Friday, October 31

The Way Life Is

We wanted to share some of the amazing verses from our poetry evening earlier this month. Here's the first, look out for more coming up:

The Way Life Is
by Shahyan Nawaz Syed


Quote: "Sometimes we have to accept the way life is, some things we cannot control, it's the way life is."

I do say my prayers, so why am I still stuck in this deep dark lair, life is never straightforward or fair.
One time I was so unwell my story I could never tell
It's full of craze I am stuck in this maze with no door, where is the floor have I found my feet, why am I still a loner in the street?
My mind takes me to another place, some look at me in disgrace
Every time I cried, no one would reply, on who could I rely
From this dream I cannot wake, I feel like a vampire that has been staked
Some memories slowly fade, whilst some debts have to be paid, sometimes friends can never be made
People used to always joke when I had no money and I was broke
Hard situations are hidden and never can it be ridden, brushed under the carpet and buried, it resurfaces when we are not ready
We try to confront our demons, but only for the sake of evens
Some people live in glitter whilst some people pick and eat food from the litter
Some fears cannot be overcome and are always accompanied by tears
Innocent people that did not do the crime are locked away doing time
Love always came late, I get pulled down by the problems people create
Some don't say hello at all, whilst some warriors rise and fall, no one gets treated fairly after all, and in our life evil tries to crawl wanting us to always fall
Bad things come up from my past, I can't keep up the world is moving way too fast
I saw a beautiful, white, unicorn horse drinking by the lake, when I went over everything was fake
Given a rose I got stung by the thorn my heart was very badly torn, when loved ones die we cry on and mourn
Some people always lust, so who in this world can you trust
I woke up in the middle of the night when I had a dream of a very bad fight
Some people live in fear and their story is always told in tears
I heard crying of the crows, some emotions really do show, broken hearts heal very slow sometimes we want to grow but progress in life is very slow, I am used to this hurt I do not want to go
Some problems are so deep, you can hear them in your sleep, in life it makes us wander and weep
I helped a man who was weak and thin, I helped him when the world turned their backs on him
Sometimes I used to dress in rags, there's people who have supplies of clothes still with the tags
If I lose my health does it mean that I will lose my wealth?
No matter what colour or creed, we all get inside hurt and bleed
Some people make you cry, some die without saying goodbye
Some things get suppressed which make us very depressed
Some say stick to your own culture, if you step out you will get eaten by the vultures
Some things in my life are blank, for this I do not know who to thank, I have seen a lot at this age, and I cannot control my rage.
Some people forget the way they used to live and now they are rich they never hand out and give, I'm watching my life pass through my hands like sand in a sieve.
Some people are spoilt in fashion whilst some people are fighting for rations
Nothing in my life gets better, my old dearest friend did not reply to my letter
I helped a man who was blind, true love I can never find, the uneducated are made to work to the grind, you will find that some people are never kind
Situations affray letting some go astray, from good things we are turned away, all i do is pray hoping for a better day, some run away from home and go away
People get away with crimes, ahead of us are very hard times.
Death is not always accompanied by the colour red we all wish for a peaceful death inside our beds
Sorry to say this is what I have seen, no one wants to go to the places I've been, in this world I am looking for peace and light, but sometimes people don't understand and fight
My heart gets filled with anger and rage, no I am not ready to move on to the next stage.
Those people who fought and served, do not get the respect they deserve
There is a lot of hurtful things that I have seen and the only way I can escape is when I am in my dreams
In life I try to follow my own path but I always get overtaken by my very own wrath, if I want changes there'll be a great big clash
How long will it take, life is slow I really want to move on and go
I am getting old, I hope this poem has explained the story that I have told

It's the way life is,
We all have to accept the way life is,
It's the way life is


Wednesday, October 22

Marking World Mental Health Day

This year for the second time we marked World Mental Health Day by hosting a two-day advice shop in the Kingfisher Centre, Redditch. It's great to have such a prominent location to promote mental health so thank you to the management for helping us! Across the two days, we had information, fun and more from: Age UK, Alzheimer's Society, Faces Unlimited, Rejuvenate, Mental Health Support Group, Mentor Link, Bromford, Health Trainers, Samaritans, Yum Tum Club, Gideons, Homestart, Indigo Arts and Early Help (hope that is everyone!).

Here's some pictures from the event!

















Harriet

Tuesday, October 21

Visit by shadow minister for mental health

Rebecca Blake, Mary Jones and Luciana Berger.

Last week Luciana Berger, who's the shadow minister for public health which includes mental health, was invited down by our vice chair Rebecca to meet Neil Ordish from Headgym, one of the leaders on the mentoring project, and Mary Jones and the support group down at The Space in Winyates.

We also had the chance to talk to Luciana about how MHAG started and the kinds of things we've been doing in the last 18 months. Although Rebecca is obviously a politician, MHAG is not a political group and we welcome support from anyone! However it's great to be able to highlight the work we do and the great community we have in Redditch on a national platform and to have interest from people outside the area.

I've written a story about the visit for the Standard so to save repeating myself on here, click here to read more.

Monday, October 20

Pledging to do better

I was absolutely delighted when Ian Dipple, the editor of the Redditch Standard (where I work alongside running MHAG), came to me and told me his idea about doing some extensive coverage of mental health to mark World Mental Health Day. As well as telling my own story, we managed to get mayor Pat Witherspoon, council chief exec Kevin Dicks, Dr Tim Lee and various others involved to speak up about the topic. It makes me very proud to work for the paper and to live in the town to see people supporting mental health! As part of the edition, we launched a pledge - we're asking residents and organisations to sign it. One voice is not often heard but if we can get enough voices (and names) then maybe together we can affect the change which is so desperately needed.

To take part, I can e-mail you a copy of the pledge (call me on 07788 379389 or e-mail redditchmhag@gmail.com) or simply save the copy below and send it back to me c/o Redditch Standard, Webb House, Church Green East, Redditch, B98 8RA.


Harriet

Sunday, October 12

Rhyming for a good reason

This week saw us host our second ever Wellbeing Week in Redditch, something we're keen to do every October to mark World Mental Health Day. The first event was a poetry evening at the Redi Centre - we wanted to demonstrate how getting creative can boost your mental health and also show how much talent we have in this town!
 
 
A huge ten people were lined up on the bill to share either their own poems or someone else's - some were on the theme of mental health and some weren't, but the majority were actually written by a Redditch resident. Thanks to our readers: Mark, Rebecca, Ismat, Vanessa, Lyn, Andy, Natalie, Shayan and Pat (the tenth was myself in case you're keeping count!)
 
 
A few extra thanks to Pat Witherspoon, the mayor, for her support of the event, Ray and Margaret for agreeing to host the event in their building, Jan and Andy for their help with organising (Jan and Margaret also made the most delicious cakes which everyone enjoyed), Boon for compering for us, Sally for playing the dulcimer and anyone else who helped in any way.
 
 
It was a hugely enjoyable night, we had at least half a dozen extra readers in the open mic part of the evening and hopefully everyone went away as content and full of cake as I did! We also raised £150 which will go towards mental health projects in the borough.
 
Keep an eye out on Facebook/Twitter in the coming weeks as I'll be posting up some of the poems.
 
Harriet.

Thursday, October 2

What we've done and what's coming up!

Fear not, things with MHAG have been carrying on with our monthly meetings continuing and many great chats about mental health. This blog however I have let slide a little due to not being very well and a brief stay in hospital. I am back on track now and more focused than ever to push MHAG as far as we can and affect change in Redditch. It is desperately needed and wanted!

So some of the things which have been going on:
- We were made the mayor's charity! Pat Witherspoon picked MHAG and Redditch Friends Together as her two charities to help highlight mental health and dementia within the town. Thanks Pat! She's in office until May so plenty of exciting events will be coming up.
- We laughed! Pat hosted a comedy night called Ship Of Fools which was absolutely brilliant. There were five comedians plus compere Ant Hill (thanks to Ant for all his work to make it a success!). Lots of money raised and lots of laughs too.
- We talked! We've spoken to Dr Tim Lee, who's the lead for mental health on Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group's governing body, about their plans for the future as well as Helen Broughton from the strategic partnership about the work their mental health committee is doing and Homestart about their services to help people with postnatal depression.
- We visited! We went to events including the Bandstand Festival and Astwood Bank Carnival. It's great to bring mental health to the masses at places like that.

Wellbeing Week:
- Our first event is a poetry evening next Tuesday (October 7) at 7.30pm at the Redi Centre. We're hoping to highlight how getting creative and either reading or creating poetry can help with your mental health. Come along and join us - it's free but donations are welcome!

- Advice shop. As with last year we'll be hosting a two-day advice shop in the Kingfisher Centre. We're outside Primark (by the escalators) all day next Friday and Saturday (October 10 and 11) and we've got plenty of activities, crafts, puzzles, food making etc! Do pop along.

There are also lots of exciting projects in the pipeline and next week with the help of the Redditch Standard (my day job!) we'll be marking World Mental Health Day with the launch of a new pledge for the town.

Harriet.