Completely Pointless

R.I.P. art critic Robert Hughes who died yesterday. Hughes performed the invaluable task of permitting us to distinguish good quality modern art from all the rubbish which pretends to be clever, sneers at people who don't "understand" it, but is in reality distinguished only by the fact that rich patsies pay good money for it. He was particularly ascerbic about Jeff Koons whose stuff really is just nonsense (see one example of his "iconic" - actually completely pointless - balloon dog sculptures above). And Damien Hirst's minders wouldn't let Hughes reproduce his stuff in a review for fear of exposure - actually Hughes didn't think the sharks-in-formaldehyde man all that bad but would certainly have had sharp things to say.

Hughes also wrote the definitive history of early (European) Australia The Fatal Shore which is strongly recommended summer reading - I flagged it two years ago here in a piece about the Welsh Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. I don't know if Hughes was Welsh by origin (sounds like it) but we should definitely claim him.

A Real Shift

Mel Cook, our tireless friend and colleague from the Mental Health Foundation, blitzes the smoothies at the Monmouth event

Once again I am catching up having been away from a decent broadband signal (for a long weekend in Pembrokeshire)...

Reports wing their way west of an air of celebration at last week's Movin’ On Up event at Chepstow Castle.

And not without good cause: Monmouthshire service users and carers were delighted that 382 people across Wales supported the Mental Health Service User and Carer Panel’s views on how the Government’s forthcoming Mental Health Strategy for Wales, "Together for Mental Health", could be improved.

One of the Panel’s main concerns was how to broaden the engagement of service users and carers – both in the delivery of their own Care and Treatment Plans and in the wider planning and delivery of services.

Carolyn Potter, a volunteer at Hafal’s Monmouthshire project, said: "The ground-breaking new Care and Treatment Plans will really benefit service users like myself providing they are used properly. I am passionate about person-centred planning after becoming involved in it while campaigning for better transition services for disabled young people. Person-centred planning done properly – it will require intensive training and a real shift in attitude - together with the new Care and Treatment Plans could revolutionise mental health care in Wales.

"I can now see a brighter future where my skills, qualifications and experiences can be used to help not just my own recovery but also help improve mental health services in Wales. I hope to be actively involved in training and advocating for Care and Treatment Planning. It’s not the career path I set out on long ago but will possibly be very much more fulfilling!"

Thanks, Carolyn, that's a heartening reminder of how involvement has the "win-win" potential both to improve services and assist individual service users by offering opportunities for them to use their skills.

Puff

As promised full details of the Snowdon Challenge are now on-line so get booking! Find the links at the bottom of the campaign page here.

So can you do the climb? The important thing is to follow carefully the guidance and application form (which incorporates a health questionnaire) on the above link - anything I say shouldn't be seen as over-riding that of course.

The health questionnaire will direct some people to get the all clear from their doctor but if you are in doubt there's nothing to stop you getting their advice anyway, especially if you aren't used to exercise. If you think you can do it but are not quite sure then you will enjoy the day more if you have first got reassurance from your doctor.

Aged 53, carrying quite a lot of extra weight (and I'm not talking about the ruck-sack!), but with moderate fitness from going to the gym occasionally and doing some hill-walking, I found the walk demanding but not very hard last week but you shouldn't underestimate what is a long climb (9 miles altogether there and back) which will test anyone's cardiac fitness ("puff") and your joints and muscles too.



Definite Snowdon Fact:

∙  Being the 57th highest mountain in the UK (all the higher ones are in Scotland) at 3,560 feet doesn't sound that impressive but actually Ben Nevis is only 849 feet taller so our highest point is no mole-hill.


Unproven Snowdon Facts:

∙ Glaslyn, the remote lake below the summit, is the home of a fresh-water monster or "afanc" which terrorised the neighbourhood until the locals got fed up and shoved it in the lake.

∙ If two people sleep by the lake one will awake as a poet and the other will become insane. As a mental health charity we will eschew any unethical experiments in this direction - there are no plans to spend the night anywhere on the mountain.

Eery Eryri

The "Hafal Family" plus Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams AM at the Show

A while between posts as I have been without a satisfactory broadband connection all week - so some quick catching up to do...

On Wednesday I'm wilting in scorching weather at the Royal Welsh Show where our Movin' On Up campaign’s classic VW microbus, cinema bus and mobile mountain were a big hit with young people who were also drawn to the campaign stand’s internet facility where they could access mental health-related websites including Hafal’s Young People’s Information Hub and Facebook site.

Hafal’s Young People’s Information Officer John Gilheaney tells me: "Young people were particularly drawn by the fun aspect of the campaign. However, they also showed a great deal of interest in the campaign’s goals and were keen to offer constructive feedback on the work of Hafal’s Young People’s Information Hub. A lot of young people were delighted to hear that Wales has excellent mental health legislation and were keen to take away the literature on display. The level of interest was refreshing given the vigorous campaigning that went on to ensure the Mental Health (Wales) Measure catered for all ages, not solely for those aged 18 and over."


Half way up Snowdon

Then, following a very successful meeting on Thursday of our now substantial team of managers and Trustees in North Wales, it's an early night for me before setting off up Snowdon yesterday to recce our mega-walk on 28 September. This is a worthwhile test as we work out that the psychological pinch-point for participants' morale will probably not be the fatigue encountered three quarters of the way up but rather the first half hour. This involves climbing very steeply out of Llanberis on a narrow tarmac road without any sight of the mountain. We will need to pace people carefully and give reassurance I think! I will post more advice about this in due course but watch out for the booking details on our website next week.

We scout out the places to put check-points and enjoy a coffee at the top in eery, cold and damp cloud before descending back into warm sun-shine. I'm pleased to report I experienced no blisters or other discomfort on the 9 miles of walking but my knees did ache towards the end of five hours driving back to Carmarthenshire (every farmer in Wales is trying to get their hay in so tractors are at every turn). Ho hum, it was a good week and I sleep like a top last night.

Super Trouper

Among many unusual functions which I have performed was as Assistant Sound Operator some 30 years ago for the Carmarthen Youth Opera's production of Jesus Christ Superstar, a memorable experience including taking it to Waterford to try our luck in the light opera festival there (Mrs Blog helped look after the donkey). I think we came third.

The production was a great success, produced and directed by the late, legendary Elizabeth Evans MBE who had inveigled me into volunteering for my humble role. The part of Caiaphas was taken by Mrs E's already imposing but still very young son Wynne, now known to all as the incredibly annoying voice of "Go Compare!" - you know, the fellow with the moustache in the telly ads. I like to think that Wynne's international success as a brilliant tenor owes much to the deft skill I exercised on the volume knob of his radio mike (then quite a novelty I recollect).

The one damper for me was the music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I know he's popular but I just don't get it at all, finding his stuff all the same and somehow both amateurish and soulless.

This strikes me as a contrast to the songs of Abba with their amazing variety and consistent, timeless quality as performed in the musical Mamma Mia which I am compelled to see in London yesterday. The plot is utter nonsense, essentially a strained confection attempting to make something plausible which fits the lyrics of songs never intended for this purpose, but it can't fail because of the music which is also performed superbly in this production. And, let's face it, there is something about frilly lycra and tottering platforms which warms the heart. So do I stand up to bop with the rest of the audience, mainly forty-something ladies glad-ragged for a big night out with their girl-friends? But of course.



Postscript;

Hafal's colleagues the Samaritans objected to billboards of Wynne's character - voted "most irritating advertisement" two years in succession - in which he was invited to "go jump off a cliff". Hmm. I think on this one they were too sensitive, as I also think are those who have objected to him being blown up by a bazooka in a recent ad. This is crude but harmless enough humour surely.

Pennsylvania

A great pleasure to welcome an old friend of Hafal Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia, former President of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) – the largest mental health organisation in the world.

Suzanne, a service user and psychiatrist, was instrumental in the success of "In Our Own Voice", the unique US public education programme which is a key inspiration behind the training programme being delivered by Hafal on behalf of Time to Change Wales.

During her visit Suzanne, who is currently the President of NAMI Pennsylvania and Assistant Clinical Professor at University of Pittsburgh, gave a presentation to service users, carers and staff about the work of NAMI.

Suzanne said: "Time to Change Wales presents a wonderful opportunity to change the lives of people with mental illness and their families by reducing stigma.

"As a service user myself, I appreciate your approach. It is a time-tested, thoughtful educational programme that impacts the lives of people who live every day with mental health needs and the wider public.

"I am very impressed with Time To Change Wales - its design, staff and presenters are all very knowledgeable. The programme is perfect to reduce stigma and discrimination."

Commenting on Suzanne’s visit Kevin Mort, Manager of Hafal's National Learning Centre, said: "Suzanne’s presentation gave us both invaluable practical advice and huge inspiration. Above all she validated our conviction that in order to be effective the anti-discrimination message must be delivered personally by those with the real expertise – people with lived experience of mental illness."



Some facts I've been toying with:-

The United States has just over 300 million citizens, almost exactly 100 times more than Wales (just over 3 million). That means that Hafal's impressive 1,200 members might be 120,000 if we were a US charity. But NAMI has over 250,000 members. That's what I call a challenge...

Pennsylvania incidentally is of course the most "Welsh" of the States, as the destination of choice for Welsh Quakers in the 17C and later for highly-skilled mining and steel workers who were enticed over by attractive wages (Suzanne's Welsh grandfather being one such).

Abominable

Improving service provision by ensuring the voices of carers and mental health service users are listened to and their views acted upon was the theme of yesterday’s Movin’ On Up event in Caerphilly where the Mayor and other dignitaries were welcomed by our pet Abominable Snowman playing guitar (you couldn't make this up).

Bryn Davies, a carer and volunteer from Hafal’s Caerphilly project, said: "I have come into contact with mental health services as a young carer (caring for my father) and as a service user. During this time I have experienced good and bad practices. I believe that if I had received more appropriate information and had been consulted on both my father’s and my own care we both would have been in a better position to make decisions about our care and treatment. Looking forward, the good news is the Mental Health Measure means there will be a duty on mental health services to work with service users when writing a care plan and the Carers Measure should ensure that better information is supplied to carers.

"From a personal point of view working with Hafal has been really positive and helpful in supporting me through my recovery. I was referred as a service user to one of the Caerphilly projects 15 months ago; I’m now working as a volunteer at the Hyderus project. Since coming to Hafal I am more aware of service user and carer rights under the new legislation so I am more able to support my father in making decisions about his care and treatment."

Well said, Bryn, and don't forget Hafal's guide for carers which you can find here.