As June draws to a close

I want to share with you

The last of my Charity Chats

Starting with

Journeys of Hope

Journeys of Hope aims to provide education & information to the public, professionals, professional groups & other interested parties about postnatal depression. To enable women and their families receive appropriate treatment and care.

WHY? – Journeys of Hope was founded because we recognised that there is enormous stigma attached to Postnatal Depression and lack of information for mums, dads and their families. There was also a research study in 2011 that found that 50% of women who had postnatal depression did not know what was happening to them

The founders of Journeys of Hope came together because of their own experiences of Postnatal Depression and their drive and passion to make a difference, and because of the need to challenge the current erratic provision of services and support for women and their families.

How did your charity begin?
It started with 3 people with a vision of helping women and families affected by Postnatal Depression. Each of these three people had their own experience of the condition and knew that more could and should be done for those on the same journey that they had been on.

Ann Girling has worked many years as a Health Visitor, then retrained as a coach and ran her own business but is now focussing on her future in her new career as a network marketing professional. She is also author of “Journey to Chocolate”.

Mary Newsome, worked for the Department of Health and NHS Employers and NHS England. She has experience in mental and occupational health. She is also an expert by experience and has written and spoken about her experience with PND.

Rachel Redshaw is an expert by experience, a Trustee, a businesswoman and a fundraiser.

The charity has grown since its inception and now has a board of trustees committed to helping the charity grow and achieve its aims.

Together the team has a wide experience of charity work, the health service, business practice and skills. BUT the most important thing is that we are passionate about making a difference to peoples’ lives and helping them make the journey from Postnatal Depression to good health as short as possible.

Can you describe a day in the life of your charity?
Our current focus day to day is reaching out to people affected by PND through social media, our website and other online platforms so most of our time is spent managing this and developing relationships to support this work. The trustees are currently focussed on developing our charity’s longer term strategy and of course the fundraising strategy to support our future plans.

How can people donate?
By contacting us at info@journeysofhope.co.uk

What more can people do? How can we get involved?
As a small charity and like all not for profit organisations and charities, the money to pay for our work is limited and fundraising is an important activity. We’re looking for people to join us and help us in whatever way they can.

There are lots of things we would love people to do to help us raise money: putting on a coffee morning or cheese and wine tasting event for your friends or local mum & toddler group, having a fashion show, jewellery party, or swishing party (have a look here: http://swishing.com/). Some craft people have in the past made something, knitted something or painted something to sell or auction online. We have also had someone do a sponsored bike ride recently and raised nearly £500.

We recognise that fundraising is not for everyone, and there are other ways of showing support, sharing personal experience of Postnatal Depression, letting others know what helped you cope with it? We’re not just interested in mums stories either … postnatal depression affects dads too, in fact it impacts on the whole family – how did your partner/family cope, how did they help you, who did you turn to? We recognise that others would be interested to know. Helping to identify where the support groups are in your area, we need help so that we can provide a comprehensive nationwide list.

Any top tips for organising a good fundraising event?
Our top three tips are:
1. Choose something you already have an interest in and this will make organising the event easier and probably more enjoyable – so if you play a particular sport try organising a charity tournament, if you’re a keen baker hold a coffee morning or bake sale, if you’re a TV quiz show addict organise a pub quiz, and so on!
2. Try getting everything for free – your venue, catering, raffle prizes and so on…if you don’t ask you don’t get so don’t be afraid to ask! You’re doing a great thing so use your networks and you might be surprised at what you can get for free (or cheap), and of course that all means more money going to the charity you’re supporting.
3. Tell your story – telling people why you’re doing something will encourage them to support your event. You don’t have to go into detail if you’re not comfortable to, but the chances are you’ve decided to organise the event for a particular charity for personal reasons, and sharing those reasons so people know why it’s important to you will help you raise more money.

What is your charity’s biggest achievement to date?
Starting “Hope Week” in the first week of May each year to start the conversation about postnatal depression, raise awareness and challenge stigma. We had a big social media campaign this year.

What do you hope to achieve in the short term?
Have a website that is up to date and full of information for people to access.

What are your dreams, long term goals for your charity?
To become the go to place for information about postnatal depression and local services across the country, to have paper information available to all new parents and a mobile app so that wherever you live you can find what you need.

What is the one thing you wish people knew or understood about PND?
Two things actually, it affects the whole family not just the sufferer and as such treatment needs to reflect this. The second point is, you can get through it with the correct support and information, the biggest barrier for a lot of people is speaking up because of the stigma still attached to mental health issues.

Who or what is your inspiration?
Families who need support to tackle postnatal depression.

This month is #matexp month of action, where do you feel there are gaps in our maternity services?
There are huge gaps in maternity services from shortages of midwives and health visitors to a complete lack of support in some regions for people suffering from postnatal depression. The cuts to the NHS have meant that what services do exist are stretched to the limit and people are falling through the net.

What can we do to make pregnancy, birth and early parenting better for all?
We need to keep lobbying for better information for parents and parents to be, better maternity services and maternal mental health services. Charities do not have the money and resources to fill all the gaps in the NHS, we need to raise awareness and lobby against more cuts to services.

What more can we do to support parents with PND?
Provide as much information and support as we can, give them knowledge so they know what to ask for when dealing with health professionals; and direct them to sources of information that will empower them.

As someone who suffers with PND and PTSD

And mostly suffers alone

I am so grateful for charities like this

Small groups of people committed to helping people like me

Families like mine

But they cannot do it alone

If Journeys of Hope has inspired you

If any of the groups featured in Charity Chat

Have grabbed your attention

Or pulled at your heart strings

Please do what you can to support them

Thank you x