Member Thoughts

On 4th November, as one of the monthly ‘Breathing Space’ sessions(free to anyone involved in Community Rail)our WiCR South group hosted a Mental Health Awareness training, led by Kelly Burton, Health and Employee Well-being Manager at Avanti West Coast.
 This focussed on how all aspects of our lives can be affected by mental health issues, and explored ways to manage and support our mental well-being.
Details of this event, including all slides, can also be found on our website in the Events and Training section.

Our trainer, Charlotte, set the tone for the training with a deeply personal account of her journey from denial through to finding ways to help herself(and others),then invited us to share our own experiences of challenges to our mental well-being.

HELPING OURSELVES
What are the barriers preventing us getting help?

1) STIGMA
i) Internal stigma
This stops us recognising or admitting we have a problem.
ii) Perceived stigma
This stops us seeking help for fear of being judged or criticised by others.

2) OUR INDIVIDUAL STRESS SIGNATURE
We all have one, and we have to recognise and understand it before we can deal with our mental ill health.
It’s formed when our personal ‘stress container’ fills up with unhelpful strategies for relieving anxiety.
We need to find ways of ‘opening the tap ‘to relieve the pressure.

BLACK DOG
This was an entertaining video with a serious message, portraying mental ill health as a large and ever-present dog affecting all aspects of its owner’s life.
Asking for and accepting help can reduce the dog’s size and weight.
So although it may not go away completely, it will become smaller and easier to live with.

SUPPORTING OTHERS
We can help others by:
i) supporting them ourselves, or
ii) sharing information on sources of help and support

Some do’s and a don’t:
DO
Ask if they want to talk
Give them space and time to express their feelings
Pick up on early warning signs of mental ill health
Give details of how to access support agencies or professional help, if appropriate
DON’T
Offer solutions

And most important of all:
JUST LISTEN!

WINDOW TO THE WORLD
This is a person’s individual frame of reference, formed over their lifetime by a unique set of influences and experiences.
We must view people we’re trying to help through THEIR window.

ROLE PLAY
Ben, an actor, joined us to depict three very different people, all in distress in different ways. Giving us an opportunity to put into practice the listening skills we’d discussed earlier.

AND FINALLY,
Charlotte rounded off the session with descriptions of various mental health disorders, and of organisations offering help, support, and advice.

It had been a fast-paced and very thought-provoking day!

WiCR commissioned a young woman filmmaker, Samantha Dowd, to produce two short videos on the theme of ‘Opportunities’, featuring a range of Community Rail activities and projects and, most importantly, the people who make them happen.

  Our aim was to encourage currently under-represented groups…young people, women of all ages, people from any race or culture…to consider careers or voluntary work in Community Rail.

  In a double celebration we launched the video film at the TfGM offices in Manchester on 21st June 2019 and treated our guests to a buffet lunch and cake to mark our 3rd birthday.

  Then it was over the bridge to the concourse at Piccadilly station where, we screened the film, spoke about what we do and why we do it, and handed out WiCR leaflets (and, of course, more cake!)

  In September that year, in workshops led by Marion and Vicky, the videos were played to everyone attending the Northern Conference in Leeds. Followed by small group discussions and Q and A’s with the WiCR team, this was a perfect way to ‘show and tell’ the diversity of opportunity across Community Rail.

Members of WiCR along with Jools and Richard Burningham from Community Rail Network joined with the steering group on the 29th of June to celebrate our 4th birthday in style.
Zoom style, of course

Marion summarised our achievements so far and outlined our objectives for the next five years. She stressed the importance of increasing membership and asked all members to ‘get engaged and get involved’ as we go forward with work in our key areas of mentoring, networking, and inclusivity.

Then it was party time!

Richard Lyson’s quiz questions led us from pop divas through to vodka cocktails by way of 19th century novelists.
Amazing Women all!

Karen’s scavenger hunt sent us off to find things we wear on our heads(and made us wear them!)
In the ‘guess the use of the unusual objects’ game, Sheila’s spurtle had most of us baffled.(It’s a traditional Scottish porridge spoon)

We sang ‘Happy Birthday’, ate cake, lit candles, and raised a glass to Women in Community Rail.

We’ve come a long way in four years!

A year after the launch in Manchester of ‘Women who Wander, WiCR members were invited to a spectacular event at the Museum of Liverpool on International Women’s Day 2019.

Hundreds of girls and young women had entered a writing competition with the theme of ‘A Female Future’. The twenty-five winners collected their prizes and read their pieces to an audience of parents, teachers, and rail industry professionals.

The (female!) Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Christine Banks, gave an inspirational speech, drawing on examples from
her own life to show what women can achieve.
Samantha Dowd was there, interviewing and filming for her videos on paid and voluntary opportunities in Community Rail.
‘Staged Kaos’ youth theatre treated us to an exuberant dance performance on Women’s Rights themes.

And we all took home a beautifully presented booklet of all the winning competition entries.