Exercising Spirit and Mind – the relay marathon team raising funds for both Triangulate and the Abbey again entered the Romsey Rotary Marathon. With a team of 10 participants (some keen runners and others less experienced!) preparations went well. Waking up on the day of the marathon itself to a deluge there were concerns about whether waders would be needed but apart from one leg run in a downpour, the rest of the team got round without getting too wet. This is a great community event with teams raising money for a range of local causes.

Everyone connected with the team would like to thank all their sponsors – the amazing amount of £2400 was raised which will be split equally between Triangulate and the Abbey. And so keen are the team that we’ve already agreed to enter next year’s marathon on 18th April 2015!

At the Festival of Wellbeing held in March Triangulate, Romsey Abbey and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust all signed organisational Time to Change pledges. This pledge is a public statement of aspiration that an organisation wants to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination. Every organisation prepares an action plan detailing the activity they will be planning to tackle stigma and discrimination. All three organisations work in support of Time to Change and were delighted to make this public pledge of support. Time to Change’s Regional Co-ordinator, Angela Etherington, commented ‘It’s really important that organisations work together to break down the stigma and discrimination around mental health. Triangulate, Romsey Abbey and Southern Health have come together for Time to Change to give people easier access to support and advice in all areas of their lives, whether from home or at work.’

Triangulate and Romsey Abbey joined with Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust to organise a Festival of Wellbeing in the Abbey. The Festival featured a range of activities including singing, dancing, yoga, bread-making, arts, crafts, meditation and visiting the labyrinth, all aimed at supporting people with their spirituality. Romsey’s Vicar, Rev Tim Sledge, said ‘we had over 250 people through the door on the day. At the Abbey one of our main aims has been to remove taboos and barriers to talking about mental health, and this was a great way of doing it. It was a reminder to us all that to spend a short amount of time looking after ourselves, treating ourselves, being good to body and to our souls – whether it’s being creative or taking a walk, or enjoying our surroundings, makes a massive therapeutic and healing difference in an anxious-driven world.

January 2014

Ian Cox and Bridget Brook receive a cheque from Adrian Martin of Waitrose. Triangulate was one of the chosen recipients of the green token scheme in November 2013 and received £260 as their share of the monthly charity amount.

Romsey Abbey – Sunday 9th February 2014 – 10am service

Rev Vanessa Lawrence, Chaplain, (Acute Care West, Adult Mental Health, Southern Health) is preaching at the 6th Mental Health Sunday – everyone welcome. There will be people to talk with after the service and plenty of signposting information available.

We were delighted and amazed to raise the staggering amount of £1000 (as well as £1000 for Romsey Abbey) from the marathon sponsorship. It means we can now give the go ahead for another print run of our well-received booklet ‘Your Guide to a Mentally Healthy Workplace.’ All 5,000 booklets from the February 2013 print run have been distributed – and that’s before the team deliver copies to every business in Romsey.

Rev Tim Sledge and Bridget Brook, Trustees of Triangulate, attended the recent General Synod in York to give a presentation on the work of Triangulate within our local community and church. Delegates to the lunchtime meeting were given copies of our booklet and we have since supplied Leicester Cathedral with 650 booklets to have available for visitors.

David Hewett took part in the Blenheim Triathlon in June and raised £850 for Triangulate funds – thank you so much, David. Some of this money was put towards buying new display boards for our information board in the Abbey. The rest will go towards the second print run of our booklet.

Exercising is GOOD for mind and spirit! And to prove that a team from Romsey Abbey are taking part in the first Romsey Marathon on Sunday May 12th with all funds being shared between Romsey Abbey and Triangulate, the local charity raising awareness of mental health issues in the workplace for employers and individuals.

The Romsey Marathon, organised by the Rotary Club and sponsored by Bradbeers, has been set up to build on the 2012 Olympic legacy and to support local charities, many of which are finding it difficult to raise sufficient funds.

The team of ten will each run 2 consecutive laps of 1.3 miles before handing the baton on to the next team member.

If you are able to support us we’d be very grateful. You can donate online by visiting www.justgiving.com/triangulate. You can also donate by phoning the Parish Office on 01794 513125.

Members of the team trying on their t-shirts

Our Mental Health Awareness weekend at Romsey Abbey (www.romseyabbey.org.uk) started with a one woman comedy show, tackling some of the life issues we face and exploring the way in which we handle our self-esteem.  Performed by Eva McIntyre, the audience from both the Abbey and other local churches delighted in seeing the five characters, and God, develop.  Eva, who is a writer, actor and priest, has, since 2011, taken on a national brief on mental health for the Church of England and has been involved in developing resources for churches to use on the subject – www.mentalhealthmatters-cofe.org. Eva then preached at our 5th Annual Mental Health Sunday the next morning at 10am. This sermon was recorded and is available to listen to again by downloading from the Abbey website. Also at the service were representatives from Mindful Employer, Southern Health and italk, our local talking therapies service. Rev Tim Sledge was able to announce a new venture in partnership with Southern Health and Café Nero. Starting at the beginning of March, every Monday afternoon between 3 and 5pm, anyone will be welcome to take some time out of the stress and strains of everyday life to relax and unwind.