The event takes place in the same week that the Welsh Government published “Together for Mental Health – A Cross-Government Strategy for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Wales” for consultation.
Lee McCabe, a Practice Leader at Hafal with personal experience of serious mental illness, said: “On an initial reading we think that there is much that is good in the new Strategy and that it does support the Mental Health Measure in its promotion of effective care planning.
However, we intend to scrutinise the Strategy to ensure that people with a serious mental illness get a good deal. After all, these are the people who need the most support from services.
“It’s essential to get the Strategy right as it will inform the delivery of mental health services in Wales in the coming decade.”
Eric Ware, a service user at Hafal’s Swansea project, said: “Although the campaign has a serious message the event was a lot of fun. The classic camper is always a big draw but people love the mobile mountain. It means they can have a picture of themselves on a snowy peak, being chased by a yeti if they want!”
Service users and carers at the Swansea event had the opportunity to discuss the new Strategy, find out more about the Carers Strategies Measure and explore how they can get the most out of the new Care and Treatment Plans prescribed by the Mental Health Measure.
The “Movin’ On Up” campaign is run by service users and carers and supported by mental health charities Hafal, Bipolar UK and the Mental Health Foundation. The campaign will include 22 weekly county events and will incorporate two mountain climbs with service users scaling Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons and Wales’ highest peak, Snowdon. The campaign will also feature an interactive stand at the Royal Welsh Show and, on World Mental Health Day, at the National Assembly. As part of the “Movin’ On Up” campaign service users and carers will run a Seminar on May 17th in Builth Wells in order to develop their continuing dialogue with senior policy makers and providers of mental health services.
• For more pictures from the event go to Hafal’s Facebook page
• For more information on the campaign go to: www.hafal.org
• To get the latest event updates on Twitter go to: http://twitter.com/hafal_