new way forward
“A step in the right direction in
mental health”
Broome House,
54-56 Seymour Grove, Old Trafford. M16 0LN
Tel. 0161 912 4827 email:
nwf@dial.pipex.com
Registered Company
Number 4783624 Registered Charity
Number 508746
To whom it should
concern,
We are a voluntary
organisation supporting people with mental health problems living in the
community in Trafford, Manchester. We provide this support in a variety of
ways, which are informed by the users of our service. This includes being
involved in physical activity and sport, which is now well established and
recognised to benefit people mentally, physically and socially. One of the
sports we are involved in is football and we have been running a 5-a-side
football drop in at a local leisure centre for the last six years for people
who have had or are having problems with their mental health. The majority of
our players do not use or wish to be associated with formal mental health
services but feel at ease being involved in an activity, which they find
fulfilling, and which also engages them in very tough competition. It helps to
provide a structure, something to look forward to and look back on with
satisfaction and enjoyment which also stimulates feelings of well being.
From
our weekly 5-a-side we developed a 6-a-side annual Northwest Challenge Trophy
Competition based at a major indoor football complex in Trafford beginning in
2000 to which we invited teams from throughout the Northwest of England. The
response to this was so encouraging that we created and developed a 6-a-side
Northwest League, which is now entering its third year. We had twelve teams
competing last season and have had already a number of new teams applying to
join the league.
Our
most ambitious venture to date was to compete in the 6th
International Regenbogen-Cup played in Haar/Munich/Germany. We were invited to
play by Stefan Holzer, a mental health worker who we established contact with
over the Internet. We had a fantastic time which was mainly due to the amazing
hospitality and generosity of our host Stefan who gave up his time and arranged
free accommodation, breakfasts and evening meals as well as transfers to and
from Munich airport and Haar.
Stefan
has been an inspiration for us not least because of his commitment as an unpaid
voluntary worker who has organised the Regenbogen-Cup annually inviting and
organising the ten teams including the four visiting teams from Slovakia, the
Czech Republic, Austria and England. He maintains the Regenbogen team in weekly
training, facilitates every competition they are involved in and repeatedly
organises the Regenbogen-Cup with all of the huge responsibility and
interpersonal skills this entails, as host. It is a measure of how much we
value Stefan that we invited him and paid his expenses to visit us in England
enabling him to view the mental health services we provide, an opportunity to
examine our football structure and facilities and to sample our culture. He
managed this visit despite having one leg in plaster and requiring crutches to
walk. During his stay he made further links with many of the twenty four teams
who played in our 4th World Mental Health Day Challenge Trophy 2003
and along with us invited them to sign up and become involved in the European
Association for Social Integration (E.A.S.I.).
Stefan
has inspired us to establish an international flavour to our next annual trophy
competition later this year. All the implications and costs of hosting this
event, in finding suitable accommodation for up to five visiting international
teams with squads of ten players with full board, are new to us, but we have
already secured the funding required which will also include transport for
transfers etc…. We would not yet be considering this new development for us had
it not been for Regenbogen and Stefan. We do not understand how Stefan is not a
paid worker and yet continues to demonstrate his commitment so openly and
obviously without the recognition and salary he deserves.
We
work for a voluntary organisation but we are paid workers who are equally
committed to our work and to the people who use our service but we have to live
in the same world as everyone else with all of the expense this incurs. We
could not continue if we were not paid what we are worth. We hope anyone
reading this fully understands how important it is to retain people like Stefan
who has the imagination, expertise and the respect from all of his colleagues
at home and abroad but most of all his belief and commitment to his work and
the people he works with.
Yours
sincerely
Paddy
McElroy & Paul Evans