Hope Cafe is a small project set in rural Clydesdale - so it was literally astounding for me today to hear how we have made such a significant impact on the mental health and recovery movement/ agenda here in Scotland.
For the last 2 days I have been participating in the Scottish Recovery Network/See Me Scotland Rights For Life National Conference.
I am absolutely blown away by the enthusiasm in the room about our (what I thought was) wee project The Hope Cafe.
Hope Cafe is a perfect example of a project that has grown naturally from a need and a want right at the roots of a local community.
It was NOT created in response to some strategy at government level or even a policy at local level. It was not designed by "professionals". It was designed and created by people in the community who knew what would have helped them at a time they were struggling with their mental health.
Hope Cafe is not a rich, well funded project. It is a project that runs on a shoestring budget and the passion and determination of its staff and volunteers. But it is a project that regardless of the many barriers it has faced in terms of location, lack of funding, lack of understanding - has against all odds managed to flourish on what was not necessarily fertile ground when we first started out.
Anyone who heard me talk about our project at the conference would have heard me speak quite openly about the many challenges we faced in the beginning as a peer led project. We were met by many closed doors, much ignorance and mis-understanding and some downright nastiness if I'm quite honest.
But - here we are being looked upon as a great example of recovery focused peer led practice in Scotland. How have we managed it??
If I'm 100% honest I'm not quite sure. In theory it should all have gone bottoms up when we tentatively stepped out in our small community speaking so openly about mental health. But it didn't - and that gives me great hope. It shows me that things are changing - and change is good.
I wanted to try and give you my tips for helping positive change to happen - so here we go:
1. Be hopeful
2. You don't need a lot of money to make a lot of difference
3. Activism does not need to be about battering down doors, insulting "them" and demanding change
4. There is no "them and us", we are them and they are us
5. Quiet, confident persistence works - if you know you have a good idea stick with it
6. You are stronger than you think you are, when you feel like giving up - rest & re-fresh & go back
7. Never give up on something you believe in
8. Utilise the strengths of those around you - many people have hidden talents waiting to be found
9. Surround yourself with positive sources of inspiration
10. Don't get bogged down with what's not working - focus on what is working
11. Be realistic but optimistic
12. Get a WRAP plan to help you maintain your wellness
13. Be more hopeful
What this conference has really made me reflect on most is number 4 - There is no "them and us"
At the end of today I stood and shook hands with the Mental Health & Well-Being "bigwig" for my NHS area. 2 years ago I truly saw him as the key to the destiny of Hope Cafe. I thought he was the guy that could make Hope Cafe happen and was very disappointed (maybe even angry) when he didn't at that time appear to have the same passion for it as me.
I thought we needed him but now I realise we didn't need him - but we wanted him on board because he is a good guy. And I think I now realise that because he is a good guy - he let us figure it out for ourselves.
Now as we stand recognised as a fantastic example of good practice - we want him to be a part of helping us to continue to develop what is a fantastic project.
Im pleased to say that over the last 2 years he has supported us (not always agreed with us - or us with him!!) and encouraged us - often very subtly. He has enabled us to grow into our own skin. We have agreed to disagree and that's ok because ultimately what we both realised was that we want the same things - just from different angles. But the door has always been open and we have always been treated as a respected partner - an equal.
ultimately what we all want is a community that encourages, enables and supports recovery. And I am very pleased to say that we seem to be on the right track.
I guess what I took away from today was something that was said at the start of the day "We don't want to build walls - we want to build bridges"
