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Fighting back from the grassroots
Posted Thursday 17 January 2013
Last year in March, I was heading into yet another meeting at the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss welfare reform and mental health, and experiencing the feelings of foreboding and frustration which often accompany such trips. The meeting largely fulfilled these expectations but it did lead to me meeting Phil Binding from the Derbyshire Mental Health Action Group (MHAG).
MHAG is a service user led campaigns group, facilitated by Phil and his colleague Niki, who are employed by Derbyshire Mind. I was thinking a lot at the time about how Mind could do more to support grassroots campaigning, so it was a happy coincidence that I now had the opportunity to discuss this with Phil. I was really impressed with how MHAG was set up and the campaigning they had done.
A few weeks later I attended a meeting of one of their sub-groups which focuses on benefits and welfare issues. It was inspiring to see a group of people with mental health problems getting together to fight back against the changes and cuts to benefits. Even more remarkable was that, in doing so, they were improving their own mental health by getting out, meeting others, and channelling their fears and frustrations into something positive. This also reflected my own experience of finding purpose in campaigning, which helps me stay well.
I was keen to see if this model could be replicated elsewhere, not just because it seemed so beneficial for those involved but also because it could dramatically strengthen the capacity of the mental health ‘movement’ to push for change. There are lots of things the national office of Mind does really well, but our campaigning work is much more effective when people are speaking up locally to ensure that change really happens in their communities.
We started designing a programme we could deliver through local Minds to help people who use their services to form their own campaigns groups. Rather than making this a training course, we wanted to create a process that would encourage the participants to get to know each other, explore the idea of campaigning together, and work as a group to come up with a plan of action.
We pulled together a range of activities which we thought would help them to achieve this, adopting some of the techniques and resources from groups like Common Cause and the New Organising Institute. I also recorded an interview with Phil and one of the members of MHAG to help inspire the campaigners-to-be, parts of which can be viewed by visiting: http://youtu.be/6-UJCh8fU4w
We found a group of people at Southwark Mind who were keen to take part, and we ran three sessions with them during October and November. It was really enjoyable to work with the group and try and support them towards forming an effective and sustainable campaigns group.
A couple of weeks after the final session, I was really proud and excited to attend their first proper meeting as a campaigns group. They are thinking about focusing their first campaign around trying to save and improve a local drop-in centre. Although it is inevitable that the group will be fragile during its first few months, I am confident that they have the passion to keep it going and make a real difference.
The question now is what we at Mind can learn from this process and how we might go about helping more people to campaign locally. We’ll thinking about this over the coming months, but it would be great to hear your thoughts.
Tom
Would you like to be involved in campaigning? Would you like to link up with other local people to do this? What support from us would help you?
9 Comments
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Great to see this, Tom - really inspiring!
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I'd be even more inspired if all the charities mounted a legal challenge against the 'revisions' which are devastating and hit people with mental health difficulties the hardest. It's not acceptable to be told that some charity volunteers are instructed to NOT speak of the biggest issues facing people such as cuts to welfare and services. Small groups don't have the resources of big charities
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Dear Tom.
I'm in the middle of filling out my ESA50 form. I'd been expecting it. As I've been ruminating over it I've realised that its triggered symptoms that had been in abeyance but now are creeping over my life again. Even if it all goes in my favour I know it will take many months after to find my stability again. I am mentally exhausted from having to prove to the system in words (and evidence) what a miserable social failure I am. And of course if this is reiterated enough - this is what we become, cause depression feeds off itself and the doe just keeps rising. The questions are obviously loaded towards the answers they want, i.e. designed to steer claimants away from expressing individual nuances, fluctuations and difficulties that the law says should be taken account of. For instance, the question that asks about being a danger to yourself or others. They'd like you to concentrate on sharp objects or a hot iron etc. But the official handbook decision makers should make reference to under the law also takes account of damage to property under this same question. But they don't tell you this. I should imagine its the same for most of the ESA50 form too. I just happened to stumble across this by chance whilst trying to find help off the net. Why aren't the charities making us aware of such hidden handbooks and expose it and share the information with us? The local MHAG that you mention is my local group. It is part Derbyshire mind but they offer no help in completing benefit forms for mental health claimants. And it has been an ongoing issue for many years. I was told my local mind does not have the expertise to do this. WHY NOT!? No we are left to other generic disability groups or citizens advice. This is ok if you can get to them and wait in line without having a panic attack! We need on the ground services and support like benefits help just as much as being told how to write to our MPs. I sometimes get the feeling some charities don't want to be construed as being political. Well I say welcome to planet earth politics is life whether you like it or not and we deserve your help on these matters. If you are concerned about improving mental health then you should be as concerned about these matters too.
PS, Mindreader, I agree. -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/22/charities-public-policy-funding-fears
Is there a gagging clause on Mind?
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I'm just in the middle of my ESA50 form. Thought I'd be able to cope.
Mindreader, I could not agree more. My health is being damaged further by this process. -
@Mindreader - thanks for your comments. Mind is not affected by any gagging clauses and we have been consistently and strongly critical of cuts and changes to welfare which impact negatively on people with mental health problems.
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@Nick - Thanks for your comments. I totally agree that good advice and support is absolutely vital for people with mental health problems going through the welfare and benefits system. Many local Minds do provide such support and the Mind Infoline should be able to help you find other sources of advice (0300 123 3393).
Although the national office of Mind has not traditionally provided benefits advice, we recognise the scale of this issue and have set up this page with signposts to advice and support, including some specially written guides to ESA and the WCA: http://www.mind.org.uk/campaigns_and_issues/policy_and_issues/making_benefits_fairer-welfare_reform/where_you_can_find_help
One major issue in this area is that cuts at local authority level and to legal aid funding are making it hard to access advice. We are part of the Justice for All coalition which has been campaigning against some of these changes and we will continue to look at how we can advocate for better access to advice services.
I will also feed your comments into the teams at national Mind which support and advise local Minds.
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Dear Tom,
Thankyou. Wish me well.
Nick. -
Mind would be better off ploughing money and resources into helping people fill in these forms rather than other other areas which are less important like recovery and related concepts and stigma because you can't recover without an income or home.
Trusts are promoting your info line as a service for emotional support - people are told to use it when access teams can't or won't offer support, so when the NHS are referring to you for services they no longer provide and people are approaching you for welfare forms because there isn't a a local CAB, you really know that this is your priority above any other research or new work you are initiating.
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