Is the Forum run by the Southern Trust?

No -The Mental Health Forum is an independently constituted organisation registered with The Charity commission for Northern Ireland.

We work very closely with the Trust and also with other mental health groups but in order to be a credible voice for service users in this area our independence is crucial. Our Staff team are NOT Trust employees. Our team also includes peer staff who have personal experience of living with a metnal health condition and accessing services for supprt and treatment

Yes - You are definitely still welcome - your lived experience is valued.

We are aware that some people will have different definitions of the term 'Service User' and that is perfectly OK. For purposes of our group, members need only have a mental health diagnosis and have accessed some kind of care for that condition via statutory services, even if now discharged and self-managing with the assistance of a GP. Not everyone sitting around our table regularly visits a Consultant or has a Keyworker, not everyone is living with a recent diagnosis. It doesn't matter how long ago you got your diagnosis or how you now choose to manage your condition; it is this very diversity that makes us such a strong and credible voice when we engage with Services or other Organisations - Come along and be part of it.

Your lived experience does not have to be current to allow you to get involved.

UCSIG stands for "User and Carer Service Improvement Group" and it is a group comprised of service users, advocates, trust staff, carers, voluntary groups etc who meet to discuss a wide range of mental health related topics within The Trust; this opinion and feedback then feeds directly to Divisional management level and so can and does influence policy and practice. Our Forum is the vital Gateway through which information, queries, opinion and feedback filter into UCSIG and

to Divisional management.

The User and Carer Service Improvement group and The Mental Health Forum are links in a chain that allows the Service user voice to reach the ear of Senior Trust management, and indeed provides a way for them to directly engage with or consult their Service users. This engagement is at the heart of all planning and provision within Southern Trust Mental Health Services.

This website is the sole property of The Mental Health Forum and was conceived, designed and created by Forum members; there is a dedicated Service user led team of volunteers that maintains it but the whole Forum has a say in content and development.

We are particularly proud that our website demonstrates the potential of partnership working by welcoming interaction with professionals, carers, community & voluntary services, Forum members and other service users to develop the resources made available here. The valued contributions and feedback of you, friends of Our Forum, help to drive the evolution of this website.

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