Rochdale Borough Users Forum
The Rochdale Rotary club is pleased to support Rochdale Borough Users Forum RBUF
Reg Charity No. 1142754 Company No. 7504852 Tel: 01706 521279 (24 hour messages) email info@rbuf.org.uk website www.rbuf.org.uk
The Rochdale Boroughwide User Forum (RBUF) is a service user group which gives a central access point for the views of mental health service users and carers of Rochdale, Littleborough, Middleton and Heywood to be represented directly to local mental health provider agencies.
Mental illness has always been a big health problem in Rochdale .Prejudice, poor understanding and lack of effective therapy of depressive illness and schizophrenia led to the locking away of people in longstay hospitals like the old Birchhill hospital in Victorian times.
Treatment programmes are vastly better nowadays but funding of services,social service provision and hospital inpatient services for acute treatment of nervous breakdowns are under great strain with competing interests in the NHS.
RBUF is made up of people with personal experience of mental illness either themselves or as carers and has monthly meetings including heath and social service representatives.Improvements in communication has led to real improvements in care of users of the mental health services.A large grant and better offices shared with Samaritans has allowed a new development manager to be appointed and expenses to be paid to volunteers who give up their own time.4 major events per year give fun and frendship to these needy people.
Founding President Jerry March (whose father was a Rotarian in our club) and Development manager Hilary Myers gave a detailed rundown on RBUF to the club recently with video footage of a very well attended Town Hall event.