Bristol Anti Stigma Alliance (BASA)
A few years ago I went through a challenging time as I lost my job, my marriage ended and Iexperienced housing problems. All of this led to me being diagnosed with anxiety and
Depression. Soon after this I became involved in the Time to Change Campaign, and have been involved ever since.
As part of my physical and mental recovery I started playing football and walking with Bristol
Active Life Project (BALP) and still enjoy playing football for the BALP team to this day. I also
accessed the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Service through what is now the
Wellbeing Therapy Services.
I’ve been a Service User/Lived Experience Representative with Bristol Independent Mental
Health Network (BIMHN) since the organisation was set up in early 2015. BIMHN and Wellbeans promote Time to Change locally. I As well as this I’m a Representative for Rethink, a Time to Change campaigner, and a Peer Mentor with Second Step. So I'm involved in mental health awareness as a service user rep, and as a campaigner. These roles give me a sense of fulfilment and achievement. This involvement such as for Time to Change has given me many opportunities to take part in free training, such as speaking out, media, organising Time to Change events, peer mentoring, mental health first aid, and suicide prevention, which I’ve found really useful.
I volunteered for Time To Change at Cabot Circus shopping centre for World Mental Health week October 8th 2016, where we spoke to 397 people about mental health in a successful event. I also spoke about my experiences of exercise and Mental Health at a World Mental Health Day MIND conference about exercise and mental health, at Exeter City's St James Park ground on World Mental Health Day October 10th. I was also at the Bristol PRIDE Festival earlier this year, and have campaigned at these events- St Pauls Carnival, Bristol Harbour Festival, other events at shopping centres, supermarkets, leisure centre, and ran a stall at Cabot Circus as part of the Blue Monday event January 2016, run by Pennywise to assist people with Winter blues and money issues.
Recently, I’ve also been diagnosed with high functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome.
Asperger’s isn’t an illness but a difference in thinking, perception and senses. I’ve been accessing
social groups for people with these conditions. This helps me to socialise, deal with benefits,
volunteering and work issues, and understand my own and non-autistic people's communication needs. I'm now involved with service user activities and research into autism as well as into mental health issues. All this has helped me prevent re-occurrences of the crises I’ve experienced in the past and encouraged me to focus on the present and future. I now have a well-balanced life that consists of rewarding activities that keep me physically and mentally fit.
