Imroc

📚 As back-to-school posts ramp up across social media, it's only fitting that we share what we have to offer, right?   💙 We may not be heading back to school ourselves, but we are setting up Zoom classrooms, establishing training teams, and gearing up Moodle for our next Peer Support Theory and Practice (PSTP) cohorts!   💡 Our PSTP training is now Level 3 accredited and features new and improved content—but don’t just take our word for it…   🗣️ Here’s what one recent trainee had to say after completing their training with us: "I thoroughly enjoyed the course and definitely benefitted from the team's efforts. I appreciated that the course was held online, as it allowed me to work with a far more diverse group than would have been possible had the training been in person. I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in becoming a Peer Support Worker or looking to integrate PSW support into their services."   💙 We strive to provide a safe, inspiring, and empowering training space for all who attend.   💬 Will we see you in one of our upcoming cohorts? #PeerSupport #PeerSupportTraining #Imroc

✨ ‘Creative Minds’ - Briefing Paper✨  💬 Imroc’s Chair of Trustees, Dr Steven Michael OBE said: “Throughout my career working in mental health services I have seen how helpful creative activity can be in supporting people (including myself) to stay well. These activities provide a sense of peace, creativity, purpose, achievement and connection for people who have lost confidence and a purpose and meaning in life. As CEO of South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, our mission, informed and co-produced by local people, was to help people realise their potential and live well in their own communities. Within these communities there are so many opportunities for people to join together in local groups and facilities to make art, poetry, film, to join knitting groups, craft circles, pottery workshops, choirs and music groups. For those who seek connection through more active pursuits there are walking, climbing, sailing, sports, cultural, political and faith groups. I was fully aware of the limitations of health services in supporting people to rebuild their lives and wanted to find a way of linking all those using mental health services with communities of their choice”. 🤝 This vision led to the creation of Creative Minds—a movement linking mental health services with local creative and active communities. Creative Minds empowers individuals to engage, recover, and contribute, which facilitates meaning and purpose. 💡 Now a thriving charity, Creative Minds has partnered with over 120 community organisations, delivering over 1000 projects. This Briefing Paper describes the development of Creative Minds, how it works, who is involved, what difference it makes, and how others might take these community-focused innovations forward in their own localities. Creative Minds is developing a package of support to organisations who wish to follow a similar route of development with contacts on the final page of this paper.    https://lnkd.in/ec2t3MgB #Imroc #publications #MentalHealth #Community #CreativeMinds #Wellbeing #empowerment #meaning #purpose 

✨ Specialised Peer Support Training for Autism ✨    💡 We offer a range of training courses that reflect the current need within society and systems, tailored to ensure lived experience at the core, ensuring content reflects exactly what is currently needed. Our Autism Peer Support training sessions are led by experienced tutors available to meet participants' unique needs as they share an Autistic identity.     💬 One recent Trainee reflected on their experience:     “This course has been the positive experience and constant in my life that I have needed. The course has helped me to believe that it’s ok to be autistic. I am coming away from the course feeling exhilarated not exhausted, knowing it is OK to express what I need.”      ✉️  Find out more via our website here: https://lnkd.in/e7-hN8TQ     #Imroc #peersupport #training #NHSE #Autism

🤝 One of the core values at Imroc is ‘Belonging’, but what do we mean by this exactly?     💙 We believe Belonging includes fostering strong relationships, based on trust, solidarity, compassion and loyalty. Maintaining connection to our own lived and life experiences and acknowledging the importance of community and opportunity in routes to healing and growth.     This includes finding and becoming part of communities that we truly deserve, our CEO Julie Repper and Research Lead Emma Watson, discuss here in relation to the Peer Support Value community facing:     https://lnkd.in/e_diX-vb      #Imroc #values #belonging #peersupport #connection #community #empower #strengths 

💡 At Imroc we pride ourselves on providing bespoke consultancy services to organisations aiming to embed best practice values and principles into their operations. We work closely with our clients, utilising a co-production approach to develop innovative and practical strategies. Our consultancy services are designed to drive transformative organisational change, fostering cultures that support everyone's journey.    🔹 We offer a professional service provided by lived and learnt experience experts to offer advice, guidance, and actionable solutions to organisations or individuals. In the context of Imroc, consultancy focuses on facilitating organisational change, embedding recovery principles, and enhancing peer support within services. It involves assessing needs, developing strategic plans, offering tailored training, and supporting the implementation of practices that are inclusive, equitable, and rooted in the wisdom of lived experience.    🤝 One example of such consultancy work is the Cardiff and Vale Live Well Project. A partnership with Imroc emerged from a collaboration with the local Recovery College. Imroc has also provided mentoring to the Live Well Co-production Coordinators to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence in co-production approaches.    💡 The group is demonstrating impact on two fronts, culture, and processes, building and facilitating connections between stakeholders with a shared passion in achieving “A Healthier Wales”.     💬  One co-production Forum member, service user and care provider reflected:      “My experience so far has been really positive. All our work and ideas are regularly reviewed and we can see the progress we are making each session. Every idea and contribution is listened to and valued. The forum is open to anyone passionate about improving health and wellbeing for people in the area”.     ✉️ If you are interested in our consultancy work, please email: imroc@imroc.org    #Imroc #consultancy #mentalhealth #bestpractice #recovery #peersupport #livedexperience 

✨ We are really excited to be offering our community an opportunity to join our first interactive book club ✨    🗣 As part of our new era at Imroc, we intend to host interactive online events within our community, offering opportunities to take part in discussions about the future of mental health: what that means, and could look like for us all.     We are piloting a book club and are very excited that the first 6 sessions will be hosted by the author of the inspiring book: Warp & Weft, Lisa Fannen. The book club will start on 5th November and run for 6 sessions on Tuesdays evenings, 7-9pm UK time. Further details about joining will be sent on sign-up. This pilot is being offered with no cost to members.     💬 We asked Lisa to describe what Warp & Weft is about, and what the book club will include. She said:     “Warp & Weft looks at what gets called 'mental health' and challenges some of the dominant ideas around it. It explores ways of understanding and tending to experiences of distress as they occur within our social and systemic contexts. I’m excited to share this book club to explore some of the ideas in the book over a series of six online sessions. The interactive sessions will honour the many knowledges we all hold as we explore information and ideas together. The sessions (structured around the four parts of the book) will offer the choice to engage with simple somatic (embodiment) practices, pick apart language and concepts, and reframe understandings of our experiences. We will also consider perspectives, approaches and tools for personal and collective resilience and transformation. All participation is welcome, whether that is sharing conversation or simply coming and listening/ being in the space”.     This book club is an offering through our new ‘Peer-led visions for mental health’ project. To sign up for a free place, and to receive further details (spaces are limited), please email: comms@imroc.org     We look forward to ‘being with’ and learning together, there with you.     #Imroc #BookClub #Community #FutureVisions #PeerLed #MentalHealth #PeerSupport #Conversations #Learning #Reciprocity    

💡 On Friday 23rd Aug some members of our Mental Health Training Team met to review our framework for new Trainers joining our team. Danny Bowyer, Linda East, Ellie Manning, Lucy and Katie Mottram got together to further strengthen our new Trainer process, implementing feedback we have received, and to ensure that all Imroc trainers work in line with our values and ethos, and that we have a consistent feel to all our training sessions. #mentalhealth #training #peersupport #consultancy #ethos #values

One of the core values we emphasise during our mental health peer support training is being ‘community- facing’. Here #Imroc Consultant Waldo Roeg FRSA shares what this value means to him in relation to his own journey.     #Imroc #values #mentalhealth #connection #community #peersupport  

Yes! There is increasing evidence about the benefits of groups, in particular peer led groups. #Imroc is developing a robust training framework for peer led group facilitators because it is so important that these are safe spaces - for group members and facilitators. #peersupportgroups #livedexperience #mentalhealth

💙 We continue to ask our #Imroc colleagues what our new vision, values and mission mean to them in terms of working with us. We want our community to know the faces of Imroc!     Consultant Trainer, Co-production and CPD accreditation Lead Ronan Benson said:      💬  “Healing in the true sense of the word means to make whole. Imroc embraces this idea by acknowledging the wholeness of our existence. Acknowledging the body-mind and recognising the broader contexts in which we thrive or struggle physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually sits alongside and in contrast to traditional western dualistic and individualistic ideas in mental health. We are not floating brains isolated and independent of each other, but rather inter-connected and inter-related whole beings. Aspiring to liberation involves collective as well as individual transformation and healing. The values Imroc embodies allow us to move towards our vision. Belonging means creating spaces where we can be ourselves, feel accepted and valued as we are. Openness embraces new experiences and ideas with curiosity and encourages authentic, honest relationships with ourselves and others.  Quality speaks to the desire to improve and grow whilst also holding to standards in a consistent and reliable way. It also reminds us to work within the limits of our wellbeing and competence; when we think and feel well, we have more to offer. Equity recognises and celebrates differences, it acknowledges societal forces that disenfranchise, discriminate and oppress.  Being aware we all have different needs as a result, and striving to work in a fair and inclusive way.   It is a privilege for me to be part of a team that is values-led and challenges me to think and be in different and progressive ways”.     And we are privileged to have you on our team, Ronan!     Sign up to our mailing list to be amongst the first to hear our news at: www.imroc.org    #Imroc #mentalhealth #vision #values #mission #peersupport #livedexperience #belonging #equity #openness #inspire #empower #transform