Mental Health Awareness
| Published by | Phil Kessel Co-ordinator Sevenoaks & Area Mental Health Awareness Group |
| samhag@sevenoaksareamind.org.uk | |
| Telephone | 01732 459558 |
Delivery of workshops to professional and voluntary organisations to raise awareness of mental health issues including stigma and discrimination.
Our delivery partners are...
SAMHAG is a group within Sevenoaks Area MIND and is mainly made up of volunteers from a number of backgrounds. Some are private volunteers who have been service users. Other organisations included within the Group are Tunbridge Wells Mental Health Resource, Carers First, Cygnet Hospital Godden Green, The Shaw Trust, Tonbridge, West Kent Housing Association, Sevenoaks Churches Social Concern Committee, St John's Community Health Centre, Sevenoaks District Council Community Health Team, and the local Police.
We have funding and support from...
Kent County Council provides some funding. Other than the BIG Lottery funding, the Group obtains income by charging for delivery of mental health awareness workshops.
The project is located in...
The Sevenoaks and surrounding areas within Kent
The start and finish dates of the project are...
01 January 2008 to 31 December 2010
The people helped are...
Staff and volunteers within local businesses, statutory organisations and voluntary agencies
What they have said is...
Excellent blend of interactive activity and good information
We set up the project because...
Originally the project was set up to raise awareness for a World Mental Health Day event in 1992. Since then the Group has grown and mental health awareness workshops have been delivered each year since 1992.
The difference this project makes is...
To highlight that people with mental health issues suffer from discrimination and stigma, and also to raise awareness among others that this still happens. The project also dispells some of the myths surrounding mental health illness.
What we did or are doing
The project delivers 3 hour workshops to interested parties. Each workshop includes interactive exercises (no role play!) and personal perspectives from 2 people that have endured/are enduring mental health illness.
We chose this method because...
The workshops provide a controlled environment for people to explore what mental health means. The workshops also provide people with the opportunity to hear directly from people that have endured mental illness.
What's happened is...
Since introducing the "Before and After" surveys, the awareness of the audiences has risen on average from 40% to 90%
What we'd do differently...
The personal perspectives provided by 2 volunteers at each workshop is always well received and unique in the area where the workshops are delivered.
Evaluation
The first year evaluation report is available to all.
This project helped to deliver...
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The project is now...
Still ongoing
Additional information or comments?
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| Lead Organisation | Sevenoaks & Area Mental Health Awareness Group |
| Geographical Area | Kent |
| Outcomes | Capacity building, Community cohesion, Improving health |
| Beneficiary Age | Adults, Older People (Over 60), Young People (16-25) |
| Beneficiary Groups | General population |
| Type of activity | |
| Primary Theme |  |
| Secondary Themes |    |
