Merry snowyness to all of you. We’ve got some last minute gifts which we hope you’ll enjoy. First off, inspired by Stacy Dangare at SLAM, who mentioned that she’s got Buddy as her screensaver, I’ve flung together some Star Wards’ screensavers, including one with my fave Buddy pics in it. And sticking with computery […]

We’re very grateful for this generous description of Star Wards’ impact as a social enterprise. The article by Katharine Danton, director of research and policy at UnLtd, appeared in Guardian online. What does success look like for social entrepreneurs? How do you know you’ve made it as a social entrepreneur? When you’ve helped your one […]

Pets as therapy, companions, joy-bringers, motivators, exercisers…. We can’t stress enough what a disproportionate impact it makes to patients to have contact with animals, including providing great opportunities for activity and conversation with their visitors. Here’s yet another compelling account, from the BBC’s health website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11734324 Can pigs and goats help people with dementia? By Sharmini Selvarajah […]

Ideas for company volunteering days Companies are increasingly enabling their staff to get involved with local projects, either regularly or as a one-off (often ‘team-building’) exercise, including through large national events like the Jewish community’s Mitzvah Day and CSV’s Make a Difference Day. Although the ideas in this doc are intended for one-off group volunteering […]

Think Tank: Fix the workplace, not the workers Here’s an inspiring, challenging excerpt from article in www.telegraph.co.uk 6th Nov They may be annoying but they’re right, so employers must act on the demands for feedback from the Millennial generation. Kimley-Horn, a large American engineering firm, takes a peer-to-peer approach. At this sprawling 60-office company, anybody […]

You may already know that Mind are launching a major inquiry into crisis care, including inpatient care. There is certainly an issue about whether yet more research into inpatient care is sensible or helpful given the work of City University, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health etc. But my main concern is that there might […]

The Washington Post publishes the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words. Some winners are: 1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs. 2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained. 3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope […]

Hello To cut to the chase, Star Wards is only possible thanks to the exceptional support I get to manage my very debilitating mental illness. I’m very reliant on the Samaritans who provide something very distinctive to the remarkable 24/7 access I have to my two specialist therapists. Samaritans have been shortlisted for Lloyds Bank’s […]

From his new book, A Journey “I have a few rules about people I work with really closely. Work comes first. No blame culture. Fun in its proper place is good. Disloyalty has no place. Look out for each other. Stick together. Respect each other. It helps if you also like each other.” I like […]

This has to be one of the very very very best examples of our members’ creativity- and of patients’. Here’s what Emily Barber (Lead Occupational Therapist, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust) sent me about their genius welcome bags. Huge thanks to Emily, colleagues and patients for letting us share this with the Star […]