So here we go - our summer campaign Lights! Camera! ACTION! is on the way and advance publicity has virally infested the internet and crashed into the in-boxes of the great and the good, humble and not so humble supporters of Hafal and our partners, and anybody who is anybody in mental health in Wales. The formal launch is in May about which more later.
The emphasis this year is on delivery - that's delivery of the Mental Health Measure and of the new strategy "Together for Mental Health".
During the campaign service users and carers across Wales are producing their own film blogs which point local services and national policy makers to good practice in mental health service delivery across Wales – and flag up local deficits. We'll talk to camera about what changes we want to see in services as a result of the exciting new law and policy.
Specifically we are calling for:
• High quality Care and Treatment Plans for everyone receiving secondary mental health services
• Full choice and control for service users on the content of Care and Treatment Plans
• Prompt delivery of quality mental health services in response to those Plans and to the needs of people with a
serious mental illness using primary care services
• Further reform of services which increases service user and carer control over the choice and commissioning of
services
• A longer-term move towards full equality in Welsh society for service users and carers including equal access to
health and social care, housing, income, education, and employment.
Hafal is joining forces with Bipolar UK and the Mental Health Foundation to support users and carers to deliver the campaign - and this year we are delighted that Diverse Cymru has agreed to join us, helping to make sure we reach out to minority and disadvantaged communities.
See more details here and follow the action on our Facebook page here.
Postscript:
Of course sometimes you want to escape the limelight: here's a snap I took last weekend from a slippery vantage point under a bridge on the Black Mountain (Y Mynydd Du) - the best kept secret at the western end of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
The Black Mountain is remote, spooky and rarely visited, its lakes and rivers subjects of pre-Christian legend in contrast to the Christian history which dominates the Gospel Pass in the Black Mountains (note plural - not to be confused) at the eastern end of the Park. I have no doubt some watery pagan nymph inhabits this stream...
