News
Celebrating the past and future of service user involvement and leadership at Together
Posted on 01, March, 2019
In February 2019, Together for Mental Wellbeing held a Celebration of Service User Involvement and Leadership. This event, which took place in London, marked the coming to an end of our Service User Involvement Directorate in its existing form, celebrated the achievements of the Directorate over the past 15 years, and looked to the future […]
Important changes to our leadership and service user involvement
Posted on 28, January, 2019
Since Together for Mental Wellbeing was first formed in 1879, we have placed individuals experiencing mental distress at the centre of everything we do. Back in the late 19th century, it was considered ground-breaking to choose to work alongside people coming out of asylums, to offer safe havens instead of being sent to an institution, […]
Together’s involvement in the independent review of the Mental Health Act
Posted on 07, December, 2018
The final report of the independent review of the Mental Health Act has now been launched, after the government first announced such plans back in October 2017. What does it say, what will the impact be, and how has Together for Mental Wellbeing been involved in the process? Why has there been an independent review? […]
Together chosen to deliver new countywide mental health service in Norfolk
Posted on 04, October, 2017
Together has been selected by Norfolk County Council to lead a partnership to deliver mental health support to people living across the county. The new service will build on the work that Together has done delivering support in Norfolk over the past three and a half years. Following a year-long process undertaken by the Council […]
Talking about mental health
Posted on 07, August, 2017
This book from Together’s Directorate of Service-user Involvement looks at the different ways in which different types of mental distress can be described. It shows that many mental health conditions are described in very different ways by different groups of people – such as doctors, people in other parts of the world, and, most importantly, […]
Good practice guide to valuing, respecting and supporting service user activity
Posted on 07, August, 2017
It is a testament to the strength and commitment of service-users who often volunteer their time to positively influence in so many areas that this good-practice guide has become necessary. Simply put, service-user involvement adds value and our developing ideas and ways of working need to be positively encouraged and truly supported. The local voices of people are gathering strength […]
Service User Involvement in mental health services
Posted on 07, August, 2017
Service user involvement is about making sure that mental health services, organisations and policies are led and shaped by the people best placed to know what works: people who use mental health services. They are experts by experience. Increasingly, meaningful involvement of people who use—or have used—services is being recognised as an indispensable part of mental health service delivery. When people […]
A common sense approach to working with defendants with mental health and wellbeing needs guide
Posted on 07, August, 2017
Too many people pass through the criminal justice system without their mental health and wellbeing needs being recognised. With more than 70 per cent of the prison population having some kind of mental health problem, and an estimated 20 to 30 per cent of people in prison having a learning disability or learning difficulty, it’s crucial that specialist services exist to ensure […]
Common sense approach to working with women in the criminal justice system
Posted on 07, August, 2017
In 2011 Together published ‘A common sense approach to working with defendants and offenders with mental health problems’. The aim was to give professionals within the criminla justice system the practical tools to recognise and respond to the mental health needs of people in custody, probation, at court or at risk of arrest. This new guide draws […]
Study finds Together’s peer support has value worth five times money spent on it
Posted on 16, January, 2017
A study of Together’s peer support in Hampshire has revealed that every pound spent on it yields a social return worth £4.94. Peer support is an integral part of Together’s mental health support, and so we set out to quantify its value both for those delivering and receiving it, by undertaking a Social Return on […]