In 2005 a group of people in West Dunbartonshire living with acquired brain injury set up a local group to help support one another. Over the past seven years the Brain Injury Experience Network (BIEN) has grown in number and scope – they are still there to help one another but they also want people […]
Archive | Stories
No More Heroes?
“If we could each bequeath one precious gift to posterity, I would choose a society in which there is genuine compassion for long-term sick and disabled people; where understanding is unostentatious and sincere; where needs come before means; where if years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their […]
Scotland nearer to having own respite centre
At this time of year many people are returning to work feeling the benefits of a summer holiday. From the time when paid holidays were introduced and extended to let ordinary workers enjoy a little time away, and seaside resorts on the Scottish coastline began to blossom. Taking a break away from the stresses and […]
Channel 4’s Mental Health Documentary
Kevin Gallagher shares his opinion of the recent Channel 4 documentary on the subject of mental health disclosure to potential employers and compares it with the soon-to-be released report on the subject from Employability Peer Support (EPS). Glasgow’s EPS is a development group made up of mental health service users and providers from around Glasgow. […]
Night & Day in London
Reflecting on the events surrounding his attendance of ‘The Technology 4 Good Awards’ in London, Kevin Gallagher wrote this hoping it showed an ear for radio. Night. Hunger drove me out of my hotel room following the Technology 4 Good Awards. Also the desire to photograph the newly opened Shard at night and the hope […]
Discoveries in Uncharted Territory
The beginning of July was a busy time for Professor Stephen Hawking. On Wednesday 4th July, he was losing a $100 bet with the announced discovery of the Higgs boson sub-atomic particle. On Friday the 6th, he was in receipt of the AbilityNet special award for accessibility as part of the Technology for Good event in […]
Praise and Recognition in London
I take it as a very positive sign that, within six months of appearing on the internet, the Mind Waves News project was nominated for a national award. The Technology 4 Good awards are relatively new, but they seem to be quite serious about it: the awards ceremony was hosted by Mariella Frostrup at BT’s […]
Learning The Lessons From London
The Technology 4 Good Awards in London Friday the 6th of July clearly set the future direction for Mindwaves. I came away from this event with a mixture of optimism and trepidation for the future, although we didn’t win in our category of Community News. It was wonderful to have been nominated for an award […]
Beacon of Hope For Glasgow
The symbolic nature of The Olympic Torch Relay is certain, but symbolizing what? When it passed through Glasgow on June 8th there was definitely a hunger for some meaning to the event – the hope of re-igniting community pride and inclusiveness perhaps? There was an understandable amount of healthy skepticism around on day 21 (of […]
A Personal Story on Recovery
The Scottish Recovery Network has just produced more materials to promote the message of recovery for people who have mental health problems. They have also published some interesting pieces on the use of compulsory treatment. This is my personal experience of recovery – of living with serious mental health problems. I am describing it here […]
