Andrew and Jo are currently supporting with a co-production project where the local authority want to understand how people of working age are made aware that they are moving into a care/nursing home and what information is given to them. They will be visiting care homes around Staffordshire and asking some of the residents a few questions around this. On 10th August, Jo and Andrew visited Manor House in Stafford. They spoke with a gentleman with a brain injury about his ex

On 27th July, Jo and Andrew supported a person with lived experience at a Mental Health Co-Production meeting online. During the meeting, introductions were done and the discussion was around what support was given after leaving the hospital and what else could be done. It was said that whilst in hospital, a diagnosis was given, however, no information was provided on what this meant and how to live with this. When leaving the hospital, a support worker was put into place for

On Tuesday 14th July, we had a great discussion about physical activity and staying healthy at the Disability, Sensory and Neurodivergence Community Board. We even took some photos to add to the website to give people who've never been some idea of what it looks like. Thanks to everyone who agreed to being photographed! Andrew quickly volunteered to take the photos (largely so his big, beardy face wouldn't be in them). We shared our feedback from 78 disabled, visually impai

During June, Jo and Andrew attended Staffordshire Sight Loss and spoke to numerous members. One member was explaining that they are having trouble with fundraising and were concerned if they could not continue as there would then be nowhere for the members to go. They explained about the different events they have been doing to raise awareness of the service and what they have to offer. Staffordshire Sight Loss offer a drop in service to support people and also to help them g

Jo and Andrew attended Rockspur in Codsall to speak with the members about physical activity. Whilst there, they spoke with numerous individuals and were told some great stories about what they like to do. The group also had a dancing activity whilst Jo and Andrew were there, and the members really enjoyed this. One member said ‘I’m in a walking group. I go every Tuesday from 9 ‘til 12. We go to the Bull with the walking group. Go and have a drink and a chat.’ They also said

Jo and Andrew held a small sub-group to introduce two people with lived experience to each other and to talk about what's coming with the Co-Production project. During the meeting, Andrew explained some of the work that has already been started and how people can get involved. One person currently resides in Leek and mentioned their concerns over the closure of the sensory garden, due to funding being withdrawn. They explained how important this garden was to them as an inc

Andrew and Jo attended the Newcastle-under-Lyme Locality Forum marketplace at St Wulstans Community Hall to promoted the Co-Production project and Asist. They spoke to numerous people about Co-Production and about the DSN Community. This helped to network with other groups and has raised opportunities to meet with more people from different areas of Staffordshire. Jo's background and knowledge of one-to-one IMHA (Independent Mental Health Advocacy) was a great help when on

On 12th May, Andrew and Jo visited EqualBase in Cheadle. They spoke to the members and staff about what physical activities they do to stay healthy. All members gave information about different activities they do with EqualBase, such as swimming, walking, gardening and more. Some members explained how they have competed in swimming competitions for the Special Olympics. One of the volunteers, Shaun Burrows explained he competed in the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, running the T

Andrew and Jo visited Liberty Jamboree in Lichfield on 7th May 2026 and spoke to 20 young adults with learning disabilities and autism. When they arrived, some of the members were sitting at the kitchen island, trying healthy snacks, such as cucumber, strawberries, peppers Andrew and Jo asked members what they do for physical activities to keep them healthy. A couple of them mentioned how they love to walk their dogs and showed photos. Two young ladies spoke with Jo, and th

Andrew, Jo and Ruth attended the DSN Partnership Board on 26 th March 2026 with 2 amazing people with lived experience, Julie and Simon. They both told their stories and explained what struggles they have in the community. Andrew and Jo also gave feedback they had received from some of the groups they had attended. The board listened to the feedback, and the members took this on board and also explained the services that are available. There was a presentation from Assist,

The last few weeks the team have been around the County visiting some of the Locality Forums that Support Staffordshire hold. We have found them interesting and we've made some good contacts that we can use in future projects for the board. We took Becky our manager along to one of the meetings so she could experience it and she found it really interesting and came back to the office with loads of new ideas, so who knows what will happen!..... watch this space!

On 24 th February Jo spoke with some of the patients at Ballington House about mental health and what their issues were when trying to access the community teams. One patient told Jo that they had attended multiple GP appointments expressing how low their mood was and asked for extra support. They said that each time, the GP would tell them they would have to wait for the referral process even though they said they were in crisis. No other support numbers were given to the

Last week Jo visited Friends to Friends in Burton to discuss mental health and what support is available to them and how easy it is to access. Friends to Friends are a group for people with learning disabilities that meet 3 times a week. They do lots of activities including crafts, cooking and day trips. One member told us that he has contacted the crisis team about 150 times in the last 3 months as this is the only number he has been given when he is struggling. Jo asked him

This week, Andrew met with Dementia Voice, one of our longest-running co-production partner groups and a new group, the Newcastle social group for Staffordshire Sight Loss (SSL). At Dementia Voice, we talked about the mental health support that is (and sometimes isn't) there for people who've just been diagnosed. One member described their experience: "When I was first diagnosed twelve years ago, I had an advocate to support me. I didn't want to put the pressure and the w

Liz took Becky on a trip to Pye Green Community Centre on Saturday to meet with Arthritis UK Cannock Branch. A great session was had talking about wellbeing and how it affected our mental health. It raised some interesting points from more availability of information in the local area as well as how we access information. The consensus was that while progress should be made, it shouldn't be at the expense of everything as a number of members in the group didn't have smart ph

So, the pace is ramping up towards the next Partnership Board and we're out and about over the next few weeks gathering peoples views about Mental Health, both the good and things that need improving! Last week we visited Equal Base and had a really productive morning talking about all the things they did that helped them have good mental health. We also had a subgroup in Stafford which while not many people attended, very valuable information was gained.

It was all change last week as the snow disrupted many of our plans! We were fortunate on Wednesday to manage to get to Lichfield and go to Friends to Friends. Some great discussion was had around Mental Health and what it meant to people. We had views on what good Mental Health is and some strategies that members used to help with their Mental Health . Then we discussed what changes could be made to help everyone have good Mental Health. A major factor was that a lot of peop

It's all go towards the next Staffordshire Disability and Neurodiversity Partnership board. We're out and about this week visiting groups to ask about Mental Health to enable their views to be shared with the board.

So we've been getting festive by attending the Support Staffordshire Locality Forums so that we could network and meet different people to enable us to receive a wide range of views for the next Partnership Board. We start back with a bang in January with visits already planned to Friends to Friends, Burton and Lichfield, Equalbase, Cheadle and Stafford Stroke Group. We're also holding sub groups in both Stafford and Lichfield so we can gain peoples views ready for the next p