SURF - World Mental Health Day, 10/10/10!


I'm a member of the Service User's Recovery Forum (SURF), a charity looking to help local people with mental health difficulties. We aim to raise money and fund art groups and subsidised days out for those who can be the most marginalised in society.

We've been running since 2008, and have held exhibitions at the Wharf, mosaic groups, trips to the theatre, walks, coffee mornings... You get the idea!

We're always on the lookout for volunteers to help us in our fundraising, and actually have a stall coming up in Tavistock to celebrate a wonderful day coming up in October - 10-10-10!

The tenth of October each year is World Mental Health Day. We're hoping to raise awareness through the stall providing information, and raising money through hand-crafted items on sale.


Any TavistockPeople in to their arts and crafts will understand what a mammoth task it is to try and make produce enough good quality items for a stall... So here's a call out to you all!

We'd love to hear from you if you would be interested in helping our non-profit organisation. All the money we raise goes straight back in to the community, as all our admin / background work is undertaken by volunteers!

For more information, please just get in touch. I'm hoping it's not against any rules to put up an email address to contact? If it is, apologies, just let me know!

Contact: SURF.infotech@gmail.com


Yes, there is a full-stop between SURF and infotech =)

Perhaps I have started to align my thinking with watching Dragon's Den. There is information missing in this presentation, just who are SURF and how did it come into being?. The term 'Service User' carries that stamp of political correctness. It makes a difference to me because not only has care in the community failed many. The addition of cheap charitable care in the community concerns me further. How local is local? What underpins SURF?

I'll try to pop along on the 10th. Do you work with any other mental health organisations?

Tabs2010, I'm not sure if you mean SURF or myself personally? I'll answer both just to be as open as possible :-)

I personally don't. Like I mentioned before, I'm a "Service User". The work I do with SURF means a lot to me as I have also been in the role of 'carer' before I got ill. SURF have helped the person I care for and myself to be more confident, particularly in social situations. Unfortunately, I am unable to offer my time to any other charities at the moment due to taking on such hefty commitments to SURF!

However, SURF does have links to other Mental Health Charities and groups. Most notably, it works with Rethink, a national charity, who are happy for us to be so proactive in our community, as it makes their jobs a lot easier!

Also, a more local group, Trident House, support us through the loan of their premises for some of our admin meetings. They have a large site in central Tavistock, and also focus on the more social and creative aspects of recovery, though as they rent the space, some of the money they raise does need to go in to funding the charity's continued existence


It would be fabulous to see you there if you could make it! We'll have a refreshments stall... bring along a friend for a cup of coffee, slice of cake, and an informative (or just a general) chat, perhaps? =)





pobox112, our website is currently under construction - if you would like to see it in it's current format (scare, but we'reworking on it!), the link is:


http://tinyurl.com/2ws3w85



Again with the computer/website creation, non of us are hugely web-literate to the point of creation from nothing, so we owe our thanks to a LOCAL computer design group in (I believe) the Crelake Industry Park.

Unfortunately, my abilities are somewhat limited compared to their technical know-how, but I plan to give it a go anyway! Suggestions gratefully received, though please forgive me if I'm unable to carry them out haha!

Sorry to hear you won't be able to make it... Perhaps you could let your friends/relatives know if you think they might be interested?

Also, I'll try and remember to post up to TavistockPeople our next informative event. Perhaps you'd like to come along to one of our coffee mornings at Café Liason? They're more focused on the social side than informative, but I'm sure you could learn just as much whilst sitting in comfortable surroundings and meeting some of our members =)

50 Million Pounds?
That's not us... If it was, we wouldn't be a local Charity, we could do loads to battle the stigma nationally! I'm not sure where you got that figure from, pobox112?

I haven't checked the site yet, but if it's as a result of the Charity Number, we're umbrella-ed by Rethink. That means we'er a small charity relying on a big charity to cover things like public liability at events, as we just would not survive on our own having to pay out each time we hold a fund-raising event or even a market stall.

Hopefully you understand the necessity of that, but that's where the Charity number comes in - it's quoting for Rethink, not SURF. =)

Thank you for your voicing your concerns. The issue regarding the charity number on the website is being looked into and will be edited as soon as possible. All press releases make clear the the group is an umbrella charity as part of the National Rethink Charity. Its liability is therefore covered by Rethink as part of the agreement.

The group focuses on getting people suffering from these difficulties together to help them empower themselves and to provide support to each other. The editorial is being addressed, however the website makes clear that it is currently undergoing maintenance and therefore material is likely to be ameliorated in the near future. If you have any more queries regarding the group, I would urge you to contact us at surf.infotech@gmail.com for a more personal response.

Thanks, SURF.