Published by Redbridge Concern for Mental Health

Get Walking Keep Walking in East London

Why walk? Walking is an excellent natural exercise that can help you stay healthy, control your weight, keep happy, enjoy time with friends and family, learn more about your local area and even look after the environment!

You don't need special clothing, equipment or training. It's easy to fit into your daily life, natural and easy on the body. Even if you're unfit, you can start slowly and build up gradually.

Find out more here

Employment advice for people with learning difficulties

Disability Law Service has produced a video and an easy words and pictures guide to Rights at Work for people with learning disabilities.

The video and guide are available on the Disability Law Service website.

Do you have experience of looking after a relative with dementia?

We are looking for experienced carers who have looked after a relative with dementia to provide voluntary support for people who are new to the role of caring for a person with dementia.

By being there to simply listen and provide positive encouragement as well as moral support, you can make a huge difference to newer carers lives and empower them to take care of their own needs as well as those of the person they care for.

For more information and a no obligation chat, please call Anne Loxham at Redbridge Respite Care Association on 0208 599 0151 or email: rrca@btconnect.com

Volunteering at Forest Farm Peace Garden

Forest Farm is community gardening project based in the London Borough of Redbridge. We work with a broad cross-section of our local community to promote health, wellbeing, intercultural awareness, and environmental sustainability.

For anyone interested in volunteering we are offering introductory sessions at the Peace Garden on the following dates: Wednesday 6th April - 11am - 1pm and Friday 15th April - 2pm - 4pm

For more information please call 07913 089 979 or 0208 477 1655 (answer phone) or email info@ forestfarmpeacegarden.org or visit our website.

Mental health patients left naked and suffer overcrowding

Mental health patients are being held unclothed in seclusion and denied access to toilets in overcrowded wards, inspectors have found. Nearly one-third of mental health wards continue to be overcrowded, the annual report by the Care Quality Commission found.

Inspections conducted by the Care Quality Commission also found that in 2009-10 that 29% of wards were operating above capacity. A further 29% were completely full.

Read and download the report here.

Inquiry into the implementation of the right of disabled people to independent living

The Joint Committee of Human Rights, chaired by Dr Hywel Francis MP, is conducting an inquiry into the implementation of the right to independent living for disabled people, as guaranteed by Article 19, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Committee invites interested persons and groups to submit evidence on this issue and would welcome written submissions by Friday 29th April 2011.

Further information about the Committee's inquiry is set out below, together with questions the Committee intends to address. You do not need to answer all of these questions in your written submission.

The Committee particularly welcomes submissions from disabled people and their families about independent living and how Government policies, practices and legislation or the activities of public authorities and others can implement the right to independent living in practice.

This Call for Evidence has also been prepared in an Easy Read version which you can read and download here.

Copies can also be obtained by contacting the Committee on 020 7219 2384.

Safeguarding Adults New Pan London Procedures

It is estimated that 140,000 adults in the UK who are frail, have a disability or mental illness are abused or neglected each year. If people are being harmed by someone they rely on, it can be difficult to tell others so that the harm can be stopped. Everyone needs to be alert to how people they know are being treated. These London wide multi agency procedures safeguard adults from abuse and neglect. They describe how organisations must work together to protect adults who are most at risk of being harmed.

From 1 April 2011, Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham and Waltham Forest will be following the Pan London procedures.

You can read the procedures here.

Is someone hurting or upsetting you because of who you are? We're here to help.

Redbridge Concern for Mental Health is now a Hate Crime Help and Referral Centre. We offer a safe, confidential environment for anybody who has experienced crime, harassment or abuse because of their: race; religion; sexuality; disability; age; gender identity or mental health condition.

Talk to us and we'll tell you about the wide range of options and support available to you. You can contact us on 020 8925 2435 or email: Jon Abrams

For more information about Hate Crime Help and Referral Centres visit Redbridge I

Web Site Editor

Jon Abrams
Redbridge Concern for Mental Health
98-100 Ilford Lane
Ilford, Essex, IG1 2LD
Web Site: www.rcmh.org.uk
Email:jon@redbridgeconcern.org
Telephone: 020 8925 2435

Company Limited by Guarantee No. 3115971
Registered Charity No. 1065770

A big thanks to our funders: the London Borough of Redbridge and NHS Redbridge

Disclaimer

All links in the Concern for Mental Health’s enews bulletin have been selected using a standard links protocol. Links are provided for information and convenience only. Redbridge Concern for Mental Health cannot accept responsibility for the content of sites linked to, and any links do not represent an endorsement by Redbridge Concern for Mental Health. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and we have no control over the availability of linked pages.