Category: Archive

Welcome to URBRUM issue 2, Birmingham’s own community Mag.

This issue is packed with a wide range of topics and also features the URBRUM games review and tasty recipes. URBRUM links up with ex Birmingham city player Duane Courtney who gives us a glimpse in to his life and upbringing in the article Diamond in the Rough.

Junior James who was once an international drugs smuggler tells us about his life and how he has turned it around and written a very interesting book. Steroids have long been linked to the idea of the athlete striving to reach the utmost peak of performance, and with us just coming out of an Olympic year they were very much in the news. Are steroids becoming a fashion trend? One of our readers shares his personal experience.
Local and national jazz saxophonist Andy Gayle talks openly to URBRUM about his battle with depression. Reach the charity, took a few guys from their young people’s services down to MTV in Camden Town to help plan the EMAs (Europe Music Awards), which were hosted in Festhalle, Frankfurt Germany.

Read all the above and much more.

Enjoy.

Download issue 2 here: https://www.urbrum.org/download/magazine/issuetwo/double/URBRUM%20Magazine%20issue%202dps.pdf

So it’s that time, URBRUM is back with its third issue of the MAGAZINE!

Welcome to the third issue of URBRUM, your community magazine. This issue is packed full of inspiring articles. As we know Brum has many talented young people who are trying to fulfil their dreams, in this issue we hear from a promoter, hairdresser, clothing designer and youth workers as to how dreams can become reality.

URBRUM held its first young people’s event at the Lighthouse, if you couldn’t make it you can catch up with the days goings on inside. Chlamydia is known as the silent infection; read about the reasons why in our article on the subject.

NHS manager by day, fitness instructor by night, Khurram Khan has changed his life and is working with others to do the same, read his story on page 21.

Is it me, or were things really different back in the days? why not check out Deborah Courtney’s article on page 22 and see whether you think so.

We’ve all heard about getting our five a day, which should make us a healthier nation but what about our overall well-being, check out the Five Ways App on page 27 which claims to do the same for our mind. Why not download it and give it a try? See if it works for you. Read about this and much more.
Enjoy!

Download URBRUM Issue 3 here: https://urbrum.org/download/magazine/issuethree/URBRUMIssue3.pdf

What is Connecting Community Networks All About?

Life can be hard…but for some, because of particular circumstances, and more often than not, through no fault of their own, life can be much harder still. Connecting Community Networks recognises this and looks to protect and enhance citizen well-being and promote life quality.

It oversees the delivery of a number of much needed holistic services that have real, evidenced based wellbeing benefits for some of our most vulnerable members in the community. CCN takes a different approach from many other traditional services by starting from a premise of vulnerability and risk due to life challenges and looking to demonstrate a positive resolution for the individual based on improved wellbeing.

The Organisations Behind CCN

Common Unity is the central driving force behind all of the CCN programmes with external expertise being brought into the process to best deliver all elements of each and every programme. This partnership arrangement means that from conceptualisation right through to the point of evaluation, specialist support is realised to demonstrate the potential for such approaches to improving well-being.

What Programmes Are in Place?

• Urbrum – web based community centred platform, is all about discovering innovative ways of engaging communities with their own health and wellbeing and the health and well-being of those around them. Its approach to engagement, information and intelligence sees communities as both the recipients and providers of health and well-being intelligence with a view that through such an organic process, services and support will continue to best reflect what communities need and want.
• ASIST/safeTALK – Delivery of the world renowned suicide prevention programmes across specific Birmingham sectors to best identify and support those who are vulnerable in respect of suicidal ideation and behaviour.
• ManMade: Through The Gates – Utilising the ManMade Peer-Led support approach that enables men to survive in modern day society, ManMade: TTG is an exciting opportunity to test the model and its impact with men at HMP Birmingham who are soon to be released back to the community.
• ManMade: Cruse – Men often find it difficult to engage regarding their losses in life and thus can play a negative part in men coping with the crisis through loss. This programme looks to achieve greater resilience and well-being through providing men with the opportunity to engage with the area of loss and bereavement as part of a Peer-Led Support Programme led by specialists in the field of Bereavement.
• Bloom in Birmingham is a unique project aimed at reducing social isolation and improving the physical and mental well-being of women living in Birmingham and at risk regarding their health utilising a peer-led support approach.

TALK, SPEAK, YELL

“I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.” G. C. Lichtenberg

In Britain each year, over 6000 people kill themselves; that’s 4000 more deaths per year

Than occur on all our roads – but unlike road safety awareness, suicide prevention is a subject that professionals nor our communities are willing to openly talk about. It’s time to tackle this problem head on. It’s time to act. It’s time to Shout Out Suicide

safeTALK is a half-day course that offers practical steps to help someone with thoughts of suicide and helps you both to connect with more specialised support.

ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) is a two day, skills building workshop that provides suicide first aid interventions. Be you a Professional, a volunteer, an informal helper, a carer or community member, ASIST helps you become ready, willing, and able to directly support someone who is having thoughts of suicide and increase their suicide safety.

These interventions look to prevent suicidal thought leading to suicidal behaviour and are underpinned by the idea that many people who are thinking about suicide will find some way to signal their intent.

“The time is always right to do what is right.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Suicide is the most common cause of death for men under 35 and each year between

600 and 800 people aged 15-24 take their own lives – That’s the same as the number of people in a small secondary school. Young people must be heard. Are you listening? It’s time to tackle this problem head on. It’s time to act. It’s time to Strike Out Suicide

safeTALK is a half-day course that offers practical steps to help someone with thoughts of suicide and helps you both to connect with more specialised support.

ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) is a two day, skills building workshop that provides suicide first aid interventions. Be you a Professional, a volunteer, an informal helper, a carer or community member, ASIST helps you become ready, willing, and able to directly support someone who is having thoughts of suicide and increase their suicide safety.

These interventions look to prevent suicidal thought leading to suicidal behaviour and are underpinned by the idea that many people who are thinking about suicide will find some way to signal their intent.

“A human being is not what you are but who you can become.” Brian Good

Suicide rates are increasing across the UK with 3 of 4 suicides being by men;

that’s over 4500 men a year, the same number as people who die from Leukaemia each year in the UK – That’s 12 men taking their own lives each day in the UK. It’s time to tackle this problem head on. It’s time to Sort Out Suicide

safeTALK is a half-day course that offers practical steps to help someone with thoughts of suicide and helps you both to connect with more specialised support.

ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) is a two day, skills building workshop that provides suicide first aid interventions. Be you a Professional, a volunteer, an informal helper, a carer or community member, ASIST helps you become ready, willing, and able to directly support someone who is having thoughts of suicide and increase their suicide safety.

These interventions look to prevent suicidal thought leading to suicidal behaviour and are underpinned by the idea that many people who are thinking about suicide will find some way to signal their intent.

You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. A.A. Milne

It’s tragic that in times of recession more people take their own lives.

In the UK, in 2011 there were over 6,000 suicides in people aged 15 and over – that’s an increase of nearly 10% compared with the year before. It’s time to tackle this problem head on. It’s time to act. It’s time to Stomp Out Suicide

safeTALK is a half-day course that offers practical steps to help someone with thoughts of suicide and helps you both to connect with more specialised support.

ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) is a two day, skills building workshop that provides suicide first aid interventions. Be you a Professional, a volunteer, an informal helper, a carer or community member, ASIST helps you become ready, willing, and able to directly support someone who is having thoughts of suicide and increase their suicide safety.

These interventions look to prevent suicidal thought leading to suicidal behaviour and are underpinned by the idea that many people who are thinking about suicide will find some way to signal their intent.

“sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” Marilyn Monroe

ARCHIVE POST

ManMade: Through The Gates is coming to HMP Birmingham in June. It’s an opportunity for you to talk with others about stuff that you normally wouldn’t feel able to discuss in the open. Areas discussed will include identity, assisting life in others, mental health, loss, physical health, wellbeing and coping. This programme is looking to help you help yourself when you go back into the community. ManMade: TTG starts on June 23rd and will run over 8 weeks for 2-hours on a Friday morning. If you are interested in being part of the ManMade TTG programme then please complete a general application and submit it to the safer custody team.

Download manmade poster a4 copy

What is Urbrum?
Urbrum, as a web-based community centred platform, is all about discovering innovative ways of engaging communities with their own health and wellbeing and the health and well-being of those around them. Its approach to engagement, information and intelligence sees communities as both the recipients and providers of health and well-being intelligence with a view that through such an organic process, services and support will continue to best reflect what communities need and want.

What is the URBRUM Key About?

The Urbrum Resource Key provides an alternative approach to taking control of our own health and well-being – it is a virtual bridge across “The Information Chasm” that connects support services to the recipient almost instantly – the Urbrum Resource Key by engaging citizens with sources of support directly and seamlessly is, in its own right an intervention, taking away the often wearisome process of finding the right place to get help – an online resource library of information and support that can be navigated with minimum difficulty. In addition, the ongoing management of the process is relatively small but engagement can be realised at high levels and monitored effectively.

The resource key does all this through adhering to a few simple principles:

1) To be innovative in technology we don’t have to invent – we just need to redefine or refine existent technologies that are relatively inexpensive, or better still, free and serve a useful purpose.
2) Make access to this technology easy and discreet through a convenient access route housed within a long-lasting product.
3) Don’t waste time and resources building new data from scratch – use existent web based data and from this framework develop the portfolio over time to best target communities and meet local need.
4) Recognise that informed choice is paramount for citizens in realising their own health and well-being – the resource key is all about informed choice.

What Are the Opportunities for This Approach?

The opportunities for Urbrum Resource key are many but will only be realised with investment both in respect of time, development opportunities and close partnership working.

Key priority opportunities for development as we see it are as follows:

1) The well-being agenda:
The resource key as a front-virtual intervention has great possibilities. Public Health would be in the position of targeting information to specific vulnerable communities providing them with instant access through the Waiting Room to vital local and national information that can support their needs and raise awareness.

2) Diversity in approach:

Through targeted marketing in a range of geographical settings, cost effective advertising of The Waiting Room can be realised – Examples include Beer Mats in pubs, on clothing, on bus shelters, on bill-boards, in A&E Departments, GP Practices, The Courts, Prisons, Police Stations, in taxis, on taxis, on Buses, on email signatures, pharmacy bags – basically wherever there is a space etc.

3) To be the Birmingham Virtual One Stop Shop for Well-Being

The Health and Social Care sector is being crippled by demands placed upon it. The Resource Key is a cost effective way of enabling people to engage with their own health and well-being on their terms at the earliest juncture possible. Through empowering citizens to look after their own health and well-being through utilising existent, often previously unknown resources, the demand on front line health and social care should reduce and the opportunity for front line services in health and social care to signpost citizens to such health and well-being opportunities has to be beneficial for all. It also means that people are enabled to access the right services and the right time to best meet their needs as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Community Cohesion is what should happen in all communities to enable different groups of people to get on well together.A key contributor to community cohesion is integration which is what must happen to enable new residents and existing residents to adjust to one another. The City Wide Community Cohesion Programme is an innovative and flexible service that through its accessibility for everyone means that integration is possible throughout the city.

The programme is run by the Community Development Workers (CDWs) and it focuses on working with all vulnerable communities and with front-line staff who may be providing support to vulnerable community members. The CDWs work to increase knowledge of mental health and wellbeing, to encourage greater self-awareness and self-management, and to stimulate community engagement; all geared at improving the lives of Birmingham’s residents.

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What is Recovery? When anyone mentions ‘recovery’, most people’s first thought is ‘from what?’ This is because recovery is usually about regaining something we have lost or our need to do so. Recovery, for us, could mean something physical such as recovering from a cold, virus or broken leg; or something emotional like a traumatic event, a relationship breakdown or the stress of moving house or changing jobs.

What we seem to find most difficult during the recovery process is accepting, at times, we can’t regain what we have lost in the full sense of the word and we have to find an alternative way of living without, or with a slightly different version of what we had before. For example, after a relationship breakdown, we may not be able to rebuild that relationship – but accepting that it is over; taking some responsibility for it and appreciating the positive aspects of being single may be a good way to move forward.

So Why Talk about Recovery? Each and every one of us will experience hardship during our lives and this is one thing that binds us together as a community. We will all struggle to find ways to manage life’s challenges and for each of us, this journey is unique.

For most, however, one thing that is most helpful is having a support network. Everyone needs someone to help them through tough times. Sharing stories of hardship and the recovery process can be helpful for the person that has been through difficult times.

It can be a great way to reflect on what helped and what didn’t which can be useful for the future. It can also be therapeutic. As readers, it can help us to realise we are not alone in our troubles and give us ideas for how we might better deal with the difficulties we face. So let’s celebrate the hard times we have had because what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger! How you can help? Help yourself and others by sharing your story. If you have fallen on hard times and thought the difficulties you faced were almost too much to bear – what helped?

What advice would you give to others to get through difficult times? If you have a story to share email stephen@urbrum.org You can either email your story or we can arrange an interview that could see your story featured in the recovery page in the next issue of URBRUM. If you run or work for a community based local service that supports people in Birmingham, get in touch by telling us how you support recovery. Your experiences and tips could be valuable to the readers of URBRUM across the city.

When we were young,
Things differed from the life we live today,
There was a better feel of communities,
As in the front or backyard we’d play.

We knew most of the families,
That lived within our street,
In and out each others houses,
Our life then was really sweet.

We’d play a game of baseball,
The girls against the boys,
In those days of our childhood,
No one really missed having toys.

No Nintendo DS, No play station,
We were a lot fitter than the kids now,
If we disagreed with one another,
All we’d mumble was ‘you stupid cow’.

On Sundays we’d attend Sunday school,
We’d be picked up in the van,
All smelling sweet of ponds cream,
With our church offering in our hand.

The life today is sure different,
Society has changed by far,
They invent these games and gadgets,
Then wonder why the kids are as they are.

If you pass them on the street,
And look at them too hard,
They ask who you think you’re looking at,
So it’s best to stay in your yard!

Image source: Birmingham Mail 

Poem by : Deborah Courtney – Community Member