Malvern Hills - Three Peaks practice

Yet again we made the decision not to walk up Snowdon due to the bad weather conditions there in the early part of last week but we opted to walk the Malvern Hills instead so we could still get some walking practice in. Alongside some representatives from the TA based in Redditch who are hoping to join in with the challenge this summer, we walked over nine miles on Sunday on what thankfully proved to be a lovely day.

We have now delayed our Snowdon walk until April when hopefully the weather will have brightened up and we will be able to safely get up (and down!). We are also aiming to have climbed Scafell Pike as part of our practice which means by the time the actual Three Peaks challenge comes around in August we will have tackled two of the three mountains.

There is plenty of time for people to get on board - call 07788 379389 or e-mail redditchmhag@gmail.com for more information.

Update from the chair: February 2014

February has been a fairly busy month for MHAG, starting off on the 1st with some of the group attending the LGBT event at Redditch Library - having a table at events like this is something we are very keen to do as it enables us to speak to people who either may need to access mental health services but need pointing in the right direction or to those who might be interested in getting on board with MHAG and campaigning for better services. All in all, it was a great networking opportunity for us.

The following week we met with representatives from Redditch Borough Council and the Redditch Community Amateur Boxing Club - the former was to find out more about the events they are hosting throughout the summer. We should have a packed schedule with these events plus our own we are hoping to organise. The latter was to hear more about a new project they're hoping to launch and we have a representative coming to our meeting tomorrow to share some more information about that.

On the 7th, we held our Valentine's Ball which was a great event and saw us raising nearly £500 to add to the funds we started gathering last year. We're really hoping to hit our £5,000 target soon and hopefully the combined efforts of these fund-raising events and our Three Peaks challenge will get us much nearer that total!

We've also met with Jestaminute who have some great ideas about Wellbeing Week (to be revealed at our March MHAG) and some of our members have been busy putting together proposals for a mentoring project - the pilot of which should be ready to launch soon.

To round the month off, we have a representative of the Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group coming to talk to us tomorrow at our monthly meeting which will be followed by a talk from some people who've completed the Three Peaks challenge who'll be sharing some top tips.

Harriet.

2014 so far

This year is shaping up to be a busy one for MHAG with the potential launch of a mentoring project to provide ongoing support for residents who have already accessed more short-term help from other services (more on that soon), as well as our Valentine's Ball this Friday at Studley Castle, preparations underway for this October's Wellbeing Week and plenty of other events in between. Last year we touched on the link between wellbeing and physical exercise and some of our members will be truly testing that out when we take on the Three Peaks challenge this August. As well as providing a challenge for those climbing three mountains (Scafell Pike in England, Snowdon in Wales and Ben Nevis in Scotland) in 24 hours, it will hopefully be well supported by the public and help boost our fund-raising for the year. If you'd like to get involved in the challenge it'll be on August 1 and 2 with the option of just climbing Snowdon on the Sunday - there will be a practice of Snowdon on March 9 for those unsure about signing up or wanting to get some mountain-walking hours in early on. Join in by e-mailing redditchmhag@gmail.com or calling Harriet on 07788 379389. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, February 27, at 7pm at Redditch Town Hall when we'll be joined by a representative from the NHS Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group to talk about commissioning mental health services in the borough.

Our first Three Peaks walk

To start our training for the Three Peaks challenge next summer, we had intended to climb Snowdon on Sunday. However, the weather forecast was so bad in terms of fog that we made a decision it would be too dangerous to climb with such poor visibility (you couldn't see the path from the cameras up on the mountain) but so that we could all try out walking boots and stretch our legs a little, instead we went over to Cannock Chase and had a walk there. Obviously it wasn't as strenuous as climbing a mountain but the eight-mile course led us up and down plenty of hills so still had a fairly good walk.

As the winter sets in, it's very unlikely we will be able to do any big climbs until early March but we'll all be trying to do some local walks and keep our general fitness levels up so that we're prepared for next year when the real walking will start! At the moment, we're still planning to aim for the first weekend in August for the challenge itself and we'll also be offering the option of just doing Snowdon for those who want to take part but don't want to do all three mountains.

Contact details if you'd like to take part:
Harriet - 07788 379389
redditchmhag@gmail.com