Hopes for mental health charity course (From Harrow Times)

Starbucks-backed course in Harrow for mental health sufferers to restart in autumn

4:10pm Monday 5th July 2010 in News By Tristan Kirk

A SCHEME helping mental health sufferers to get out into the community has been hailed as a success after its first eight week run.

Charity Mind in Harrow has for two hours every Monday taken over a part of Starbucks in St George's Shopping centre for a course on making jewelery, keyrings, and other items.

It is part of the Stepping Stones scheme, and helps the participants to be socially active, meet other people, and learn new skills.

Gillian Samuel, a service manager at Mind in Harrow, said: “This scheme is quite radical, because you would normally hold a leisure course in a gym or college, not in a cafe in the centre of town.

“It is a way we are linking people with mental health problems into mainstream living, helping them to meet in places like Starbucks and learn skills in a sociable way.”

Neomari Business Training Services, a company specialising in jewelery making, has been hired to run the course, providing materials and training for the residents who take part.

The project has been funded in part by Harrow Council, supplemented with money from bodies like Sport England and Comic Relief, and is set to start again with new members in the autumn.

However, it's future is not guaranteed beyond that as bodies like the council and NHS Harrow are forced to look again at their budgets.

Raksha Pandya, who organised the course, said it would have a long-term impact on those who take part if the course is retained beyond the autumn.

She said: “It's quite exciting, I don't think anything like this has been done in Harrow before.

“It inspires people, they learn skills and take them away to use elsewhere.”