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Am Fasgadh - Skye & Lochalsh Mental Health Association
What do you imagine when you hear the words “mental health centre?” If you haven’t visited it before, the chances are that it’s nothing like Am Fasgadh.
“I love the place,” says one regular, “it’s just amazing. It’s so chilled – everyone’s friendly and there’s always good company. It’s like a family really. If it weren’t for here I don’t think I’d be on the same planet most of the time.” “It’s a comfortable place to come,” says another, “and it’s really welcoming. The staff have helped me out with so many different situations. It’s very confidential and they never judge you.”
Comfort is what most new visitors remark on. Am Fasgadh is set in a quiet space surrounded by trees, just off Dunvegan Road in Portree. In the living room leather suites and pine tables are arranged around an open fire. There are thick carpets, bowls of fruit and a fish tank. Down the corridor are smaller rooms with a snooker table, shelves of books and videos and plenty of comfortable space. Smokers are catered for with outside tables on a covered patio area. It’s a far cry from the stereotype of shabby beige health centres.
In fact, we go to great lengths to make it as different as possible from a “normal” health service. Am Fasgadh isn’t part of the NHS or Social Services. It’s a completely independent local charity without ties to any larger organisation. No files or records of any kind are kept, so people can talk about whatever they want without worrying that it will appear in their medical records or affect how they’re treated by anyone else. The staff aren’t counsellors, nurses or social workers, but that usually isn’t what people are looking for. As one of the members says “When you’re alone and feeling vulnerable things go round and round your head and get out of proportion. Then you walk through the door and there are smiling faces waiting to welcome you. Sometimes there are no easy solutions but I can’t stress enough how important it is to be able to confide in somebody who cares enough to listen.”
As well as giving people the chance to meet friends and talk to someone, we help in all sorts of other ways. For someone who’s not well, the stresses of life can become really hard to manage. We help people deal with forms, letters and phone calls and we come along to all different kinds of meetings and appointments. But we’ve also helped people move house, get animals to the vet, arrange trips to visit family, find a child minder and many, many other things. “It doesn’t matter what’s happening,” explains one member. “If they can help in any way they will.” For the staff there’s no such thing as a typical day at work.
Membership is open to anyone who has difficulties because of their mental health, whether caused by depression, stress, bereavement, breakdown or any similar problem. They can get in touch directly with no need to be referred by a doctor or anyone else. There are more than 250 members and 25 to 30 people come to Am Fasgadh most days. We have members of all ages and of every background, both native Highlanders and from every part of Britain and beyond.
For the past year, Am Fasgadh has been open 365 days a year. Members can come as much or as little as they want, no appointments are necessary. It’s a drop-in centre not a day centre and nobody is expected to take part in any activities if they don’t want to. For those who want to get involved, however, there’s free internet access with tuition for beginners, art and craft groups, the chance to help out in the garden and polytunnel, discussion groups and relaxation classes.
Ask any member what they like about the place and they’ll tell you about the food. A main meal is served at lunchtime every day and there’s an evening meal on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our cook Joy produces an amazing array of homemade dishes with at least three or four options available at every sitting and the quality is every bit as good as the various cafes in Portree. Even better, our subsidy means that a huge portion costs just £1.85. This is especially important because everywhere else charges tourist prices out of reach of those on a low income. Whatever difficulties someone faces, eating well can only do them good.
People visit from all over Skye and Lochalsh, but it isn’t easy to offer a service to such a large area. Every Friday we hold a well attended session at Kyleakin Hall, where we offer as much of the same service as we can without having our own building. It also benefits from the same excellent food. We can pay members their petrol costs to drive to either drop-in. There are also concessionary schemes that allow free public transport for many of our members, and we can help people to apply for these.
Am Fasgadh can also provide furniture and household goods to people having difficulty buying new. This started almost by accident through people offering us second hand items to pass on, but it’s a project that’s taken on a life of its own. It received a great boost recently when were given a van by Donnie Morrison from Inverinate. There aren’t many local opportunities to buy affordable essentials and someone moving into a house or flat for the first time can face a daunting situation. We are delighted to accept good quality second hand items and we pass them on for just a small donation toward transport costs. Sadly, time and storage are limited so we can’t meet all requests, but we will do our best.
We have 2 full time and 6 part time staff. The organisation is governed by a board of 12 volunteer directors including members, GPs and people with a personal or professional interest in mental health issues.
Can you help?
We enjoy great support from the community, whether it’s donations of money and items or just an interest in our work. We provide training sessions introducing people to basic issues in the mental health field and we’ve given talks to a variety of different groups. We also have some excellent volunteer workers who give their time to support us and we’d love to hear from anyone else who might be interested.
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page added 22 July 08
If you’d like to become a member or a volunteer, to give or receive household items or if you’d just like to know more about Am Fasgadh - Skye & Lochalsh Mental Health Association- you are welcome to contact us , ask your GP or nurse or just call in.
contact
01478 613533
More information
http://www.slmha.co.uk.
Last Updated 14/01/2009 12:07 |
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