Author Archives: Carolyn Barber

New Mental Wealth Academy programme

After the success of our online Mental Wealth Academy during the first lockdown, and thanks to funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, we’ve put together a new online programme for 2021, running from Feb-May! Open to all abilities. You might … Continue reading

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Spotlight on Carers

“An unpaid carer is anyone, including children and adults, who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support.” … Continue reading

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Reasons to be Cheerful

Some of you may recall the late great Ian Drury. “Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt. 3” was released by Stiff Records in 1979 and reached number 3 in the UK singles chart. The link takes you to an inspiring live performance with … Continue reading

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Coping with a Covid Christmas

With the last minute restrictions on Christmas celebrations, perhaps this is a fitting end to a most extraordinary year. And 2021 promises to be another year of uncertainty and challenge. So I thought I’d share this very shortened version of … Continue reading

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Books Alive! week

Thanks to some funding from the Portsmouth Lottery, we’re celebrating stories of diversity from our inspirational Books Alive! volunteers. So why not join us for our Books Alive! week? We’ll be sharing an interview with one of our volunteers at 4pm each … Continue reading

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Stories of Asylum during WW1

We’re hosting a second online launch event on Saturday 5 December at 10.30am. This is entitled ‘100 years of Mental Health Care in Hampshire’.Carolyn Barber will talk about the outcomes of our 2017 project and exhibition. Carolyn will be joined by Maggie Sawkins, … Continue reading

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History, health and hope

At the 11th hour of the 11th  day of the 11th month, the armistice was signed which formally ended hostilities of the First World War in 1918.  Remembrance Day is an opportunity to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth … Continue reading

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Mental Health For All

Saturday 10 October, was World Mental Health Day! The theme this year is ‘Mental Health For All’, and it couldn’t be more relevant at a time when coronavirus has highlighted how much our mental health means to all of us. I’ve … Continue reading

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Never Give Up Hope

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come”Anne Lamott We’ve now reached another turning point in the Covid 19 pandemic with the re-introduction of further restrictions … Continue reading

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Help Prevent Suicide!

At the weekend the University of Sheffield shared this series of 13 short films as part of their Festival of the Mind. Based on the book Our Encounters with Suicide (ed. Fran Biley, Alex Grant, Judith Haire, Brendan Stone), Kathryn and Penny … Continue reading

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