Well being at the shops

July 27, 2018June 9, 2015 by admin

Well being at the shops

A unique shopping experience

Today I visited my friend and social entrepreneur Liz Williams who has recently opened the Baliff Cafe and Vintage shop ‘Annaliz’ in the former County Court building Redditch town centre. Five minutes from the town centre with a little car park a stone’s throw away and disabled parking right outside. What a fantastic building, full of character and original features that I am sure could tell some stories. There were huge chandeliers, decorative architrave wonderful arch shaped windows and grand wooden doors provide the perfect setting for the vintage wares. I was lucky enough to get the guided tour almost floating across the plush carpets that run throughout the building into the Judge’s chambers and courtroom which are currently being converted for conferences and events. The main part of the shop has some wonderful items that take you far back in time as well as some more recent which I recognise from my childhood (I am sure the 70’s & 80’s aren’t vintage!). There are two old interview rooms leading from the main shop which are now used to display vintage clothing, again I am sure half my wardrobe is on the rack. At the rear of the shop is bright newly fitted cafe and meeting room that still retain an air of history. I sat in the shop sipping my coffee feeling like I had gone back in time; Liz read some interesting text from a vintage plain wrapped book! (I will leave that to your imagination). For events and meetings food can be provided and room hire is very competitive, Liz runs a flexible approach you will not feel pressured into anything and bespoke services will always be considered. The shop and Cafe are part of the Safe Place Scheme which gives vulnerable people a short term safe place to go if they are feeling threatened when out and about. I certainly felt comfortable, the place has a great atmosphere and the relaxed and friendly no pressure approach is refreshing we are so used to the heavy sell a great refuge away from the hustle and bustle a real step back in time.

Take a step back in time pop in for a coffee and a relaxing shopping experience.

Neil

Annaliz Vintage, Church Road, Redditch B97 4AB

The most profitable investment is the one you’re making to your own health. Do not miss your chance to get stronger, healthier, self-confident and tons of positive energy! Sign up to the Headgym to build yourself esteem!

Well Being at Work

July 25, 2018June 6, 2015 by admin

04.06.2015

Time To Change

Out and about this week with UNISON, talking to the staff at Redditch Borough Council . On Wednesday we did a staff drop in day at the council building, we had plenty of people pop in for a cuppa and a chat. Some were just interested in what we were doing and wanted to learn more and some needed personal help, support or advice which we were able to give.

Thanks to Patti Hill and Joe Baker (Mayor and Deputy Mayor) who popped in to show support.

Laney Walsh (Unison) Patti Hill (Mayor) Neil Ordish (HeadGym) Joe Baker (Deputy Mayor)

Thursday we took a trip out to the depot in Redditch where we were able to do the same on location! Effectively taking the campaign out to staff that can’t get to the main building.

I am proud to be part of such a forward thinking campaign and to be so proactive, it is a real positive step taken in both Redditch and Bromsgrove signing the time for change pledge. Not only signing up but to also be following through with commitments and proactively aiming for well being at work.

It is clear to me that to take care of mental as well as physical well being is a “no brainer” for any business.

To support, understand and manage mental health at work can only improve productivity, lessen sickness rates and create a healthier happier environment for all which will ultimately save money. Employees feel more valued, supported, respected and therefore are happier and better motivated; building mutual respect and loyalty both ways, nurturing your staff is the way forward. The old ways of managing your staff with a “rod of iron” instilling “fear and dread” only create the opposite i.e. unhappy, undervalued employees with little respect or loyalty who feel trapped in jobs they don’t enjoy.

There is nothing better than going to work full of expectation and fully motivated to enjoy every day and enjoy being with the people around you. (Trust me I know)

Time to Change

July 25, 2018May 30, 2015 by admin

I have been working with Unison local branch secretary Laney Walsh and Redditch Borough Councils Time to Change working group for a while now. Both Redditch and Bromsgrove have signed the pledge with a solid commitment to implement some very proactive and forward thinking strategies.

Bromsgrove council representatives holding the official pledge

We have had drop in days at Bromsgrove and Redditch with some great support agencies attending incorporating fun into the days as well. My friend Fay from Yum Tum Club, did some healthy food options with the delicious and now famous kale crisps. Another friend Fiona, from innerspiritualjourney, did some holistic taster sessions with a healing crystal up for grabs in the prize draw.

Not only have we held these events but we are also taking the drop-ins out to council depots. We understand that not everybody can just pop in to the council buildings so we are going out to them. HeadGym are there to give people the option to talk if they want, ask questions or just join us for a coffee and cakes!

Fay from yum tum club getting a health check (physical and mental health are both as important as each other)

That’s me on the left, Laney on the right & somebody important in the middle!

We did our first session last week at Bromsgrove depot; next we are doing a drop in day at Redditch council houses and Redditch depot the following day. Both Laney and I are determined to make sure that the pledge is a working pledge and that changes begin to happen in both attitudes and approach to mental health.

Updates on the “Time to change” activities will follow shortly.

Neil

MHAG AGM

July 25, 2018May 29, 2015 by admin

Last night I attended Redditch MHAG (Mental Health Action Group) AGM, held at Redditch Borough Council.

There was a good turnout, too many MHAG Members to mention, but it was good to see so much activity going on in the community. It was also good to see some supporters of MHAG attending including Brandon Clayton, Bill Hartnett, and Pat Witherspoon – a big thank you was given to Pat for her donation to MHAG.

There was the formal appointments of roles and Rebecca Blake became the new chair with all in agreement.

One of the projects I am excited about is the signposting service I talked about in my last blog. This really seems to be taking pace and is a great example of how MHAG works; “power to the people”. There are also some innovative projects on the go run by Jest a minute using their creative skills in theatre and acting to work with mental health. MHAG is a great group of people that really support each other and work together.

MHAG AGM — Jan- Jestaminute, Blakey!, Andrea- Mentor Link

HeadGym will be putting a proposal for funding to MHAG members to start our expansion training program for mentors/coaches and aim to get this going in July.

Watch this space!

Neil

Bromsgrove CCG

July 25, 2018May 28, 2015 by admin

Today I attended a local CCG public meeting in Bromsgrove. The CCG are the people responsible for our health and wellbeing; they make the decisions on spending money and our healthcare. Once again it was not what I expected, set in the council chamber which is like a mini UN room using individual microphones sat around a huge group of tables with around 10 people from the general public on the sidelines.

A very formal meeting with a rigid agenda and allocated times for questions from the general public, there was a lot of self praise for how well they are doing and how the budget had been managed. Mental health came up as a “key area of focus” with a commitment to redesign primary care mental health services and “increasing focus and investment in mental health and well being services”.

We will see, I heard a lot of promise and commitment I am just keen to see the action (at the moment there doesn’t seem to be any!). Later I will be going to the Redditch Mental Health Action Group (Redditch MHAG) so hopefully there will be some action. There was an interesting presentation on public health in the local area by Liz Altay highlighting some pretty shocking health statistics relating to specific areas in Bromsgrove and Redditch.

I grabbed the opportunity to speak with her afterwards discussing all things “mental health”. Liz was aware of HeadGym and Redditch MHAG and helped us out when we started, it’s good to see that people like Liz support our cause.

Neil

LGBT Community

May 27, 2015 by admin

Following on from my post last week, as a complete coincidence I am scheduled to meet the new deputy Mayor for Redditch (Joe) today to discuss issues around mental health and the LGBT community. It appears that there is a distinct lack of support in the Redditch area for people who are LGBT and who may have mental health issues.

I met with Joe and the task force who are gathering information with an aim to addressing this. We talked all things mental health for a while, and I just hope that I have been of some use to this group and can provide some assistance along the way.

This meeting has made me even more determined to expand the current services and get more people trained. The more people I speak with, the more need I see, and more of a gap in support. I also realised that again there is a real lack of knowledge for people in what services are available. Time and time again I hear tales of people just not knowing where to access appropriate support.

MHAG’s latest project for signposting should help address this issue. The project is aimed at providing appropriate signposting to services within Redditch and will be running from RYCE @ REDI CENTRE and drop in sessions will be available weekly.

I think this is a great idea and I am keen to see GP’s start to refer into this service, as often the GP is the first place somebody will go for help. A big part of this service will be getting information across and making sure that as many people as possible are aware of it. The LGBT community should be fully involved in this service.

Neil

Redditch New Mayor

May 21, 2015 by admin

I was asked to go to the Mayor’s cheque presentation to Redditch MHAG today. For the last 12 months our Town Mayor has been raising money for MHAG and other charities. I hadn’t realised the formality of the occasion and what was actually going on, this was a Mayor making ceremony! Effectively one Mayor out and one in. All very official and organised and the outcome being that MHAG gets a cheque for £3,000 and Redditch gets a new Mayor (Patty Hill) and deputy Mayor (Jo Baker).

Harriet was presented with the cheque from the outgoing Mayor, Pat Witherspoon and I just happened to have my camera with me. In case you’re interested the story is covered here.

This will mean MHAG can fund some projects and perhaps even help out with HeadGym’s training for coaches! We can then start to make a difference on a much larger scale.

Neil

To Blog or not to Blog?

May 18, 2015 by admin

An introduction to HeadGym

I have attempted to create blogs in the past but not on a regular basis and not with real full commitment, so today I start the blog campaign, oh and I need to start sharing more on Twitter and presence on Facebook too!

I want to start off by giving you a bit of background about me and HeadGym, for anyone who hasn’t been working with me before, or a bit more information for anyone who has.

HeadGym is just myself at the moment but with a number of great allies, supporters, organisations and influencers. I started the company around 4 years ago, mainly volunteering my services as a coach, mentor and trainer.

Very quickly I found myself working in the area of “Mental Health”, I think the main reason for this was and remains to be due to a lack of any real service structure or adequate funding.

I began putting on courses for people with low confidence, lack of self esteem, anxiety, depression and other so called “lower level mental health issues”. It appeared I had found a gap in the market and what a gap it was!

I worked intensely for the next four years developing a quality service along with Redditch Early Help, Bromford support, Mentor Link and GLOBAL HARMONY we even got in the papers! Redditch MHAG: Projects

This work taught me a huge amount; I have been so far out of my comfort zone, managed to survive and gain insight and an understanding into some of the issues people are dealing with. This experience has also helped me to develop some pretty effective ways of helping with these issues.

I now find myself working as a professional coach and trainer, supporting around 25 people at any one time and running training courses such as Personal Development and Mental Health Awareness. I also provide face to face and Skype appointments.

My point of difference is that I offer long term support, I am not providing counselling and I am progressive in my approach. I am also a consultant for well being at work and heavily involved in the “Time to Change Campaign” and Redditch Mental Health Action Group (Redditch MHAG). It’s really rewarding to hear some of the changes that people have been able to make with my help.

Neil Ordish — This is me speaking at an event raising awareness for the projects I run

So that’s a little background, there are plenty of things on the go and should be some good stories and experiences to tell.

My latest campaign is to get more coaches trained and help more people. I have a plan, I have a training schedule, I have support and people waiting for the training, I just need a little funding. Watch this space, it will happen!

Neil

Promoting some healthy thoughts

August 2, 2018February 12, 2015 by admin

Promoting some healthy thoughts

HAND massages, healthy food and advice were on offer to council staff as part of an event to promote positive mental health.

The second annual Time To Talk day, organised locally by UNISON branch secretary Laney Walsh, was hosted at the Town Hall and visited by 222 people.

Organisations including Headgym, Yum Tum Club, the Health Trainers, the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy team and Redditch Borough Council’s own Phone A Friend team were on hand to give out advice.

Ms Walsh told the Standard as well as hosting the annual event in conjunction with national charity Time To Change, they were organising them every month on a smaller scale.

She added: “We want to make staff aware of mental health issues within the workplace and within themselves, talking about the impact mental health has on physical health, the impact on colleagues and families and the impact if you’re a carer for people with a mental health issue.

“It has been really positive and really well supported today. We are also relaunching Phone A Friend and calling for more staff volunteers.”

Council leader Bill Hartnett said: “Mental health can happen to anybody and up to one in four may be affected at least once in their lifetime. If we are all working together we can dispel the myths and make life better for everybody who lives and works in the borough.”

Credit

Award for workplace mental health work

August 2, 2018January 8, 2015 by admin

Award for workplace mental health work

WORK done in the borough to promote mental health has been recognised regionally.

The Redditch and Bromsgrove branch of UNISON has been given a health and safety award by the union for their efforts to reduce stigma and enable employees to come forward if they experiencing issues. They were also highly commended in the regional TUC awards.

Part of their work has been around the Time to Change pledge which the council has just signed up to, including supplying the trainer and the funding for the awareness sessions, supplying resources for Time to Talk days for staff, getting Headgym involved in the pledge and lobbying the senior management team and councillors.

Branch secretary Laney Walsh said: “Mental health is a big issue within the workplace that’s not spoken about. This hopefully gives people security and the belief they can open up and speak openly with their employers.

“The pledge doesn’t stop here. It isn’t about signing it and hanging it on the wall, the work around the pledge will continue.”

Credit