Tameside Oldham and Glossop Mind

Bob Mercer

CHAIR

I am Bob Mercer, Chair of the Tameside Oldham and Glossop Mind.  I have been on the committee for nearly 14 years and am proud to have seen all the amazing things the organisation is achieving.

I have taken on this leadership role, to support the executive committee and Richard as Chief Executive in continuing to develop the organisation to better serve our local communities.

My training started as a cadet nurse in 1969 in a 3,500 bedded psychiatric hospital and I have worked in mental health services ever since.  Really, however, I started to learn about mental health several years later as a community nurse specialist.  I developed an interest in behavioural and family therapy and trained in group analytic psychotherapy.  I ran many clinical training courses for CPNs and was the General Secretary of the National CPN Association.

I have held a wide range of senior management positions in both the NHS and Local Authorities and since retiring from full time work 4 years ago have acted as an independent consultant, supporting health and social care organisations in their strategic development.

In what spare time I have, I sit on a variety of committees but love to relax playing classical and folk guitar (fairly badly), cooking (moderately well), eating (better), playing bridge (too seriously) and climbing mountains (slowly).

I am passionate about the work we are doing at Mind and feel very fortunate to be associated with such a fantastic bunch of managers, staff and volunteers.

David Hutton

TREASURER

I am David Hutton, Treasurer of the Tameside Oldham and Glossop Mind.    I have been a committee member for around 18 months and was pleased to be asked to join the organisation at a time that it was celebrating success and planning further expansion.

I have been a Design Technology teacher since leaving Loughborough University in 1969, becoming a Head of Department and School Manager where I lead a team and was responsible for developing and delivering a large section of the curriculum.  I was also the School’s Examinations Officer.   I have been involved in teacher training initiatives, student mentoring programmes, all aspects of staff development and recruitment, school - workplace liaison placements for both staff and students and advising architects and school managers during large scale school building renovation and redesign projects.   Since the local management of schools, I have also been involved in all aspects of managing and monitoring school budgets. 

I finished full time teaching in 2003 and have since had more time to devote to my particular interest in renovation and construction where I have been able to enjoy undertaking and managing a series of domestic renovation projects.

I am delighted to be able to offer my time to the organisation and support the valuable work that is being done by such a team of dedicated staff and volunteers.

Lynn Jones

TRUSTEE

My name is Lynn Jones and I have been on the Executive Committee/Board of Trustees of Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind for very many years.

My involvement with Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind, however, goes back over 25 years to the somewhat dilapidated centre by the old Fire Station, when I was first asked to teach a Basic English and Maths class to any Day Centre users who wished to attend.  This was as part of my job as a Basic Skills (Skills for Life ) tutor for Tameside College. Over the years my role and title changed many times but I always retained a teaching element, working with adults to help them to develop the skills that enabled them to take more control over their own lives.

My particular interest in the field of mental health led me to teach and later give Educational Advice in the secure unit at Tameside and Glossop General Hospital as well as at a number of voluntary as well as statutory agencies in Tameside, again including Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind.   Throughout my career at Tameside College I retained an advocacy role for people with mental ill health culminating in my post prior to recent retirement from the College's Disability Equality Officer.

For the past 23 years I have had ME and have first-hand experience of the negative and sometimes hostile attitudes shown to people with a non-visible illness.

I have always found great solace in reading and am can regularly to be found scouring Ashton Library shelves. I am also gaining increasing pleasure from pottering in my garden, the Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind Allotment Project has helped foster this!

I have met and worked with some wonderful people over the years and it is a pleasure and a privilege to still be in close contact with some of the very best, who are found here at Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind.

Jacqui Byron

TRUSTEE

My name is Jacqui Byron. I have been a member of the Executive committee for the past 7 years. I have recently started a new job for Tameside MBC as a Counsellor for Physical and Sensory Disabilities; previously I worked as a Direct Payments worker for mental health services since 2002.

I guess I am on the committee as my initial invite to join and my involvement with the organisation was around my working role supporting people based within mental health services to have more choice and to empower them to look at their own care and the way services are delivered, but since I have looked more towards the benefit of being a part of an organisation who truly embraces the understanding of the individual and the changing need and levels of support and service connected with health and well-being.

Some of my skills and knowledge is initially my counselling base; I have been a qualified and practicing Person Centred Counsellor for the past 9 years working with employment counselling for the local authority and a wide range of voluntary organisations. I also have skills and good practice around personalisation – this works to support individuals around accessing social inclusion.

On a lighter note I have a number of other interests which brings out the creative part of my personality, I love cooking for friends and family, Gardening, travel and generally getting the best out of every day.

Elizabeth Simpson

TRUSTEE

Elizabeth worked for many years in the advice sector, firstly as a volunteer for Tameside Welfare Rights Unit and then for Tameside MBC as a Welfare Rights Officer.  When placed as a hospital welfare rights officer at Tameside Hospital she discovered a huge demand for advice within the mental health unit – and then within the community. She was able to develop a service that helped meet some of this need through an in-patient advice worker, a team of 3 welfare rights workers and then eventually a team of 5 money advisers to meet the huge demand for debt advice.

This work was motivated by a strong belief that if people had advice needs met around debt, benefits and housing then they would be in a much better position to take advantage of other services and support that might have been available.  These values are very much a core value of the organization for which she now works- HARP.  HARP is a third sector organization based in Manchester. Initially Elizabeth joined HARP to manage their young people’s project, YASP -  providing internet café, volunteering, advice and counselling for young people aged 15 -25 who have or are at risk of poor mental health.  For the past 2 years Elizabeth has been service manager for HARP which entails taking operational responsibility for all HARP Projects – YASP, Adult Advice Team, HARP Café, Good Mood Food (social enterprise – outside catering company) and Manchester Assertive Outreach Team (provided in partnership with Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust).  She also oversees Bite – partnership between HARP, MMHSCT and The Roby which has a focus on food growing and food production via the network of community cafés.

Elizabeth has a Diploma in Counselling but has not practiced as a counsellor since qualifying.

Recently Elizabeth has completed a Chartered Management Institute Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership and is also an Instructor for Mental Health First Aid.

Elizabeth therefore has experience in staff management, supervision, working in partnership, HR and employment issues, networking, strategic planning, marketing, training, managing contracts, outcomes etc. as well as an awareness of the environment and context in which mental health services are operating and developing.

Matthew

TRUSTEE

I worked for twenty years for a large multi-national electrical engineering company as a mechanical fitter and as a  joint convenor within trade unions as well as being Chair of the company’s Health and Safety Committee.   I have gained a lot of experience in management, employee relationships and have a good understanding of how businesses work in a competitive environment. 

I left engineering in 2001 to undertake a Social Work degree at the University of Salford.  I came to Tameside Oldham and Glossop Mind in 2002 as a Social Work student and have worked in all areas of the organisation as a student, developing a good understanding of the role of Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind and Topaz cafe within the local area.  I became a member of the Executive Committee in 2004, and took the role of Honourable Secretary for several years. I have had an active role in the changes and development of the current organisation and I am proud to have an involvement in an organisation that has a positive impact in the communities it provides for.

I currently work for Tameside MBC Social Services supporting people with learning disabilities living in their own homes.