CoventryLive

Inside the local group trying to level the field for young black men

Coventry and Warwickshire Mind has launched a new county-wide project aimed at improving the mental health of young black men.

YBM (young black men) is a new free-to-access service run by the charity, based in Spon End, Coventry, following a successful bid for national Mind funding for young black men aged 11 to 30.

CoventryLive went down to meet some of the people in the group to see why such a space is needed in the city.

"We want to level the playing field"

We're given a warm welcome at a

Coventry and Warwickshire Mind

CW Mind volunteer prepares to step out for charity after an astonishing 12 stone in 12 months weight loss – Coventry & Warwickshire Mind

A dedicated volunteer for Coventry and Warwickshire’s leading ment al health charity is set to walk out on a fundraising mission after losing an astonishing 12 stone in just 12 months.

Dee Hodgson, a 49-year-old public speaker for the city-based Coventry and Warwickshire Mind, is preparing to put her best foot forward this weekend (Saturday, May 6th) to raise funds for the mental health charity which helped her get back on her feet.

Dee, who lives in Willenhall, Coventry, turned to Coventry an

Coventry Telegraph

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Coventry Telegraph

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Coventry and Warwickshire Mind

June’s Story – Coventry & Warwickshire Mind

Helen had depression and tragically took her own life following her ex-partner’s own suicide five years before. He was 23 years old when he died and June believes her sister blamed herself but masked her true feelings.

Recalling the moment she was told the devastating news on the morning of October 27, 2013, June said: “I woke to my husband sitting down on the bed next to me, the look on his face said it all. My mother’s partner had called him to say that Helen had taken her life in the early h

CoventryLive

The future of mental health care in Coventry - revealed

A new, state-of-the-art new recovery centre is set to change the future of mental health care in Coventry

The multi-million pound St Clair Gardens, run by Coventry and Warwickshire Mind , is being built on the site of the former Foleshill Leisure Centre in Livingstone Road.

The centre is due to open early next year with a firm focus on recovery for service users, using groundbreaking therapies and techniques.

The building will be the charity’s crowning achievement in its 50-year history servi

CoventryLive

Helen's heartbreaking suicide - and how I'm keeping my sister's memory alive

Four years ago this month, June Simkiss woke up to her worst nightmare.

Her sister Helen Crowley had taken her own life, at the age of 27.

June, a married mum-of-two from Coventry, had suffered ongoing mental health problems since her teens. But Helen’s death by suicide caused her to hit rock bottom.

Four years on and June has turned the heartache into a reason to help others.

Grateful for the support she received from Coventry and Warwickshire Mind, June has become a volunteer with the char

CoventryLive

Lee tried to take his own life four years ago. Now he has an important message

“Don’t bottle it up, talk to someone about it. Help is out there.”

That’s the message from Lee Watts, of Rugby, who attempted to take his own life four years ago.

It’s a hugely important message and one that mental health charity Mind is keen to share – especially among men, given that suicide is the biggest killer of men aged under 45 across the UK.

The charity is a partner in the delivery of It Takes Balls to Talk, a campaign at sports events across Coventry and Warwickshire which aims to g

CoventryLive

This powerful video aims to break the silence around suicide

One in four people in the UK experience a mental health problem in any one year. The Telegraph has teamed up with Mind, the mental health charity, to publish a number of articles to mark World Mental Health Day on Tuesday, October 10

Suicide kills more adults in Coventry and Warwickshire than road traffic accidents.

This shocking fact is one of a number of reasons why Coventry and Warwickshire Mind wants to get people talking about mental health - especially young people.

Some 50 per cent of

Coventry and Warwickshire Mind

Canine Therapy on Camera – Coventry & Warwickshire Mind

The video shows how Rosalind has benefited from our Dogs in Therapy service where Alaskan Malamutes Mishka and Koda offer a specialist form of therapy for people experiencing mental health problems.

Speaking about the therapy dogs, Rosalind told the BBC’s Marian McNamee: “I always want to come and see them and I always come out more positive. They don’t judge or comment on the things I say and I can talk to them about difficult things that I may not be able to talk to other people about. If I g

Coventry and Warwickshire Mind

Lee’s Story – Coventry & Warwickshire Mind

Lee Watts attempted to take his own life four years ago and has spoken about his experience to prove to anyone who might be feeling suicidal that there is a way forward with the right support.

Speaking of his desperation at the time, Lee, 27, said: “I’d not long left college, been let out into the real world, and was looking for a job but was unable to find one. There’d also been a few deaths in the family which didn’t help my feelings of isolation, loneliness and desperation. I’d felt desperat

coventrytelegraph

Birth of baby girl in America saves Coventry tot Khalid

A poorly youngster who is fighting cancer has had a vital operation - thanks to the birth of a baby girl in America.

Khalid Adam, of Coventry, has blood cancer and has been in desperate need of a transplant, as the Telegraph has previously reported.

Now he has undergone a transplant at Birmingham Children’s Hospital - with cells from a newborn baby’s umbilical cord thousands of miles away in America.

The 20-month-old’s family launched a campaign in July after being told he had just six weeks

coventrytelegraph

You've done it! Telegraph readers smash £20,000 TLC Appeal target

Telegraph readers have raised more than £20,000 to ease the suffering of grieving families.

Our TLC Appeal really struck a chord with the public and the people of Coventry and Warwickshire rallied round by organising all sorts of fundraising events.

It has now smashed its £20,000 target.

The money will fund specialist support for families across Coventry and Warwickshire who are struggling to cope with the death of a loved one.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has als

coventrytelegraph

Best friends tell of their heartbreak after both losing their babies within days of each other

Two mums united in tragedy are determined that the deaths of their babies will not be in vain.

Kerry Wilkinson, of Warwick, and Georgina Maunder, of Hillfields in Coventry, met as strangers in the neonatal unit at Coventry’s University Hospital as their premature newborns fought for life.

But, after sadly losing their babies only eight days apart, they are now the best of friends.

They shared moments of hope and know the trauma each one was going through when they cradled their tiny newborns

coventrytelegraph

Coventry mum is using her head to help promote breast cancer awareness

A mum from Coventry is using her head to help promote breast cancer awareness.

Determined to make something positive of losing all her hair to treatment, Rachel Wheway is collecting fascinators to cheer her up as she undergoes intensive chemotherapy.

After a plea on Facebook she has amassed 60 fascinators usually worn at weddings or for a day at the races in just a few weeks.

Donations are received daily at her home in Chapelfields and come from far and wide.

She catalogues each headpiece as

coventrytelegraph

Award-winning chef Andreas Antona tells of his successful fight against cancer

Award-winning chef Andreas Antona has spoken for the first time about his secret battle with cancer.

The Kenilworth restaurateur has just been given the all clear after a fight with two forms of the disease.

It is the first time the celebrated chef - who has recently taken on The Cross in New Street, Kenilworth - has spoken publicly of his ordeal.

It began when a routine scan at Warwick Hospital uncovered testicular cancer in November 2012.

Devastatingly, just six days later, the married fat

coventrytelegraph

Look: Coventry mum named one of country's top carers

Coventry mum Catherine Rye has been named one of the nation’s top carers for a lifetime’s selfless devotion to her disabled son.

The inspirational mum, of Wyken, scooped a national honour recognising her care for her 26-year-old son Sean, who has epilepsy, autism and learning difficulties and needs 24-hour care.

Even when beset with her own life-threatening health problems, Catherine, 53, has tirelessly encouraged her son to learn to become more independent.

Sean is now able to wash and dress

coventrytelegraph

'Axing free op has denied my son the chance to be like his twin brother'

Twin brothers Conrad and Aidan Jones are identical in almost every way.

The eight-year-olds, of Whoberley, in Coventry, share the same coloured hair and eyes and cheeky grin.

The similarities even extend to their sense of humour and bubbly personalities.

The only visible difference is one can walk and one can’t.

It’s because their preterm births left young Conrad with cerebral palsy while his twin escaped the debilitating condition.

It means that Aidan is able to walk and run freely, but Co

coventrytelegraph

I spotted my sister’s cancer... so I knew when I had it

Tina Barnett knows only too well of the importance of knowing your body.

The 53-year-old, of Kenilworth, discovered her own cancer in its early stages because of what happened to her sister Marilyn Edwards.

Tina is now supporting a new Spot Cancer Sooner campaign from Cancer Research UK which aims to promote a body awareness message throughout Warwickshire.

Tina, whose her husband Paul sadly has an inoperable lung cancer, said: “I am passionate about getting the Spot Cancer Sooner message acr

coventrytelegraph

Disabled Linda Rowley scared of Coventry city centre after being victim of abuse

And it’s been years since she last dared to venture in on her own after being subjected to harassment and vile verbal abuse.

She used to visit the city centre every day on her own until then.

Linda feels particularly vulnerable because of her learning disability.

Now the 37-year-old mum is only able to leave her home in Bell Green for the city centre once a week with the help of a support worker.

Linda is not alone in her fear. Nationally, 60 per cent of people with a learning disability hav

coventrytelegraph

Video and photos: Coventry families tell of distress after life-changing operations were axed then re-instated

Families from Coventry have spoken of their anguish after life-changing operations for disabled children were axed at the eleventh hour – and then reinstated after a change of heart by hospital bosses.

An investigation is underway after families were promised free life-changing operations for children with cerebral palsy at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Unknown to the families, government funding ended for the procedures to loosen the children’s muscles and ease their pain 10 months ag

coventrytelegraph

Bereavement centre would have made a massive difference

When Sue Tidmarsh last spoke to the Telegraph three years ago it was to deliver the heartbreaking news her little daughter Bethany had died.

A popular Tiverton School pupil and familiar face in the Telegraph, the family said they were in “complete shock” over the sudden death of their “little angel” who suffered from Rett syndrome, a rare genetic condition.

The news saddened the community and Bethany’s unexpected death at the age of eight was met with immediate outpourings of sympathy.

But su

coventrytelegraph

Tiny baby boy Oscar makes miracle recovery from heart defect

It's the miracle his family had been praying for.

Tiny baby Oscar Tasker has made an astonishing recovery from a heart defect that would have killed him.

The five-month-old’s heart has somehow healed itself, baffling his parents and amazing doctors at the hospital in Newcastle where he is being treated.

He could even be back home in Radford as early as this week.

When he was born at Coventry’s University Hospital, the main arteries to his heart were the wrong way around and his body was bein

coventrytelegraph

Dr Navin to get Queen birthday greeting after Telegraph campaign

A Coventry hero WILL get the royal recognition he deserves on his 100th birthday – after overwhelming support from Telegraph readers.

Buckingham Palace officials have now agreed to send Dr William Navin a personal letter from the Queen.

They originally refused to send the 99-year-old devoted royalist the customary 100th birthday “telegram” because he couldn’t prove he is British.

But after the Coventry Telegraph reported his plight, hundreds of readers pledged their support to honour Dr Navin