Personal Profile: Bev

I am 26 years old and have lived in Manchester for 7 years. I have had depression and been in the mental health system for 4 years. I came to Mind to find activities to fill my time. Through Mind I have found lots of things to do, for example I have been on an assertiveness course at the Creative Living Centre. I didn't carry on till the end because there were not enough women on the course.

I have also been doing a computer course at Manchester education resettlement centre (MERC). This involves learning about all aspects of the internet from e-mail to search engines. I also work on the information service at Mind in Manchester. This involves answering phone calls from members of the public requiring information on mental health issues. It also involves sending out information in the post if this is required.

I am 35 and suffer from shizaffective disorder.  I joined the project to get experience of mental health support work and have accompanied another member of the project on social outings and am now going with him to a word processing and e-mail course.  At the moment I'm also working on the first incarnation of the Mind To Mind Project website (to become part of the Mind-In-Manchester website) and working with another project member on a leaflet to advertise the Mind-In-Manchester Information Service.

Being a member of the project has helped me fill my time and given me more of a purpose in life.  I have enjoyed meeting other project members, who have had similar experiences of living with mental health issues, at our social occasions.  I am now considering either doing voluntary work for Mind-In-Manchester itself, or doing some sort of mental health support work for another organisation.

Project Development Worker – John Smith

Prior to becoming Project Development Worker with the Mind to Mind project, I worked voluntarily with Mind in Manchester on the helpline as a counsellor and spent some time on the management committee. I have had personal experience of mental health difficulties with close members of my family suffering as well as friends.

Working as a counsellor at Parkhouse mental health unit has given me first hand experience of how damaging contact with the mental health system can be. By being involved in the Mind to Mind project, hopefully, I will be able to help create an environment that is very different from the unhelpful experience that the mental health system can be.