I’m up in Colwyn Bay again for our quarterly North Wales meeting of senior staff and Trustees. Last night at Enoch’s chippy I take the agonising decision to forego the battered cod in order to try the special - local bass baked with butter and parsley. Fortunately the gamble pays off as the fish is perfectly cooked and so fresh that you can certainly taste the sea and, in my imagination, hear the gulls screech and the waves crash against the treacherous eastern spur of Môn...
Snapping out of this reverie over a creme egg and cup of tea back in the Travelodge I contemplate what I need to report at our meeting and realise that for a few weeks three major campaigning strands overlap. Let me try to summarise these:-
Measure Regulations
The local consultation events have finished and looking back we are pleased that our position, summarised in our “Sue’s View” bulletins, was very widely supported at the events. But the consultation period continues and we are encouraging written responses to the Assembly.
Follow this link to see how you can join the hundreds of users, carers, and professionals who have already supported Sue’s View!
Assembly Election
Hafal’s election campaign got off to a great start with the publication of our Manifesto fronted by Expert Trainer Dave Smith and coverage in ITV’s “Wales Decides” election special on health including interviews with Hafal’s Shaz Harris and me.
See the election Manifesto, which has now been sent to all election candidates and has already received many messages of support from them, on this link and use it to collar your candidates and check them out on their mental health credentials .
"Taking the Wheel"
We have just announced our summer campaign in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation and MDF the Bipolar Organisation. This is already in the public domain in order to encourage public participation but will start in earnest immediately following the election at our Seminar on 12 May.
See details of the summer campaign aimed at promoting real empowerment of people with as serious mental illness on this link and please contact us if you want to join in on one of the 25 events this summer!
Busy times but a sense that we are achieving great progress in spite of the lean economic environment.
Postscript:
In view of my previous disapproval of gambling (see this post) I hesitate to own up to a further flutter but must report that I entered and won the Hafal Head Office Grand National Sweep, my £1 stake earning a useful £44 - good odds and no tax to pay (is this illegal?). In order to quell any Libya-style rebellion which might be triggered by this suspicious result (though I had no hand in organising the book) I feel compelled to pitch the cash reluctantly into the Christmas party fund.
