Author: Admin

On Saturday 11 March, more than 40 people gathered at The Charterhouse in central London for the third conference organised by Being Alongside since the start of 2022.

The day focused on the inter-related topics of substance addiction, mental health and prison life, and we were pleased to welcome a range of expert guest speakers to help explore our subject.

Delegates heard from experienced psychiatrist Dr Paul McLaren about the current medical approach to major substance addictions – chief among them, alcohol dependency – and about recent updates to the international classification system, which guides healthcare professionals in making diagnoses. We also heard about the remaining gaps in medical knowledge about the nature of addictions and their treatment.

Continue reading “‘Setting Free’ event on mental health, addiction and prison: conference report”

We are pleased to announce that our next event is taking place in spring, focused on the related topics of substance addiction, mental health and prison life.

With guest speakers:
• Revd Jonathan Aitken, Prison Chaplain at HMP Pentonville
• Dr Paul McLaren, Consultant Psychiatrist , Priory Group
• Another healthcare professional working in private psychiatry

The event will take place in the wonderful surroundings of The Charterhouse in central London (close to Barbican and Farringdon stations, at Charterhouse Square, EC1M 6AN) on Saturday 11 March 2023, beginning at 11.00am and finishing by 3.00pm.

Continue reading “Setting Free: Mental health, addiction & prison – Next BA conference, Saturday 11 March”

The Winter 2022/23 issue of Being Alongside, available free here digitally as well as in glossy paper magazine form to our supporters, is both inward- and outward-looking.

Catching up with comings and goings within the Being Alongside family, we meet our new chair Ben, and say thanks to key figures retiring from their posts, as well as a respectful and grateful farewell to the man who was said to have saved our assocation.

Looking outwards, in the first of a series looking at the many other wonderful organisations with similar aims to ours, we find out about Kintsugi Hope, a charity that’s seeding wellbeing groups throughout the UK.

This issue’s first-person testimony is provided by Michael Rothwell, who asks: “What is mental illness like to Everyman?”

And our long read is a transcription of a fascinating talk given at one of our conferences earlier in the year by Philip Bacon, centred on the “delicate and difficult” task of exploring spiritual wellbeing in a clinical setting.

Members gathered at The Charterhouse in central London on 21st May 2022, for a day-long conference exploring questions of diversity and inclusion in relation to faith and mental health.

The event also included Being Alongside’s ‘Annual General Meeting’ – though in fact, the Charity Commission had approved the organisation’s change of legal status to a Charity Incorporated Organisation just days before, which means only the trustees need to attend and vote at these formal meetings in future.

Our two guest speakers stimulated much thought and discussion with their talks about the Church’s relationship with two broad groups of identity: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities; and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

Continue reading “Being Alongside Everyone: conference report and ‘AGM’”

Saturday 21st May 2022
11am to 3pm
The Charterhouse, Barbican, London EC1M 6AN

With the theme of “Being Alongside Everyone”, our Spring conference on will explore the relationship between mental health and spirituality, with a focus on diversity and inclusion.

It will be an opportunity to discuss how faith groups can support the mental health of individuals from traditionally marginalised groups.

Speakers include:

• Canon Ann Clarke, Preacher at the Charterhouse, London
• Revd Joseph Fernandes, Lead Chaplain for Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller Communities, London Diocese

The conference will be following by our Annual General Meeting (starting at 2.15pm).

Refreshments provided. Sandwich lunch available (donation requested).

This event is free to attend and open to all.

To book your place please contact Lucy Roose, charity administrator, via admin@beingalongside.org.uk or 07496 909828

We are distributing a new leaflet to places of worship throughout the country.

The leaflet introduces people to Being Alongside, summarises our aims, and provides tips on what individuals and community and faith leaders can do to support people living with mental health distress.

We are very grateful to Sophie Coleman and Matthew Ingram for kindly allowing us to use their wonderful artwork.

Members gathered online and in-person for a special day conference on Saturday 15 January 2022, exploring the relationship between anxiety, depression and spirituality.

Contributors covered topics ranging from the place of faith in the treatment of those with mental health difficulties, to what the Bible tells us about Jesus’ approach to healing. Group discussion and reflection followed each talk.

The event was hosted in the beautiful, peaceful sorroundings of the Charterhouse in central London. As well as chance to consider our theme of helping those experiencing anxiety, the event gave members an opportunity to meet informally – for the first time in many months.

You can listen back to the addresses given by our three guest speakers below.

Continue reading “Being Alongside the Anxious: conference report”

We would like to invite members and supporters to a conference we are holding with the theme of “Being Alongside the Anxious”.

It will take place in the learning centre at The Charterhouse in the City of London, five minutes’ walk from Farringdon underground station.

Speakers will include Philip Bacon, an expert on the effects of mental health on families, and Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford.

To book your free place, please email ajpsummers@gmail.com

No less a star than Britney Spears graces the cover of our Winter 2021/22 magazine. Download it and turn to page 11 to find out why!

We also feature important news about our plans to modernise our charity structure; appreciations of three wonderful people from the Being Alongside family who have recently stepped down from their roles; a plea for openness and transparency about suicidal ideation; reflections on A Garden in Darkness (paintings by Michael Cook and poems by Rosalind O’Media.

We are also honoured to have been permitted to re-publish the brave testimonies of two women who experienced abuse at L’Arche, for which we thank the victim support organisation AVREF.

Last but not least, the back cover is an invitation for all friends and supporters of Being Alongside to come along to our conference on 15th January 2022.