITIES PROVISION SCHEME (HOPS).
On Monday of this week, I was invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of HOPS, a charitable organisation which works out of the beautiful Quaker Meeting House in Sunderland.
It was one step at a time for the visionaries who pooled their resources to turn an idea into a reality. In the everlasting spirit of enterprise, a community of like-minded people joined forces to build the Healing Provision Scheme (HOPS) we canny folk of Sunderland know (and love) today.
A few words from the HOPS Sixth Annual Report 2013/14:
"In November 2007, it was just an idea. A year later, HOPS saw its first clients. Six years later, we have given nearly 4,000 complementary treatment and delivered numerous classes. Hundreds of people have benefitted from the expertise of our therapists and tutors and from the warm welcome received at the HOPS base in the peaceful Quaker House in Roker. It is a statement of fact that we have changed lives and have helped people through exceptionally difficult times in their life.
"The fact that we not only exist but are continually developing goes to prove that we are meeting a need; and that we have the twin motivations of a firm purpose and the ability to adapt to changing needs and circumstances. Our first few years concentrated on providing primarily to unpaid carers. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, many mentioning that they felt this was even moe beneficial than a holiday. This helped to establish the Carers' Breaks and Opportunities Scheme.
"Responding both to perceived need and current agendas in the political and social welfare scene, we have initiated schemes focussing on older people and those who, for whatever reason, suffer from social isolation.
"Our current schemes reflect the move to personalisation of provision, with people able to have a mixture of treatments and classes to suit the individual. In this we are benefitting from the emphasis on partnership working. We now work closely with voluntary organisations like MIND, CEED, ASPIRE, and the Carers Centre, as well as NHS personnel, e.g., Health Trainers. We look forward to more referrals from GPs and liaison with the Psychological Wellbeing Service." HOPS
* The HOPS Annual Report can be accessed from the HOPS website.
(2) Visionaries: One and All ...
@ SPIRITUALITY IN MENTAL HEALTH NORTH EAST (SIMHNE).
On Wednesday of this week, I was invited to attend a quarterly meeting of SIMHNE, held on this occasion in the beautiful old Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Witton Gilbert, County Durham.
It was one step at a time for the visionaries who pooled their resources to turn an idea into a reality. In the everlasting spirit of enterprise, a community of like-minded people joined forces to create a roving spiritual space in North East England where people (of all faiths or none) are made equally welcome.
An explanatory word from the SIMHNE website:
"Spirituality* has remained for too long a neglected dimension of mental health care. Psychiatry has often been suspicious, if not dismissive, of religion* in the past. There is a growing body of evidence that challenges mental health services and others to pay attention to this part of human experience and no longer marginalise people for whom their spirituality, however they express it, is an essential part of who they are.
"This Forum is committed to promoting spiritual wellbeing which may be integral to an individual’s recovery from mental ill health. Interactions including assessment, treatment and any therapeutic conversation should recognise this potential. We feel passionately that people should be responded to as individuals with diverse needs and distinct lives and beliefs rather than being stigmatised. We invite all people of good will to join us in addressing this challenge." SIMHNE
* Spirituality may not be religious but religion should be spiritual.
(3) Visionaries: One and All ...
@ HOPEWOOD PARK HOSPITAL, RYHOPE, SUNDERLAND (NTW NHS).
On Friday of this week, I was invited to attend the official opening of the Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust's Hopewood Park Hospital in Ryhope, Sunderland. The opening ceremony was performed by HRH the Countess of Wessex. Roman G. presented a bouquet of flowers
It was one step at a time for the visionaries who pooled their resources to turn an idea into a reality. In the everlasting spirit of enterprise, a community of like-minded people stuck with it for 17 long years to build a new mental health hospital in Sunderland. Completed in Summer 2014.
A few words about Hopewood Park from the Members' Magazine Issue 16*:
When the new hospital welcomed its first patients in September, the Chief Executive of the NTW NHS Trust said, "Around 97 per cent of the people we care for are looked after in their own communities, in their own homes. A small number of our patients require time in hospital as inpatients, and Hopewood Park represents a state of the art environment which will improve the inpatient care we can provide.
"It is an environment which is light and airy, which will give patients a safe, welcoming place where they can receive treatment and look forward with hope. When talking about health care, it is easy to focus on 'million-pound' this and 'cutting edge' that, but strip away all of that and you are left with the real strength of our service - our amazing staff. Their professionalism and dedication deserve to be recognised and Hopewood Park is a reflection of that caring outlook. It has been designed to help staff provide the best care possible, and is what we are celebrating as we welcome our first patients.
"The hospital includes six wards, each with 18 individual en-suite rooms for care, assessment and treatment. Hopewood Park also provides services for patients who have complex on going needs and require rehabilitation services, and features a psychiatric intensive care unit." NTW NHS
* E-link: http://www.ntw.nhs.uk/
Blessed Unrest.
Finally, my gratitude is also extended to the ever-growing numbers of people around the world who commit themselves tirelessly to the growth of their families, communities, and organisations in so many ways. You have the power to create. You have the power to act. You are everywhere.
In essence, "You belong to the largest Social Movement in history restoring Grace, Justice and Beauty to the World." PAUL HAWKEN (2007) writing in his book, Blessed Unrest*.
Let us now grasp the nettle and support the notion of the 'transformative conversation' where we emerge a slightly different person. Let's talk.
Nettle grasped, by extension let us celebrate our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections.
* HAWKEN, PAUL (2007), Blessed Unrest: How the largest social movement in history is restoring grace, justice and beauty in the world. pub. Penguin Books, London.
- Marian Moore
- November 2014
WEBSITES TO VISIT
(1) http://www.healing-sunderland.org.uk/ - HEALING PROVISION SCHEME
(2) http://www.simhne.co.uk/ - SPIRITUALITY IN MENTAL HEALTH NORTH EAST
(3) http://www.ntw.nhs.uk/ - NORTHUMBERLAND, TYNE & WEAR NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Original Artwork from The Lorraine Nicholson Collection
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ENDS
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