Our Celebration

• Home
• What we do
• ICT Training
• Photography Group
• Drama Club
• Yoga
• Mentoring
• Craft Club
• Young People's Project
• Return To Work Support
• Design and Print Studio
• Healthy Eating
• Exercise Group
• Reading Group
• eBay
• Advocacy
• Befriending
• Counselling
• Information Line
• Self-Help
• Recovery Network

• Success Stories
• Amy's story
• Jack's story

York Mind exists in order to promote recovery from mental ill-health, emotional well-being and independent living.

We achieve this by having a three stage process.

• Entry level activities designed to help individuals make new contacts and friends. These activities include drama, yoga, craft, walking, reading, gardening and creative writing, which also have an extremely positive effect on the participants' wellbeing.
• Training activity designed to meet gaps in skills or education and provide qualifications that lead on to employment or mainstream learning.
• Work placements and specialist mentoring within our Design and Print Workshop for those ready to develop their employability skills and begin preparing for move-on from mental health services.

This pathway approach has been very successful, preventing much of the dependency and institutionalisation that has been associated with mental health service providers in the past.

Underpinning our pathway projects is an ongoing programme of individual mentor-support which we believe is the key to successful recovery.

Mentors help beneficiaries develop plans for moving on in their lives. They provide information advice and guidance on learning, volunteering or employment opportunities and help individuals develop coping strategies to overcome barriers they might face in their recovery from mental ill-health.

In order for the ‘Pathway' to succeed we also have a number of specialist projects designed to help individuals overcome the crises or barriers they might encounter. These specialist projects are fundamental to the success of the pathway approach and include:-

• Befriending
• "Self-help" groups: led by volunteers and beneficiaries, aimed at giving people the opportunity to share experiences and offer coping strategies.
• Information Service: a first port of call for anyone affected by mental ill-health or emotional distress needing guidance, signposting and advice.
• Advocacy: giving vulnerable people the support they need to make and act upon informed choices and decisions about aspects of their lives they wish to change.
• Counselling: supporting people through a period of crisis or distress. As well as those diagnosed with a mental-health condition, we also work with people emotionally affected by situations such as redundancy, bereavement, bullying at work and general anxiety.
  

We have 60 years experience of responding to local mental health needs and reaching out to our client group. We give a high priority to working closely with other organisations and agencies active in this field. We operate from modern, custom-built premises funded by the Big Lottery Fund. We are a registered charity and we value our independence.

To read a summary of our current (2008-2011) strategic plan which gives information about out aims and objectives please click here