On Tuesday the 18^th October 2011 Bright Ideas presented ‘We are the Champions’. It was a film screening and celebration, sharing best practice from the Champions of Change pilot service 2008-11. This event happened at the Broadway Cinema as part of mental health awareness week.

Special guests included Marcus Bicknell, GP Lead For Mental Health Commissioning in Nottingham; Dr Chris Udenze GP; Eric Adjaidoo, Independent Mental Health Nurse Specialist Consultant; Rob Gardiner, Deputy Chief Executive of the Carers Federation; Maqsood Ahmed OBE, Director of NHS Equality Delivery System, Department of Health; Dr Joanna Copping, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, NHS Nottingham City; Andrew Hall, Acting Director of Health and Well being Transition, NHS Nottingham City; and Charlotte Wilcockson, Commissioning Manager, NHS Nottingham City.

The event was hosted by Champion Andrew Downs; Nigel Cooke, Chief Executive of One Nottingham and Lisa Robinson, Director of Bright Ideas Nottingham.

Click here to download the press release

Click here to download the flyer

Watch the film that was shown at the event below. This film explains what Champions of Change is, how it affected people’s lives, as well as exploring the success of the pilot model, which can now be implemented into any engagement project.

httpv://youtu.be/JJ8R7e6mN1U

Bright Ideas created a promotional film for GKR Karate Nottingham Region 30 Black Belt Class.

Watch it below

‘Improve your fitness’, ‘learn self defence’, ‘gain self discipline’ and ‘increase focus’.
For more information visit the website http://www.gkrkarate.com and search for ‘Official Region 30 GKR Karate’ on Facebook. Or email Karl Hughes, Regional Instructor at khughes@gkrkarate.com

Contact us to discuss how we can make a film for your group or service.

Click here to find out more information

At the Healthwatch event on the 22^nd May 2012 at the Antenna Media Centre our keynote speaker, Patrick Vernon is to be awarded an OBE for his work in health inequalities.  Patrick is the Chief Executive of the Afiya Trust a national charity that works to reduce inequalities in health and social care provision for people from racialised communities. 

For more than 20 years Patrick’s career in health and social care has taken various paths, in particular it has been dedicated to campaigning to address health inequality for all minority groups.

Patrick  was the former Non Executive Director for East London and the City Health Authority and Chair of City and Hackney Drugs Action Team. He has held various roles such as Regional Director for London and South East England for Mind, NHS Director of Brent Health Action Zone) and a Non Executive Director for City and East London Health Authority, Trustee for Social Action for Health.

Patrick Vernon said: “I am dedicating this honour to my parents who were part of the Windrush Generation, they made a lot of personal sacrifices coming to Britain and raising my four sisters and I. It is also great to receive this award which also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Independence of Jamaica.”

“There is still more to do particularly around the new changing structure of the NHS and the role of local government in leading on public health. The work of The Afiya Trust and other organisations will be important to make the business case on how equalities and health inequalities should be combined around service development and commissioning. I hope that I will be in the position to use my OBE to further advance these issues and promote my experiences as a leader to support others wishing to develop their career in the health and social care sector,” continued Mr Vernon.

The OBE is expected to be awarded to Mr Vernon by the Queen at Buckingham Palace in December.

Click here to read the full press release  

Hi everyone!

The Champions of Change (mental health) blog has had a make-over!

To view it, go to http://championsofchange.wordpress.com/

The blog has quotes, photos and memories from the Champions of Change project so far, as well as information on engagement activities, copies of reports for you to download and information on upcoming activities which YOU can get involved in.

We are also developing a ‘Local Services’ page on which we hope to create a database of all the mental health services that are available in Nottingham. Contributions are most welcome.

If you have any comments, thoughts or suggestions about the new blog, email lorna@brightideasnottingham.co.uk.

As part of our Hearts and minds project which is funded by the British Heart Foundation, we are looking for people to join our new team of volunteers called The Love Hearts.

As a ‘Love Heart’ you will work with the project staff to develop and organise the programme for the Hearts and minds project, this will include:

Reggaerobics Meets Zumba

 Enjoyable classes for people who want to get back into or increase their level of physical activity.

Come Nyam Wid Me

Promoting and being a dinner guest at our Caribbean cookery demonstrations and dining events.

Distributing Resources

Visiting community centres and spaces, events, barbers, hairdressers, shops and business to give away Caribbean recipes and resources to the community

Caribbean Carnival and Hearts and Minds Conference

Representing the BHF and the African Caribbean Health Network at Nottingham’s Caribbean Carnival and the Hearts and Minds community conference

Hearts and Minds: The Movie

Be part of our film crew – on the screen or behind the scenes

Community Training Opportunities

Help to organise and promote training opportunities for local people

Do you want to be a ‘Love Heart?’

If so we need people over the age of 18 who are able to volunteer their time in Nottingham. This year the Love Hearts will be working closely with the African-Caribbean community so we are looking for volunteers who are comfortable with working with this community.

Enthusiasm, reliability and a willingness to have a great time volunteering are the only other requirements. You will develop lots of useful skills and experience on the project as well as training in community research and reporting, training in the BHF Healthy hearty Hearts Kit, Training in emergency life support, assistance to access course of your choice, opportunities to influence local and national agendas, a British Heart foundation goody bag and a Bright Ideas Goody Bag which will be topped up every month you volunteer and much more.

To find out more information about being a Love Heart click here to download the flyer.

For more information about becoming a Love Heart, please contact Lorna at Bright Ideas. She will arrange for the Love Hearts coordinator – Christine, to get in touch with you.

Email: Lorna@brightideasnottingham.co.uk

Tel: 0115 837 947

www.thelovehearts.wordpress.com

Are you interested in photography? If so Bright Ideas Nottingham is offering a FREE course on introduction to practical photography, how to take interesting and engaging photos, which could be used towards OCN Level 2 accreditation (optional)

The course will to held on Tuesdays 10.30 to 1pm, starts Tuesday 3^rd July 2012 and runs for 10 sessions (last session will be Tuesdays the 4^th September) It will be held at Making Waves, Wedgewood house, 70 Carlton Road, Nottingham, NG3 2AP.

The tutor of the course will be Toby, from Toby Neal Photography, who is passionate, highly qualified in photography with many years of experience in the industry. (Click here to find out more about Toby Neal Photography)

By the end of the course you will be able to:

■ Discuss and debate what makes an interesting and engaging photograph

■ Identify the basic artistic rules for composing photographs

■ Use basic editing tools

■ Produce a small picture gallery

■ Evaluate your photography

■ Upload photographs for use on social media

If you would like to book your place or to find out more information please contact Lorna. Email lorna@brightideasnottingham.co.uk, or phone the Bright Ideas Office 0115 837 9474 (Monday – Thursday)

Click here to download the flyer

This Course is free for volunteers. Reasonable travel expenses and light refreshments will be provided.