Rochdale and District Mind celebrates 30-year anniversary

Pastiche Band play at the 30th anniversary celebrations of Rochdale and District Mind

The Mayor and Mayoress, and around 100 guests attended the Rochdale and District Mind 30th anniversary celebration on Friday (26 January).

Past and present service users, volunteers and workers were invited to the celebrations at at JD Dance, which included music from Pastiche, who volunteered their time. Poems were read by service users and volunteers, and artwork was shown.

Tricia Hornby, chief executive of Rochdale and District Mind, said: “Looking back, Rochdale and District Mind has been able to move with the changing times and landscape, and I am proud of the way that we have been able to respond over the last 30 years through listening to local people tell us they need. We have fantastic staff and volunteers both past and present team and I am confident that the organisation is in a strong position to continue to champion mental health and support people with mental health issues for years to come.”

The charity was incorporated on 28 January 1988, after being started in the mid-1980s by a group of people who had mental health issues.

Over the years, the group has been based in various locations around Rochdale. Mind started out at Champness Hall with a couple of support groups, including a women’s group, before moving to 20 Drake Street during the 1990s.

The group received first funding from the local authority in 1991 and became the first mental health advocacy service as Rochdale Mind. In 1998, the charity became Rochdale and District Mind following a large lottery grant for Bury and Rochdale.

Their first café and internet service, Compleat was opened on Oldham Road, which was followed by a second at Middleton Gardens, whilst the advocacy services operated from Bull Bride Chambers.

The charity had ‘a few scary months’ in 2004, running on their reserves before funding was received from the local authority and the Primary Care Trust.

In 2010, Rochdale and District Mind moved to its current premises at 3-11 Drake Street, and relocated the Oldham Road Compleat to Nye Bevan House on Maclure Road.

In addition to being referred by a third-party, people can refer themselves to the services Mind provides, undergoing a meeting with a wellbeing co-ordinator (either in person or outreach), before a support plan is created, which is then reviewed over time.

Rochdale and District Mind has around 54 volunteers across various roles, providing a broad range of services such as wellbeing, self-help, sports activities, computer based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and counselling.