You will need a degree (or equivalent) in a human science like psychology, social work or a more vocational qualification like youth work, and be willing to undertake training in supporting young people in crisis. You will need to be able to commit to at least one day per week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday), ideally for twelve months.

Please download the Person and Role Specification at the bottom of the Work for Us & Volunteer page and apply by CV and covering letter (stating why you want the role) to charlotte@otrbristol.org.uk

For an informal chat or to find out more call 0117 9226747 and ask for Charlotte or Simon.

Deadline for applications is 5pm on 9th March 2012.

Check out the Phillip Lawrence website to see the great write up about the Mentality project!

The Philip Lawrence Awards 2011 winners are:

• Just Ask Nottingham (Nottingham)

• Mentality (Bristol)

• Reclaim Our Name (Manchester)

• Vale Youth Speak Up (Barry, Wales)

• Voices Against Violence (Scotland)

• Young Citizens (Lewisham, London)

The announcement was made at a parliamentary event on Wednesday celebrating the positive contribution young people are making in their communities, with a showcase of past winners, and a panel discussion on ways of reaching out to more young people.
Speaking at the announcement event, Frances Lawrence said:

“This year’s Awards celebrate young people who have taken it upon themselves to deal with really cutting edge issues. They are wholly deserving of our thanks, support and admiration.”

Minister for Crime Prevention and Antisocial Behaviour Reduction Lord Henley said:

“Through their energy and commitment, this year’s winners have all made a difference to their local communities and made them better and safer places to live. They are an inspiration to us all and an important reminder that the vast majority of young people make a positive contribution to society.”

The awards body will now go on tour around the country to celebrate locally each winner. Watch this space for details on when the will happen in Bristol. Well done peeps!

You can find out more here: http://www.philiplawrenceawards.net/and-the-winners-are/

The scaffolding should be down and a thing of the past by the end of the week.

The ongoing project that Mentality is working on is delivering Positive Mental Health Workshops to schools/youth projects across the city. The workshops is tailored around the setting, provides interesting information and are fun. So if your school or youth project would benefit from a workshop let them know about us or contact Laura Brain!

The Positive Mental Health Workshops is part of another project, which is getting Mental Health taught more in schools. Drugs, alcohol and sexual health are commonly taught in schools but coping with stress is more unlikely to be taught. Schools are doing more to support the wellbeing of students but what about teaching students about managing anger. So Mentality is currently looking into way of doing this.

Again linking into to school, Mentality is working on a research project and is teaming up with Healthy Schools programme. They are carrying out a piece of research where they are visiting schools and asking students how they feel welling being is being looked after in schools. This about looking at positive things the school is doing, collecting good examples, what has not worked so well and how students feel schools can improve. Would your school like to be involved?

Then the last project Mentality is doing is a short campaign on Psychosis. They are planning to create a workshop to increase understanding of this mental health issue, create a video and a webpage. To do this they are teaming up with the NHS Bristol’s Psychosis team. Very exciting piece of work!
We are currently looking for young volunteers that have hours in the day to help with these projects. So if this sounds like something you want to get involved in, contact Laura Brain!

This only applies to counselling, so you can still call us, email or text and we’ll be here to take your call. It’s just a bit too noisy for any counselling to take place. Counselling will resume on Monday 16th January.

Thanks

If it is an emergency and you need to talk to someone please call either:
The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90
Childline 0800 11 11

**Please also note that due to essential maintenance to our roof we will be closed to counselling between the 9th and 12th January 2012. You will though still be able to phone, email or text us in that week.