The Chamber hosted their first Business Fair in the Crosfield Hall as an opportunity for businesses who do not have a shop window in the town centre to meet the public and other businesses. We were delighted to have lots of positive conversations and to be able to give out lots of information booklets

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Thanks to Matt Brook who completed the above in 1 hour 57 minutes in support of Triangulate’s work. We are grateful for donations received – thank you.

To benefit from the last day of the globe hanging in the Abbey, Triangulate hosted an Employment Event aimed at employers, individuals and community groups. We were delighted to welcome an audience of over 100, including the Town Mayor Cllr John Parker, to view a series of short films projected onto the globe. Produced by Richard McLester the films focused on approaches that could be taken within the workplace and at home to deal with issues relating to anxiety and stress.

Richard Frost, Mindful Employer Lead, attended and spoke about sources of support that are available to employers, including two recent films ‘Let’s Talk’ and ‘Working with Anxiety’.

Triangulate Trustees Ian Cox, Canon Tim Sledge and Bridget Brook had all contributed to the films giving their perspectives on a range of wellbeing issues but all stressing the positives of creating opportunities for individuals to talk.

Increasingly there is an understanding of how wellness can be improved by opportunities additional to medical interventions. Tim spoke about The Tree of Life cafe held every Monday afternoon in Caffe Nero and we also heard about a new GP prescription arts programme being offered by Rum’s Eg.

At the end there was the opportunity for conversations and individual questions as well as the chance to look at a wide range of leaflets and books. We were also pleased to welcome colleagues from italk, Hampshire’s talking therapies service.

During February a 4 meter illuminated globe was suspended in the Abbey with a series of events held to highlight issues surrounding mental health. The Light was an art installation designed by artist Richard McLester and a small team.

To celebrate the launch of The Light in Romsey Richard performed Songs of the Light underneath the globe on 4th February. Joining him were a large choir of local pupils from The Romsey School, Romsey Abbey, Romsey Voices and community singers from Poole.

During the performance there were projections onto the globe of interviews with local people giving reflections of what darkness and light mean to them.

These clips were shown again the next day at our Annual Mental Health Sunday service.

Triangulate Trustees committed to donating £250 for two consecutive years to Youth in Romsey to support their valuable work with young people in the town and surrounding area. At a recent meeting it was agreed to double the second year’s donation to £500. A cheque was recently handed to Ian Richards, Trustee for YiR. Ian says ‘we appreciate the community support … your help ensures the good work continues to serve the very real needs of young people in our area’.

See here for more information on Youth in Romsey

Triangulate was the charity beneficiary this year at the recent High Achievers’ concert held by the Romsey Centre for Trinity College of Music. Each year Diane Williams, who runs the Centre, brings together pupils from the area who have taken their grades across the grade range, to perform to family and friends. Bridget Brook from Triangulate attended on behalf of the charity and spoke about the importance of speaking out about mental health issues. A cheque for £415.00 was presented to Triangulate after the concert. This will be used to support services provided for local young people.

Congratulations to the Triangulate/Abbey team who came in at 3 hours 31 seconds in the 4th Rotary Relay Marathon at Broadlands – the brilliant sunshine added to the enjoyment of taking part in this community event. It’s not too late to donate to the team – proceeds will be split equally between Triangulate and Abbey outreach projects. Photos show (left) Matt Brook and David Hewett, together with our next generation of runners and (right) Tim Sledge, Vicar of Romsey.

This year we decided to use this, our 8^th Annual Mental Health Awareness Sunday service, to focus on young people and explore some of the pressures they face. Our thanks go to Simon, our Intern, for his excellent monologue. We then watched a filmed interview between Wendy Herbert, Project Manager at Youth in Romsey, and Tim Sledge. Wendy explained about Youth in Romsey, about the services and support it provides.  She talked about working alongside young people to develop their emotional wellbeing and went on to talk about the many pressures felt by young people in today’s society.  We hear and see so much on the national news about all of these so it can be no surprise to know that young people in Romsey and the surrounding area are facing exactly the same challenges.

The Trustees of Triangulate are delighted to support the work of Youth in Romsey to the sum of £500 over two years and wish them well in their fundraising to make sure these valuable services can continue.

The Wellbeing Day held at the Methodist Church in Romsey on 07.11.15 was a lovely day with a range of stalls, activities and information stands all promoting aspects of Wellbeing. Throughout the day there were displays in the central area of the newly-refurbished church including dance, gymnastics, chair exercises and a fitness session led by staff from Valley Leisure. Stalls selling a range of produce, gifts and food items and refreshments throughout the day helped everyone forget the wet and miserable day outside. Triangulate had a stand and enjoyed speaking to people about our work and meeting people from other organisations across the town.

Triangulate was delighted to support a second Rum’s Eg exhibition at Romsey Abbey and also with works at the Bell Street gallery throughout October 2015. ‘Stitched’ was curated by Susan Campbell and displayed work by Foundation Degree graduates in Stitched Textiles from Eastleigh College. At the opening preview Siriol Sherlock thanked Triangulate for their support and explained to invited guests how important the work of Triangulate is in raising awareness of the need for workplaces to be mentally healthy environments.