Colin Expand You may find Colin in your local 10 Pin Bowling alley, as his 10 Pin techniques were recently rediscovered after 50 years at a VITAL gathering. This is unsurprising as part of Colin’s way of staying mentally healthy is taking part in varied activities and interests. As with many of our team, Colin stays active, jogging and walking most days, but also has a good sense of doing things for enjoyment rather than because he ‘ought to’.Colin has worked in mental health services and feels that people’s voices are often marginalised or ignored, and came to work with us following retirement, as he believes in the need to get people heard. He has a vision which I’m sure many will share, that services are built around the needs of people rather than people having to fit in to services. He also hopes that people recognise that we all have mental health, and will all suffer with some type of mental health issue at some point in our lives.
Sara Expand Sara keeps mentally healthy with an active mind, as well as the art of taking each day as it comes… often minute by minute, hour by hour, and being mindful of better times.Sara came to VITAL 12 years ago attracted by the ‘user run’ work ethos that enabled her voice to be heard & listened to within what she often found to be over complicated health & social care system. She says her VITAL turning point came when she was invited to become a Trustee, finding it heartening to discover that the organisation believed in & had confidence in her, despite having very little in herself. The organisations’ non-judgemental stance & encouragement from the start enabled her to build esteem, become less self-critical, whilst also satisfying a passion for enabling others.Her vision for the future is that the mental health needs for people of all age & diversity are recognised on a par with their physical health needs with no pre-judgement or discrimination & that people are treated as people; not as a diagnosis.If you are lucky enough to spend some time with Sara, you may be the recipient of her amazing baking as she spends time in her my kitchen/come office which she considers her safe space. Here she enjoys challenging herself at being both culinary & philosophically creative.
Jacqueline Expand Jacqueline became a Trustee in April 2012 and has a professional background with experience in Employment Law; Human Resource Policy Development; performance management and organisational change. Jacqueline has been a valuable asset to the organisation and has brought with her an excellent skill base which she is happy to share for the benefit of the organisation.
Trevor Expand Trevor values the friendship and support at Vital which helps him stay mentally well. Having been involved with VITAL since it’s humble beginnings, you will often find Trevor in the office and in attendance at VITAL meetings. Trevor got his first job through VITAL, working for the Bradford District Care Trust as a non-executive Director/ Service user representative, and received support from Vital to carry out this vital (pun intended) role. Trevor is not only a Board Member but also made sure that he attended Advocacy training so he is really aware of the value of the work we do. Trevor has worked on many projects whilst being at VITAL including user led research with Xplore whose paper; The Journey Affect was published in Disability and Society.
Richard Expand As a retired Electrical Electronic Service Manager, Richard became a volunteer with VITAL when we were still BAMHAG, joining as a member prior to being co-opted onto the Trustee Board in 2020. Having suffered from clinical depression and bi-polar in 2014, Richard became interested and active in Mental Health - wanting to learn how to support himself and others. An active member of the organisation with involvement in a number of training programmes (both receiving & delivering sessions). Richard was also involved in the Men’s Moving Forward Group. A supportive group, managing anxiety, depression & social isolation amongst men in Bradford.