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Launch of grant scheme for local projects

Being Alongside is pleased to announce the launch of a scheme to offer direct financial support to churches and other organisations looking to set up initiatives to help people experiencing mental health difficulties.

Being Alongside’s trustees have agreed to give away up to £20,000 over the next two years, with the aim of expanding the number of drop-in café style projects and befriending schemes across the country.

Local organisers within the UK are invited to submit applications for up to £2,000 to support the establishment of such projects, to help cover the costs of expenses like room hire, publicity and refreshments.

The grants could also be used to fund research into the needs of the local area, and how those with poor mental health could be best reached.

The trustees recognise that £2,000 is not a huge amount of money, but our hope is that it may make all the difference in getting a project off the ground – particularly if it can be match funded by other sources.

The two project types – befriending schemes which match those experiencing poor mental help with a volunteer who meets with them on a regular basis; and drop-in café style projects which provide a safe and reliable space for people to come together – have been selected as the primary focus of the grants, given the success of these projects elsewhere and Being Alongside’s ability to provide practical advice to those looking to set up such initiatives.

Projects based in any part of the United Kingdom interested in applying for funding are invited to submit an application by completing the simple form below, and submitting it to our Administrator via the address given on the form. The form includes guidance notes explaining what information the trustees are seeking to understand when considering applications.

Applications will be considered by a sub-committee of trustees on a quarterly basis, and we will keep applicants updated on progress. We will then seek to stay in touch with the projects to which we award a grant, to offer wider support drawing on the experiences of our branches and affiliates.

Potential applicants with any queries about the scheme are encouraged to contact our Administrator, Lucy Roose.

BA draft application formDownload
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‘Setting Free’ event on mental health, addiction and prison: conference report

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.

Revd Jonathan Aitken, chaplain at HMP Pentonville, addresses the conference

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.

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

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.

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Winter 2022/23 magazine

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.

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Being Alongside Everyone: conference report and ‘AGM’

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.

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Join us for our conference and AGM on 21st May 2022

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:

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

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Being Alongside the Anxious: conference report

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

Members gathered at the Charterhouse, London, and online

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.

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