Welcome to our regular round-up, collected by our Community Development Team from their work around Devon. Here you’ll find items that support your personal recovery, volunteering, jobs, training courses, and research requests.
Have something you’d like us to add next time? Get in touch!
March has finally arrived and believe or not, so now has spring!
It is a time of renewal and regrowth, as well recharge and refocus. For many reasons, this has been a challenging winter for people and so this is a gentle reminder to be kind to yourself and others, as we emerge from a state of hibernation and start to see changes happening all around us.
Our Community Development Team have had the pleasure of being part of many in-person events this month and it has been fantastic, including Exeter’s International Women’s Day event by Promoting choice and Barnstaple’s Recruitment and Wellbeing Fair by Griffiths.
If you’ve got an event you’d like us to be a part of this year or next, please get in touch by emailing hello@recoverydevon.co.uk
(Photo by photokip.com, www.pexels.com/photo/shallow-focus-yellow-daisies-1074844)
Strengthened by Storms
How can our mental health struggles lead to strengths that enable us to care for others?
This is the question that has given rise to a beautifully-produced new publication: ‘Strengthened by Storms’.
It is the third in a trilogy of inspirational books articulating the experience and recovery journeys of people living and working in Devon … this time from the whole spectrum of NHS mental health practitioners, including peer tutors, psychiatrists, therapists and managers.
‘Strengthened by Storms’ is a collection of personal stories that also holds hope of being a tool for connecting us all in our shared humanity – practitioners and patients alike.
Co-published by Recovery Devon and Devon Partnership NHS Trust, it is available for free in digital and print formats via
Thank you to everyone who joined us at our book launch event in collaboration with Devon Partnership Trust. With special thanks to Adrian James – President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Maureen Casey – one of the editors and a story contributor, Cally Hayes – former mental health nurse and also a story contributor and Glenn Roberts – former psychiatrist, friend of Recovery Devon and editor.
Be part of our Mental Health Awareness Fair!
Would your organisation or group like a free stand at our Mental Health Awareness Fair?
After the success of last years Mental Health Awareness Fair, we are organizing another one!
The event will be held at Exeter Library on 16th May 2023, 9am-2pm.
If you’d like a free stand, or to offer a workshop on the theme of anxiety, please contact sami@recoverydevon.co.uk by the 6th April.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Share your lived experience with us
We would like to announce the creation of our new Eating Disorder Training and information on how you can get involved!
We are looking for people with lived experience of an Eating Disorder (doesn’t have to be formally diagnosed) to share their experience with us.
Information collected will go towards our Eating Disorder Training that will be presented to a variety of different organisations, including GP Surgeries, Community Mental Health Teams, Recovery Practitioners and more.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 £𝟭𝟴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲.
Where: Online Zoom meeting
When: 17th April 2023 2pm-3.30pm
(Only 12 spaces available)
To sign up, or for more information,please contact: sami@recoverydevon.co.uk 07840506011
You can join anonymously if it makes this opportunity more accessible.
To find out more about the other types training we offer, please email hello@recoverydevon.co.uk and we shall provide you with further information about what we are currently offering and our availablity.
Help us reach your community
We are looking for people to help us bring our Happy to Share Project to their area.
Happy to Share is a simple and innovative way to reduce social isolation and loneliness in our community.
Since our relaunch back in February this year, we have had several cafes and eatieries join the project and they are now displaying our Happy to Share cards on their tables. (See the image on the right!)
If you are interested in becoming a Happy To Share Coordinator for your community, please get in touch with Jody at jody@recoverydevon.co.uk.
If you are a local business or organisation, you can also contact Jody on the above email and request to be involved and recieve some cards of your own.
To learn more about the project click here.
Community Development Fund
For those of you who don’t already know, our Community Development Fund, is for anyone who is passionate about creating opportunities for recovery, in interesting and ‘out of the box’ ways. We welcome any innovative, recovery-focused project ideas that would benefit from a small amount of financial support.
This month we have had the pleasure of catching up with some of last year’s winter community development winners. It was great to hear how they’ve been getting on and the developments they have made. We are so proud of our all our previous CDF winners!
Sweetpea Smallholdings, Exeter, have been running a weekly drop-in which invites volunteers to be involved in growing food and plants to give back to the community. They have already been able to donate 1.4 tons of food to the people of Exeter. They’ve even made BBC news and local radio!
The Washing Machine of Destiny by Philip and Luca – a theatre production all about what it’s like being on the autistic spectrum, has made huge success and they sold out all their shows across Devon. We have just heard the fantastic news that the tour shall continue later this year in the autumn, so we’ll be sure to keep you posted when tickets go live!
If you are interested in applying for this year’s Community Development Fund, applications forms and guidance shall be put on our website very shortly. We shall open applications from 11th April 2023, so do pop it in your diary!
Recovery Opportunities
Devon Recovery Learning Community
The DRLC offers a wide range of free, open access opportunities to learn about mental health and Recovery. They provide a unique curriculum of courses delivered online, in person or through a blended approach to learning, designed to increase your knowledge and equip you with the tools to live a meaningful, productive and fulfilling life.
To view their upcoming courses for April and beyond, please find their course finder here.
They also offer a relaxed and friendly weekly drop-in sessions in variety of locations across Deveon. These are open to anyone over the age of 18. You do not need to book, just turn up, sit quietly or chat with folks over a cup of tea and a biscuit; there is no pressure for you to do anything. There will be resources, creative activities and information that can help you keep well and have hope.
Their latest drop-in locations include;
Visit their website www.devonrlc.co.uk
Follow them on Facebook
Email dpn-tr.drlc@nhs.net
Kailo – Opportunities for young people
Kailo is an initiative committed to addressing the root causes of young people’s mental health, in the places they live.
They are now recruiting for:
- 2 x Young Researchers and Designers (aged 16-25, part time roles) (deadline 12th April)
- Youth and Community organisations in North Devon to partner with us (deadline 4th April)
Both opportunities will play an integral role in Kailo through the next phase as they take their prioritised opportunity areas and go through a period of deeper discovery and co-design to address the questions:
- How might communities be places where young people feel accepted, supported and that they belong?
- How might we increase mental health awareness, literacy and strategies for young people, families, and others, so they can build stronger more supportive relationships?
- How might we inspire, support and connect young people to a diverse range of jobs, opportunities and careers?
Below you can find out about their drop-ins to learn more about these roles, to ask any questions and find out about the application process in a bit more detail.
Young Researcher
ONLINE: Wednesday 22nd March 2023, 4pm-6pm
Link here Passcode: NBVvsD
IN PERSON: Friday 31st March 2023, 10am-1pm
Barnstaple Library, Tuly St, Barnstaple, EX31 1EL. We will be on the 1st Floor in the IT Suite.
Youth and Community Organisations
Online: Tuesday 21st March 2023, 12-1.30pm
Link here, passcode Np2eJV
Online: Thursday 30th March 2023, 9.30-11am
Link here, passcode: VguC7P
For more information or to have an informal chat about the roles available, please email Katie by emailing katie.potter@dartington.org.uk or call 07759476181.
Do you have experience of supporting someone under the Mental Health Act?
Would you like to support someone who is currently going through this?
A Carer Peer Support research team would like your help!
They are looking for carers with previous experience of supporting someone treated under the Mental Health Act (MHA) to take part in an intervention where they provide support to those who are currently supporting someone treated under the MHA.
What will this invention involve?
- You will receive training in supporting carers who currently have someone being treated under the MHA.
- After receiving this training, you will be matched with a carer and will provide support (either online or in-person) for the time that their family member/ friend is being treated under the MHA.
- Whilst providing support to carers, you will be provided with regular supervision from a clinician.
- You will also take part in a one-to-one interview to describe your experience of supporting carers.
- You will receive £300 for the training provided, and £131.25 for each carer you support.
How long will I be involved in the study?
- The training will include four half-day sessions that take place over one month.
- You will provide the intervention for around three months. During this time, you will be offered supervision for one hour every fortnight.
If you are interested in taking part, please contact Stacey Horne by email at staceyhorne@nhs.net or phone 07773575471
What’s happening in Devon
Join our aDoddle community map!
We are partners with the wonderful folk at aDoddle. Do you wish you could find support on your doorstep as easily as you can find a takeaway or a petrol station? Founded here in Devon, their aim is connecting communities one click at a time.
Hobby groups, charities, community interest groups or statutory services are all welcome to add their page completely free of charge.
Help us map support in Devon – it’s aDoddle!
Do you have a not-for-profit community mental health offer you’d like us to share?
With thousands of social media followers and newsletter subscribers across Devon, we’d love to help you find your tribe. Send an email (community@recoverydevon.co.uk) with “Roundup” in the subject line, adding a photo and a few details about your project – we’ll include it in our next round-up.