Resourcing community-led approaches to mental health and wellbeing 

The starting point for this workshop is the new £15 million Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund being delivered and managed by Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) in partnership with local integrated health authorities and other partners, and supporting grass roots community groups and third sector organisations to deliver activities and programmes to help address the impact of distress and mental ill health caused by social isolation and loneliness, as well as addressing the mental health inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. https://tsi.scot/communities-mental-health-wellbeing-fund/  

The workshop will highlight the existence of alternative funding models and describe these, including social prescribing (particularly the SPRING model) and Community Wellbeing Exchange. The strengths of these models in terms of trusting the community sector, responsiveness and ‘community-wealth building’ will be emphasised. 

Discussion will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the different models as well as hear any other ideas from participants.  

You’re on Mute: Exploring experiences of mental health and wellbeing in lockdown 

Twelve people. Three rural communities in Scotland. One global pandemic.  

At a time when people in the UK and around the world were living within restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, three small communities in Scotland took part in a ‘Winter Lockdown Project’. The Project ran over seven months in East Lothian, West Lochaber and Perth & Kinross. The initiative was a collaboration between the mental health charity, Support in Mind Scotland, CHEX and Public Health Scotland and brought together partners from Haddington’s Support from the Start Network, Ewen's Room and Meigle and Ardler Community Development Trust. 

A series of films were produced - ‘You’re on Mute’ - to demonstrate how communities can come together in times of adversity to produce positive outcomes and highlight how our mental health connects many parts of ourselves including our experiences of mental illness and the social determinants which impact us such as work, education, social support, income, housing, and food security.   

This workshop will feature a showing of the main film that documents the experiences of twelve people from the communities of living through the pandemic, as they tried to maintain positive mental wellbeing and build resilience by finding ways to remain connected to friends, family and their local community. Participants will be encouraged to reflect and share their own experiences of supporting good mental health and wellbeing over this time and explore how lived experiences and community-led approaches to improve mental health and wellbeing can be better reflected in public health policy and practice.  

What is meaningful engagement? Co-production, peer-led and community-led mental health 

Scottish Recovery Network’s 'Meaningful Engagement, Meaningful Relationships' project has been developed to look at alternative approaches to over formalised, time limited and ‘transactional’ processes predominantly adopted by statutory services to engaging with lived experience. The first phase of the project has highlighted that meaningful engagement means moving to more informal, inclusive and ‘relational’ approaches (you can read more about Scottish Recovery Network’s early learning here). 

Recognising we engage more meaningfully when we ackowledge the power and value of lived experience, and that this leads to trusting relationships that foster ongoing meaningful dialogue between people with lived experience and those designing mental health services and strategies, this participative workshop will provide an opportunity to share your insights and experiences, explore these interconnected themes, and identify ways to support our journey together to make meaningful engagement a reality in Scotland, now and in the future. 

Health Issues in the Community (HIIC) and Mental Health 

This workshop will explore how the Health Issues in the Community (HIIC) course helps people understand what affects their mental health and the mental health of their communities. 

Delivered for more than 20 years, HIIC supports people of all ages to develop the skills and knowledge to address health issues using community development approaches.  

Through examples and first-hand experiences, this workshop will examine how HIIC has been used to explore, understand and challenge ideas around mental health. From addressing issues such poverty and inequality along with power and participation, we’ll get to the core of how HIIC can support participants to consider the key issues that affect mental health. 

Using participative discussions, we’ll hear about the latest developing practice and what makes HIIC such an innovative and powerful course for making real change a reality in people lives.