To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, the team at Midland Mencap have rustled up our Top 5 Parks in the West Midlands. From beautiful parks and playgrounds, to riverside walks; the West Midlands has beautiful locations to give you the space to breathe, take a minute and enjoy all that nature has to offer.

1. Sutton Park

Located in Sutton Coldfield, Sutton Park is where the majority of our Parkride sessions happen. This large park has plenty of space to cycle, with children’s playgrounds and open fields to enjoy a leisurely stroll around.

From a visitor centre to a golf course, to seven different lakes, you are sure to have a relaxing day at Sutton Park. The centre offers toilets, baby changing facilities, a gift shop, interpretive displays and maps.

There are many different entrances to the park, increasing accessibility from across the area of Sutton Coldfield and wider Birmingham.

Join in with our Parkride sessions and visit Sutton Park!

2. Walsall Arboretum

Based in Walsall’s town centre, this park has a lot to offer! Reaching over 170 acres of land, there is plenty of wildlife and gardens to explore. There are also sport facilities, a mini golf activity and children play areas for a range ages.

Whether you enjoy fishing, walking, running or simply soaking up the sunny rays, Walsall Arboretum has so much to offer the West Midlands. You can even take a ride on pedalos or try out their free skate park.

Majority of the park is wheelchair accessible, and the pathways are flat, increasing ease for everyone.

3. Edgbaston Reservoir

IIf sailing or rowing are more up your street, Edgbaston Reservoir might be the park for you. You can also fish, if you apply for a permit.

With just under a 2-mile path around the reservoir, the area brings a sense of calmness located just outside Birmingham City Centre.

It can be accessed by foot or there is local parking nearby and is well-worth a visit during the summer.

4. Sandwell Valley Country Park

From farms, to parks, to playgrounds – Sandwell Valley Country Park has it all! Offering a fantastic experience for families, this area offers a huge range of activities to get involved with.

Enjoy the beautiful scenery whilst cycling through one of their many cycle routes throughout the park on either your own bike or you can choose to hire a selection of their bikes for a small fee.

If you have children from the ages of 5 – 13, their extensive playground allows children to run free in this brilliant area. Not only is there a sandpit and designated picnic area for families, but the playground also offers climbing nets, a rope bridge, an eight-metre-high tower with a slide, swings, a double zip wire, a dragon roundabout, a suspension bridge, a play tractor and trailer and timber sculptures, too.

In addition, there are weekly wellbeing and health walks available to book. They are a great way to boost your mental health and enjoy all that nature has to offer.

5. Coombe Abbey Park

Lastly, Coombe Abbey Park is based near Coventry, with 500 acres to explore. The park itself is home to Deer, with stunning lakeside walks available to wander along, too. From countryside to woodland, you’ll find a whole range of wildlife to watch and enjoy.

If you enjoy bird feeding, there are spots around the park that you can purchase bird feed from. Experience nature firsthand! There is also a small gift shop based in their Discovery Centre, where you can find all your accessibility information and interactive displays.

Children can enjoy the play area, too, but if you fancy something more on the adventurous side, the park offers axe-throwing, a zip line and a climbing forest!

Return of Adult Community Activities

We are very pleased to be able to share our road map for the start of re-opening our adult community services over spring and look forward to seeing old and new friends coming back. For more information call 0121 427 6404

Dry Ski Slope Skiing for adults!

We will be running a new skiing course in conjunction with Ackers Adventure Centre in Birmingham. Learn how to downhill ski and try a new sport! Dates and times to be confirmed, 6 week course £75 – Register your interest now! communityhub@midlandmencap.org.uk 0121 427 6404

‘A Healthier Me’

Take part in a new range of sessions designed to help you make healthy eating choices! Learn about different types of foods, nutrition and what makes a healthy varied diet. Work in group based learning across zoom, facebook, paper worksheets and physical food prep and cooking at our venues across the West Midlands.
Dates and times to be confirmed. Register your interest in this course now! communityhub@midlandmencap.org.uk 0121 427 6404

New kitchen at Weoley Castle Community Centre!

We’ve been busy during the most recent lockdown getting our kitchen refurbished ready for re-opening. This new modern kitchen will benefit our plans for more cooking and healthy eating courses, as well as continuing our work to support local families effected by food poverty and finally, our aspirations to develop a volunteer led community café!

Celebrating 1 year of online activities

We have recently celebrated 1 full year of our ‘Keeping In Touch’ promise we made to you all at the start of the first national lockdown. We want to say a big thank you to you for engaging with this and making this a truly amazing success story. In the past 52 weeks we have;

o Made 77,743 Safe and Well Calls
o Delivered 452,000 hours of Face to Face Support (This includes HCS, CYP and Adult community)
o Produced 750 Hours of online content
o Reaching over 2 million social media profiles
o Over 150,000 individuals that engaged with the content
o People viewed 260,300 minutes of content (or 4333 hours, or 180 days of viewing!)
o We sent 5067 Activity Packs sent out to people who couldn’t access online content.

We are looking forward to producing more fun content in year ahead! Keep watching our social media accounts for more online activities!

The Family Carers team continue with their delivery of virtual sessions, wellbeing calls, Statutory Carers Assessments and 1:1 work with carers. The GOLDD service also continues to support carers who care for individuals with Learning Disabilities and Dementia.

GOLDD:

The GOLDD service is a unique service to Midland Mencap where carers can be supported in various ways to suit them. Lara who runs the GOLDD service is currently providing regular wellbeing calls, carrying out Statutory Carers Assessment to identify any unmet needs, hosting virtual support groups on Zoom and sending out activity packs, which have been a huge success. There are lots of plans for the GOLDD service when we return face to face including: Horse Therapy, Sailing lessons and singing groups. Although we may not be face to face yet, you can still contact Lara to be registered with the service and receive the virtual benefits if needed. You contact Lara on: 07912268248 or email lara.carter@midlandmencap.org.uk

Parent Carer Workshops:

The Parent Carer Workshops are a 3 week course for Parent Carers to identify unmet needs to their wellbeing and learn coping strategies on a day to day basis to improve and meet these needs. In the sessions you will cover confidence and self-esteem, stress management techniques, self-care practises and much more. We have 3 of these courses running to ensure we offer different days and times of the week to suit as many carers as possible. These sessions are delivered via Zoom, if you would like more information or to book onto the sessions you can email: families@midlandmencap.org.uk

1:1 Casework with a Family Project Worker:

Although we have lots of group sessions available for carers, some may feel they need more in-depth support and referrals to external organisations. With casework, you will be allocated a Family Project Worker who will complete either a wellbeing assessment or Statutory Carers Assessment, from the assessment, the FPW will then identify where referrals need to be put in to meet any identified unmet needs. This may include referrals to Social Services, counselling services, or any service the FPW feels appropriate. You will work with the FPW for anything up to around 15 weeks. Once all referrals have been completed, your case can be closed but we will continue supporting you through wellbeing calls, group activities or support groups. To receive 1:1 casework, please email: families@midlandmencap.org.uk

General Support:

The Family Carers Team are currently completing regular wellbeing calls to carers, hosting fortnightly Coffee Mornings and Wednesday Wisdom groups on Zoom. We are also going to be delivering the Carers Wellbeing Workshops again with dates being released very soon.

For any further information regarding how the FCT can support you, please email: families@midlandmencap.org.uk

The Family Carers Team is very excited to enter 2021 with 3 new Family Project Workers, Sarah Lynch, Martin Hawthorne and Rebecca Bankole. Each bring years of knowledge regarding support for carers, emotional wellbeing and safeguarding.

The Families team continue to deliver Wellbeing Workshops every Monday via Zoom for Family Carers to learn coping strategies to use on a day to day basis and improve overall wellbeing. The sessions include: Sleep Well and Relaxation, Mindfulness, Building Emotional Resilience, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health Awareness in Children and Young People, Building Confidence and Self-Esteem and Healthy Relationships for Parent Carers. From January until March, we have also secured First Aid Training and Moving and Assisting Training for Family Carers too. This is also delivered via Zoom with certificate of attendance given after course completion.

The Carer’s Coffee Morning ‘s on a Thursday continue to run every fortnight, this is a chance for Carers to virtually meet one another and provide peer to peer support. It also gives carers the chance to meet the team and gain knowledge of what support can be provided for them and their family. So grab a coffee and join us in the comfort of your own home!

Last year the Family Carers Team also joined with the Mac to launch the ‘Hidden Voices’ project. This is a very exciting project for female carers to join together and improve their wellbeing through music. No music experience is needed, just an open mind to having fun and meeting new people. They have been running successfully so far, so if you would like to join a new group for 2021 and music is something you enjoy; join one of our Hidden Voices groups.

The team also continue their 1:1 work with carers who may need support in specific areas of their caring roles. The team can complete Wellbeing Assessments or Statutory Carers Assessments to identify any unmet needs and support you to ensure they are met in a timely manner. You can also apply for a Max Card through the Carers Team and be supported when applying for a Carers Card.

The Family Carers Team also provide a service for GOLDD Carers, this is for someone who cares for an individual with a Learning Disability and Dementia. Through the GOLDD project you can receive weekly support 1:1 via telephone, receive Wellbeing and Carers Assessments to identify and meet unmet needs, join weekly Zoom’s for peer to peer support and get information and advice. The GOLDD project also has it’s own Hidden Voices group, which is currently delivered via Zoom, to improve wellbeing through song writing and music making. To learn more about the GOLDD project, email: lara.carter@midlandmencap.org.uk

For more information regarding any of the services on the Families Team email: families@midlandmencap.org.uk

Easy Read Guide as a PDF

Annual health checks flyer PDF

If working on your mental wellbeing is a goal and wish of yours in 2021, then a podcast might be best means for you.

Podcasts have become a fantastic tool for mental health in the last few years. From shows that make you laugh out loud (literally) to informative pieces, and even those that focus on meditation and mental health. There are a whole host of podcasts to choose from.

As 2021 gets going, we have listed our top 5 podcasts to help get your mind, health and wellbeing in check:

1. Sleep With Me: If you struggle to get to sleep, or stay asleep during the night, then Sleep With Me podcast is for you. Sit back, relax, and listen to the weird yet oh, so, wonderful bedtime stories narrated by the podcast team. Our rating: 5/5

2. The Happiness Lab: Take a journey with Dr. Laurie Santos and explore the science of Happiness. It’s a little more academic than the other podcasts on our list, but it is equally as fascinating. It’s especially fantastic for those who want to dig deeper into mental health and their own happiness. Our rating: 5/5

3. Radio Headspace: Inject a small dose of mindfulness to your morning with Radio Headspace. These short and sweet episodes are just what you need on your commute to work or school, allowing you to take that quick breather. Our rating: 3/5

4. NHS Coach to 5K: It may not get you fit quick, but this podcast will guide and coach you through the stages required to reach that goal of 5k. Plenty of motivation, excitement and hype, this podcast is a must for those wanting to push themselves physically and mentally in the new year. Our rating: 5/5

5. Fearn Cotton’s Happy Place: Fearn Cotton interviews a different person every episode, exploring mental health and wellbeing in a variety of ways. The beauty of her podcast is just how many different points of view and techniques people offer in terms of keeping your mental health as a priority in your life. Our rating: 4/5

Whether you listen to all of our suggestions or just one of them, we would love to hear your thoughts on social media. Follow Midland Mencap on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Hello To all my readers as you know due to the current situation we have found ourselves in I did not think the marathon was going ahead then I found out that a virtual London marathon was going ahead!

To be honest I knew it would be hard but for everyone who knows me after the struggles I have been through and it’s been tough! I had enough grit and determined inside of me with the amount of training I did and preparing for it. I was not going to walk away from this and giving up.

I was nervous having everyone in my Midland Mencap’s family and friends and other people I have to meet through hockey all believing in me was proof I had it inside of me with what has been a very tough year it would be an amazing achievement. To remember it would be the hardest and toughest challenge with help from my coach Jonathan and my guide runner Mark who was meant to be doing London together they were both committed to helping me run.

Also, Dan Floyd from Mencap gave his advice and leading up to it my run Adam Bone just by his phone calls really helped prepared me mentally and even if it rained it wouldn’t stop me my route was from roheath pavilion Pershore road then round cannon hill. Which is a beautiful park as my scenery.

So the day itself full of butterflies and excited so once I set off a nice slow pace it was going really well but there would be a technical problem with my phone which meant I had to break. But in doing so I was able to have a flapjack for energy sadly at that point I did lose my coach Jon. I was so greatful for his help on my first part of my journey! So it was up to me and Mark to finish it yes I was scared but through sheer grit I pushed through yes it took me eight hours before I finished me and my Guide runner Mark had meet not knowing each other wanted to finish.

This is as were a team and yes to my mum I’ll always be her legend those last few moments where I felt pain in my legs I wasn’t going to finish until the app said complete. Me, my mum and Mark all looked at each other and when it said complete we all jumped in the air!!

My journey had come this I had done my part as a Midland Mencap ambassador and shown what those with a disability can do I will continue to help those who need help and I am going to keep running and take on London and other marathons because there is nothing I can’t achieve so watch this space thank you for reading and with losing Honey that was really hard but I ran for her and I am never going to a dark place because she would want me to be happy.

Recently we ran a poetry competition on our social media, asking people to write about their experiences on ‘Coping with Covid-19’
We had a fantastic response and put up a shortlist of entries on Facebook for people to vote for their favourite poem.

And the winner is?………………………………………….. Kath Hyslop!

Kaths poem really touched people, and she managed to capture the thoughts and feelings of everyone being affected by the virus in the current climate.

She said that lockdown has been really difficult for her so she started to think about what has happened and how she looks forward to when it ends. She had lots of ideas, and with the help from Mum she got them down on paper and had fun making it rhyme! Kath had never entered a poem competition before so was really happy when she won, as she didn’t even think she would make the top 5! – Well done Kath!

Coping with COVID-19 – by Katharine Hyslop

Covid-19 where have you been?
Where did you come from?
We know you’re new on the scene so,
Just where have you been?
I wish you’d go back there.

You’ve come into my life like a thief in the night,
Taking everything from me that I enjoy!
Like sport and meeting with friends.
You really do annoy!

I hear on the news that you’ve taken lives
That really is so shocking
My heart is breaking for the folk who have lost their loved ones.
When lockdown is over it’ll be you that we’ll be blocking.

Because Covid-19, a vaccine is on its way
And when it arrives, you’ll be the thing that we’ll be mocking.
We’ll be chasing you back to the place you came from,
Wherever it was, on that dreadful day.

Midland Mencap are offering free packed lunches For children who need them through October Half Term in the Weoley Castle (Birmingham) Area.

Drop in at ‘Weoley Castle Community Centre Bottetourt Rd, Birmingham, B29 5TE! (Sat nav: B29 5RX)

Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm!

If you would like further information call us on 0121 427 6404, or message Midland Mencap on Facebook or Twitter

All we ask is that you only use this support if you truly need it and respect social distancing measures

Our residential respite services are open and accepting referrals. Our facilities are covid secure and offer a high quality, bespoke home from home experience for your loved one. Our two homes are in Acocks Green and Erdington but we accept referrals from across the West Midlands.

We know how important to you having a trusted respite provider is, especially now, and our respite offer has clear benefits for both family carers and the person being cared for.

For family carers our respite will provide you with the opportunity to:

Take the time you need for work, hobbies or relationships
Take a holiday or a break to relax and recharge
Look after your own mental and physical health
Attend medical or personal appointments

FEES:

£164.29 per night
£1150 per week
£16.00 per hour for short break respite

We can also provide home based respite care by bringing our support service to your home

Both facilities are registered with the Care Quality Commission and rated Good, and all staff are fully trained and have enhanced DBS checks

For more information or to make a reservation please contact Emma Cavanagh on 0121 442 2944

Birmingham Multi-Care is a subsidiary of Midland Mencap