As festive funding cuts are announced by each Department across the Northern Ireland Executive, Action Mental Health provides an insight into the impact of budgetary cuts and what they will mean for Northern Ireland

The 12 cuts of Christmas is an in-depth look at how service provision could be adversely affected by the severe cuts to Health, and Employment and Learning budgets in Northern Ireland.

Further to Minister Farry’s comments regarding an imminent 10.8% cut to his Department which “will have a knock-on impact for the Voluntary and Community sector in terms of grants coming from our DEL”, AMH has sought to highlight the sheer scale of both DEL and DHSSPSNI cuts if implemented.

David Babington, Chief Executive of Action Mental Health responded to the news of these intended cuts;

“It is with deep regret that I am responding to such severe cuts in both Health and Employment and Learning without any prior consultation from either departments. As Chief Executive of an organisation which awarded 2,753 training certificates and supported over 14,500 people across Northern Ireland last year, I am very disappointed to learn that our service provision appears to be undervalued and misunderstood.”

In addition, Mr Babington stated his opposition to proposed DHSSPSNI funding cuts as articulated in the recently published Departmental consultation document;

“As an organisation we will be consulting with both DEL and DHSSPSNI with regards to looming budget cuts. The 12 cuts of Christmas provides AMH with an opportunity to stake our claim as one of the most effective and trusted service providers in Northern Ireland. Annually we create massive dividends for the NI economy through helping thousands back into work and through alleviating hospitals through our preventative and recovery work programmes.”

Action Mental Health support the stance of NICVA’s Chief Executive Seamus McAleavey who stated;

“Quite simply the Minister proposes to protect his public expenditure allocations to statutory organisations by sacrificing the work of voluntary and community organisations.”

Action Mental Health provide various services, from suicide prevention, physical wellbeing activities to specialised educational services for people with learning disabilities and mental health issues. We deal with thousands of clients on a yearly basis who trust and value our work. AMH would urge the both the Minister for DEL and the Minister for DHSSPSNI to consult sufficiently with the sector and come to see for themselves the successful service we provide for boosting the employability of people across NI.

David Babington concluded by saying;

“Action Mental Health has worked hard to put ourselves in a situation where we can provide a quality, trusted and worthwhile service. We are one of Northern Ireland’s biggest providers of Further Education courses and mental health service provision. Cuts to our already slight budget would jeopardise our ability to deliver a service which to date has been hugely successful and essential for our clients.”

AMH echo the sentiments of NICVA by asking that the Minister provides ‘fairness’ for our sector when implementing budgetary measures for 2015-16.

 

12 Cuts of Christmas ??????

	SERVICE	CUT	IMPACT
1	Last year 1,975 people across NI were enrolled in the AMH New Horizon Programme	Real threat of cuts from all funding streams including DEL to Voluntary & Community Sector budget	People in NI living with mental health conditions will be less able to enter the workplace, which will add greater pressure to NI welfare services
2	Last year 448 AMH clients were offered an alternative to waiting for a GP appointment or A&E queues via a local  Pharmacy partnership Programme in Newry Craigavon & Fermanagh	Health budget cuts will affect £10,277 of funding currently received	Greater pressures per capita on NI health service, less self-help, less health knowledge amongst the local population
3	Last year in Fermanagh 135 people benefited from physical activity programmes delivered by AMH	Health budget cuts will affect £20,402 of funding for services	The proven link between mental wellbeing and physical activity, means negative impact will be created for recovery by alternatives to medication in NI
4	Last year one of our many employer training programmes was delivered to 130 business people in Antrim alone	Health budget cuts will mean that this investment of £1241, may not reoccur next year	Mental ill health at work costs employers £26bn each year in UK, a reduction in funding would lead to an increase in economic inactivity and sickness rates in NI
5	AMH is the voice for some of the most vulnerable and isolated sections of our society in NI	Cuts threaten all the central functions of our organisation – the research, policy-influencing, fundraising and campaigning capabilities of AMH	Less resources to educate the public on mental health issues and tackling stigma will have massive knock on effects for NI as a society
6	Last year we provided suicide and health promotion programmes to 8,235 young people in County Armagh	Health Budget cuts will affect £55,844 of funding for the future	The overall suicide rate in NI more than doubled in the past 30 years -without preventative services more lives will be lost and more families left devastated
7	Last year 70 people participated in a creative art for rehabilitation project in Fermanagh	Health Budget and DCAL cuts will affect £10,650 of funding	Research shows art therapy is particularly effective for people recovering from mental illness, Without such therapies medication is often the only alternative – once again this will increase the burden and cost to the health service in NI
8	Last year we supported 14,538 people in NI through our Employability, Health Promotion & Recovery programmes	Health budget cuts will affect the amount AMH receives to run all our services throughout NI	Our vision of a mentally healthy Northern Ireland now and in the future will be put at risk. Value for money services delivered by AMH would need to be provided by solely by statutory sector
9	AMH are receiving an increasing number of referrals for people with severe and enduring long term mental illnesses	Health budget cuts will affect the funding AMH receives to run all our services	In-patient and hospital bed pressures will increase if alternative services are lost
10	Last year AMH supported 9 adults living with Asperger’s syndrome in Newry alone	Health budget cuts will affect £3559 of service funding	Without this unique project there is less support as ASD increases across all health and social care trusts in NI (67% increase in 4 years)
11	AMH trained 253 people to self-manage their long term conditions across Derry, Omagh and Fermanagh	Health budget cuts will affect £44,000 of essential funding	Increased pressure on health service resources across NI will lead to reduction in quality of care
12	Last year our training centre for adults with learning disability in Bangor supported 81 people	Health budget cuts will affect £200,000 of service funding	Increased pressure on families and other services to support adults with special needs across NI

 

A former AMH client has been awarded the Marsh Trust NI Regional Volunteer of the Year Award for his volunteering role with Barnardo’s.

Many congratulations to Lee Maddocks who has been volunteering with the charity’s Newtownabbey Family Connections service for the past three and a half years.

The service is based in four local schools – Newtownabbey Community High School, Rathcoole PS, Whitehouse PS and Abbots Cross PS. Its aim is to support families to live and learn well together through parenting programmes, after school clubs and providing family and educational support.

Lee started volunteering with the service in spring 2011. Volunteering was suggested as a path back to work by Action on Mental Health following a period of depression and anxiety.

Initially the 29-year-old helped run a games club two days a week for 12 -15 year olds during lunchtime at Newtownabbey Community High. He also became involved with the family learning programme at Rathcoole Primary, helping children with their homework and advising parents on establishing homework routines. He also took on a leadership role with the Active Dads programme, helping with outings and taking part in a residential trip.

“The Barnardo’s team at Family Connections have been brilliant; they have given me opportunities and encouraged me. When I started initially they saw something in me that I didn’t know was there and through my experience I’ve found that I have an aptitude for working with young people and that’s definitely where I see my career going now,” Lee explained.

“I think when people look at children they see a homogenous group and they’re not – they are all unique and when you begin to appeal to them as individuals they really respond to it. The kids I work with also really appreciate that you’re a volunteer and that you’re there because you want to be and not because you’re obligated.”

Since starting volunteering with Barnardo’s Lee has taken an NVQ Level 3 Childcare course at Northern Regional College and he continues to volunteer with Newtownabbey Family Connections.

Encouraging others to consider volunteering, he added: “It might seem like a big commitment at first but it’s not – one or two hours a week is really nothing and that domino effect won’t happen if you don’t do it. Volunteering will impact more upon you more than you can imagine. But there is also a real need for men to volunteer so that boys and teenagers can have someone to identify with and when there are other men working with families dads are more like to become involved, which benefits everyone.”

Newtownabbey Family Connections Manager, Claire Humphrey said: “Lee is a fantastic asset to us and we are delighted he has been named as the Marsh Trust regional winner for Northern Ireland. He has a real connection with the young people and the teenage boys especially relate so well to him. It’s brilliant to see how he helps to build their confidence and self-esteem through engaging them in activities.”

For information about volunteering with Barnardo’s NI email Helen Connolly – [email protected]

Many Congratulations to our Men’s Shed, Steeple Antrim who won the Community Champion award from the South Antrim Community network.

This award is ‘in recognition of the valuable contribution to an exemplary illustration in creating opportunities to build capacity or bring innovative ideas to the community.’

The play ‘Everything Goes…’ was performed yesterday morning in the recently refurbished training area of AMH New Horizons in Downpatrick.  Clients have been working collaboratively over the past few months to create 6 original, short scenes which explored issues from unemployment right through to couples who find themselves ‘stuck in a rut’.    

The performance was also assessed as part of a CCEA Performance Skills qualification.  This qualification has given clients the opportunity to explore and develop both practical and theoretical aspects of Performance Art.

Well done to everyone who took part in the performance.  The feedback has been wonderful.

‘Each act was very true to life.  Sketches were fresh, original and humorous…’

 ‘I didn’t stop laughing the whole time.  Each play was very funny and in my opinion the acting was excellent…’