Avondalecare Newsletter
For the latest information visit Avondalecare.co.uk
March & April Newsletter
Hello and Welcome to Avondalecare’s brand new Newsletter.
We hope to use this newsletter to help those of you who use our service to keep
up to date with all the future activities, days out and social events we have
planned. We also hope to include encouraging examples (see Life Story) that will
show just how much can be improved and accomplished despite coping with the
challenge of mental health problems.
Why not join in at the Social Inclusion Centre?
We want the SIC to be a place that makes it easier for you, our service users, to
enjoy positive socialising and maybe develop a few new hobbies and interests. We
believe positive social contacts and enjoyable activities can be a great help along
the road to recovery. We always aim for the SIC to be a relaxing, pleasant meeting
place and for it to be somewhere you can choose when and how you meet up with
others. We also really want to help you get out and enjoy your wider community;
for example after enjoying cinema trips arranged by Avondale some service users
have started going by themselves as well, something they didn’t have the
confidence to do in the past.
SIC – Westgate
Open Daily
12pm-3pm
Monday 12-3pm Craft
workshop
Service User Story
I would like to take this opportunity to write a little bit about my life this past few
months.
I was in an out of prison and lived the life style of a drug addict, until I met with a
settlement support worker from Avondale care. Since meeting Avondale care staff I
am heading towards my 4th week of being drug free, I go to a gym 5 or 6 times a
week and am starting voluntary work, and without my need for drugs I am not
offending anymore.
I would put this transformation mostly due to myself but also the input I have had
from my Avondale care support worker helping a great deal, he is there for me 24
hours a day and without his help and dare I say its his love for this work, I would
not be where I am today so I just want to say a big thank you to my support worker
and Avondale care.
Volunteer work, can you be take part ?
Do you have any spare time? Are you sat at home wanting to be part of a team ?
do you want to achieve something with the time you have ?
Well if you answered any of these questions as yes then volunteer work might be
the best way forward for you, if you are able then you could be able to give back to
the community and be a central part of society.
What are the benefits? Well allot of people that suffer physical or mental
impairments feel as though they are no longer useful or wanted, this can be
debilitating and depressing. However there are a lot of company’s that would be
happy to have someone help them, even if its for an hour a week, you can make
new friends and be part of a larger picture. Also it gives you the chance to gain
skills that may in the future prove beneficial. Also it will get you out of the house
give you some motivation to be active if people are depending on you !
How can you get to this point? Well the easiest way to get started is to talk to your
support worker they probably have a good idea of where’s got spaces available.
Alternately if there’s somewhere specifically you want to volunteer it never hurts to
take the ini tive and ask yourselves, but always respect a business’s decisions.
Tuesday 12-3pm & Ten
pin bowling at 3pm
Wednesday 12-3pm
Quiz
Thursday 12-3pm
Football 3:30
Friday 12-3pm bingo and
film
Turner centre visit 22nd
march 1;00 pm
Open day 5th April
‘Have a Voice’
Video Project
Would you like to be
part of the project and
tell us about your life
experience and views of
mental health services?
This Months service users creations !
Question and answer
response. QA Dec 2011
How would you rate the club
and the activities that go on
there ? Poor 0 ~excellent
1
2
3
4
5
Poem
6
I saw the light shinning in the sky,
7
And the ice on the path I slipped,
8
9
And slid as if I was on an ice ring,
10
And I thought on my school mates In
Do Avondalecare staff respect
your right to make decisions
about your life?
Statham ice ring.
Sports & Exercise
Physical activity has been proven to benefit your mental health. Experts believe
that exercise releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel good called
endorphins. The benefits from physical exercise can vary but the most common
are less tension, stress and mental fatigue, improved sleep, focus in life and
motivation, less anger or frustration and a healthy appetite. However physical
exercise can be daunting especially for those who don’t regularly partake in
physical activities. However this doesn’t have to be a full football match or
swimming the English channel for it to be beneficial, here are a few things that can
be beneficial but not strenuous for you.
never
not often
sometimes
•
Get an exercise DVD – and use it!
most of the
time
•
Speed up the housework – vac harder and faster till you’re warm.
all of the
time
•
Put on some music for a ten minute dance.
•
When you do get a break, go for a swim.
•
Time your daily walks to and from the train station. Can you walk faster?
•
Use the stairs for journeys less than four floors.
•
Get off the bus a stop earlier, or get on a stop later.
•
Jog and walk, jog ten paces, then walk ten.
How well do Avondalecare
staff listen to you about what
you want to do?
Social anxiety - Joining a new group can be daunting, so ask a friend or support
worker to go along with you
Progress - Setting goals to measure progress might motivate you. Setting small
goals can give you a sense of fulfilment and slowly but surely improve your bodys
health and your minds. Be careful to be realistic with yourselves no one can run a
marathon without first running small distances when training.
www.avondalecare.co.uk
01843 833973
never
not often
sometimes
most of the time
all of the time