Hear Us Mental Health Open Forum October

The Hear Us Mental Health Open Forum is a place for mental health service users to come together and discuss services that affect them. We also welcome carers, staff and anyone interested in mental health to join us.

Guest: The Story Sanctuary

At October’s forum we will be joined by Jill to tell us all about the new Creative Health and Wellbeing Hub. The Story Sanctuary launched in September in the former Sanderstead library building. The Story Sanctuary is a Creative Health and Wellbeing Hub for local residents and Croydon's wider communities of neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ folk all centred around stories. Stories help us to understand, connect and belong.

The wellbeing hub is a space to make, share, rest, laugh, and reconnect. From visual arts and writing to movement, song, games, gardening, and more. The aim is to gently transform the building into a warm, creative space where everyone feels they belong. Find out more about what they do and how to get involved.

The project is being led by A Collective. They are a small neurodivergent arts non-profit, centred around creative health and wellbeing. The team is experienced working with people across all ages and identities. The programme will be playful, sensory-friendly and inclusive trauma informed.

Voice of Change

Voice of Change is Hear Us’ Campaigns Project regular segment. Voice of Change, is a platform dedicated to the voices of service users and community members of Croydon. This segment is a chance to:

• Voice questions to SLaM staff, commissioners, or councillors.
• Highlight issues you have heard about or experienced in mental health services.
• Recommend campaigns for Hear Us to collaborate on with other organizations.
• Advocate for the change you want to see.
• Learn about how to contribute to the campaigns project.

Accessibility

Hear Us strives to make the Open Forum accessible for everyone. At the start of each forum we go through accommodations members may need to make the meeting more accessible, such as how to turn on live captions. If you would like to discuss your access needs privately, you can email forum@hear-us.org

Agenda To Be Confirmed

This forum gives us all a chance to meet, ask questions and debate with commissioners and service providers. We invite statutory services like Croydon Council and SLaM (South London and Maudsley NHS Trust) as well as voluntary services such as Mind, Imagine, Status Employment, APCMH to name but a few.