About
Making Mental Notes is a community website and podcast created and contributed to by a group of people living in Cambridge, UK, who have experience of Mental & Emotional Health issues.
Although we are based in Cambridge, we aim to serve an audience across the UK and beyond.
We’re mainly service users and professionals and we’re completely independent.
We broadcast our bi-monthly programmes on Cambridge 105 FM, Cambridge Community Radio Station.
Our social media website hosts the podcast of our programme, plus blog posts, tweets, discussions and other content about our subject matter.
Our passion is to bring Mental & Emotional Health issues to the fore; no longer should subjects such as depression, therapies, psychosis and dementia be taboo in a 21st Century society.
Some of our subjects will be difficult, dealing with areas of life that may be very personal and that make some people uncomfortable, but we want to approach our work with both gravity and humour to show that life can flourish despite difficulties and that recovery and keeping well can be possible.
Talking & sharing are basic human instincts, don’t let the perceptions of society at large unduly affect your life!
If you have a story to tell, if you have news of an event or if you have a creative skill we want to talk to you.
If you have or want to gain the kind of skills that we are using here and get involved in making content for this site and/or our radio show, we’d love to get in touch with you too; you don’t necessarily have to live in Cambridge to do this!
If you would like to advertise on our site or within our programme, reaching an audience of interest with targetted and relevant messages, please drop us a line.
You can do all this by clicking this link and we look forward to hearing from all of you.
The Making Mental Notes Team (Ruth, Paul, Phil, Rachel, Astrid, Simon, Jade and Dean)
Ruth Hawkins, Project Officer
My name is Ruth and I am the Project Officer for making mental notes. I am passionate about raising awareness about mental health issues.
I have background in Social Care and Fine Art and I am a practicing artist who exhibits paintings in various venues. I have also run and been involved in various arts projects. I enjoy music, a range of sports, watching films, hanging out with friends and travelling. My ideal holiday is a mixture of culture, history, Art and a decent white sanded beach with a turquoise sea to swim and snorkel in.
Phil Barton
My name is Phil and I have a background in sport and music. Whilst still at school I played for my local football team Cambridge United. However at the age of 16 I decided to follow a career in music as this was my first love. I have played in many bands playing a wide range of different styles. As with many creative people I have suffered with mental health problems, and to quote one psychiatric consultant: ‘I have had all the treatment the NHS has to offer’. I have been involved with Making Mental Notes since October 2009 and I am now a Governor for Cambridge & Peterborough Foundation Trust (CPFT)
Rachel
My name is Rachel and I’ve been on the Making Mental Notes team since Oct 2009. I grew up in Canada and then moved to England were I feel more at home. Some of the things I like are manga, horror, anime, sci-fi, heavy metal and anything gothic. I enjoy being creative and socializing with friends. I’ve been dealing with my mental health since I was a teenager and I am currently working to self manage without medication. I believe it is important to improve access to information about mental health issues and the help that is available.
Jade Rivers
My name is Jade Rivers, I have been involved in Making Mental Notes since
June 2010. My role is very much to do with writing and the creative side of
things. Counselling has played an important role throughout my adult life
and mental health services and the way they are received, most definitely is
something I feel strongly about. I have been writing poetry from an early
age and i have been published on a number of occasions, some pieces
biographical others poetic. I am a chatty, inquisitive person who enjoys a
good laugh. I like Eastenders, comedy and one of my favourite films is
Silence of the Lambs.
Astrid
My name is Astrid and I have recently moved to Cambridge from Berlin, where I studied Social Anthropology. I love music, reading, writing, travelling and sharing a good laugh with friends. Having personal experience of mental health issues, I feel passionate about raising awareness and looking for improvements within mental health services. I am particularly interested in the role of Arts as a means of providing and maintaining people’s mental well being and joined the charity Squeaky Gate in 2010 for the performance: Inside an Unquiet Mind.
