When we think what our volunteers have done in just four years, even we’re impressed. Here are just some of the fantastic projects they’ve made happen.

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We wrote the Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter

Helping mental health service providers make better user-friendly services

Mental health service providers need to understand what really matters to people who use their services. Which is why amazing New Hope volunteer Caroline decided to work for a Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter to highlight the needs of people with mental health challenges in Bath and North East Somerset. The Charter was launched in May 2016 and is fully supported by mental health Commissioners locally. That means it will be part of all new mental health contracts created in B&NES after 2016.

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We run What's Going On Events with KS2 carers, Service uswers and AWP

What's Going On 2 Report

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We publish the Hope Guide

The only complete guide to mental health services and groups in B&NES

There have been 8 editions of the Hope Guide, with groups and mental health organisations jostling to tell us what they can do for people affected by mental health issues. Take a look, to see ways you can make your life better today.

 

We organised the What Works Conference

Making mental service users and carers a force for positive change

In 2013, New Hope – together with volunteer group Keep Safe, Keep Sane – organised the ‘What Works Conference’. This was the first time ever that mental health service users, carers and service providers had got together to discuss improvements for mental health services in Bath & North East Somerset. Volunteer input at the conference was passed to B&NES’ Health & Wellbeing Partnership, allowing service providers to build better services for the future. Now doesn’t that sound good?

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If you’d like to get involved in similar projects let us know.

 

We published the Bridging the Gap report

A unique report reflecting the views of mental health service users locally

New Hope volunteers researched and published ‘Bridging the Gap’  to share the real-life experience of people who’d used mental health services in Bath & North East Somerset. The findings and recommendations set out in ‘Bridging the Gap’ have changed how B&NES’ mental health services are commissioned. Now that’s what we call making a difference.

 

We help to organise mental health events in BaNES

Raising awareness of mental health in our community

New Hope’s Summer Festival 2014 was a one-day event to promote awareness of services and groups that support mental health and wellbeing in Bath & North East Somerset. If you weren’t there, we’re so sorry you missed out on great music, fab food, stalls and workshops too.

2015 and 2016 World Mental Health days involved a big gazebo in Bath town centre

Contact us to get involved in events like this in future.

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We’re part of the consultations changing BaNES Mental Health services

Helping put the needs of users and carers on the agenda

Bath & North East Somerset Council is currently running a review of local health and care services, called ‘your care, your way’. The idea is to make services better at meeting the actual needs of service users and their carers. For this reason, the Council has been canvassing the views of people locally and one of our trusty volunteers is representing New Hope on the scheme. Oh yes, it’s true: we do get everywhere…

 

We got people access to art in the community

Bath Museum’s Partnership Community Engagement Project

Working with Creativity Works, New Hope volunteers helped train Bath museum guides to recognise the needs of visitors with mental health difficulties. They also helped arrange coffee at the Holburne Museum Bath, No 1 The Crescent and Bath’s American Museum to visitors with mental health challenges, some of whom had never been inside a museum before. 

This has been followed up with our Coffee and Chat events, which have taken part in fabulous venues including the Bath Museum of Architecture.