News

SAVE THE DATE!

We are delighted to announce that following the success of our very first Gala Dinner and Awards last year, and the incredible support we received from all our Foundation Partners and friends, we are going to host another one!

This will be held on Saturday 23^rd September at the spectacular Concorde Conference Centre, Manchester.

There will be an awards ceremony once again to celebrate our partners and the support you have all shown, a fantastic 3 course dinner, auction, entertainment, guest speakers, performers and even a special celebrity guest!

There are also opportunities to sponsor the awards categories or the event in general, please let us know if this is something that might be of interest.

Here is a reminder of last year’s categories, winners and photos from the night:

https://www.standingtallfoundation.org.uk/2022/09/21/stf-gala-dinner-awards-night-winners/

So please get the date in your diaries ASAP and we really hope to see you all again this year! More details to follow in due course.

In the current climate, we understand that many people in the area are struggling with the cost of living, in particular with their energy bills and affording to heat their houses. We are therefore delighted to be able to provide a warm space for people in our Poppy Suite here at the STF Hub.

If you need somewhere to go for a couple of hours on a Monday or a Wednesday morning or evening, we are here!

So come and get yourselves a hot brew (and some biscuits) and enjoy the warm, safe and friendly space.

The 4-Point Programme is the foundation and building blocks of SMART.  Many of the tools and techniques can be used not only for your recovery journey, but to help you deal with future problems and achieve more satisfaction and balance in your life.

The four points are: –

– Building and Maintaining Motivation

– Coping with urges

– Managing Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviours

– Living a Balanced Life

What makes SMART different?

Friday night saw the winners of the Pride of St Helens Awards 2022 crowned on an emotional and inspiring night at Saints’ stadium.

It was the 10th occasion the event – sponsored by the Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group – had been staged since its inception in 2012 and the glittering evening on Friday, hosted by sports broadcaster Fraser Dainton, saw the best of St Helens celebrated.

Our Colonel Andy was nominated in the category for the Courage Award, due to recently completing his epic climb of Mount Kilimanjaro and becoming the first ever triple amputee in the UK to do so.

He was up against two other very worthy nominees – PC Dan Parr and Karen Rigby who sadly passed away earlier this month from a long battle with brain cancer.

Andy graciously accepted the award and delivered a heart felt speech in which he said:

“It’s not courageous climbing a mountain, it’s hard graft and takes mental strength to keep pushing beyond the pain and self doubt. What takes courage is asking for help and that’s why I climbed the mountain, to raise awareness and funds for our Foundation so we can continue to provide mental health therapy and drug and alcohol support.”

Andy first received the award 10 years ago at its inception, and him winning it again due to his recent achievements just goes to show how far he has come on his own recovery journey. Long may you continue to inspire others!  Thanks to everyone that voted and  a massive congratulations to all other nominees and winners from the night!

If you, or anyone you know is struggling with mental health or addiction issues, please do get in touch with Andy or the Foundation via our CONTACT US page.

Our Colonel and Co-Founder Andy Reid recently became the FIRST EVER Triple Amputee in the UK to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. This incredible display of strength, courage, endurance and will power did not go unnoticed, and Lorraine Kelly invited Andy onto her show to talk to him about it and what the Foundation is doing to help others.

You can watch the full interview below.

Go Andy!

Here are some images from the day:

We cannot thank our Partners enough for the continued support they have shown. This enables us to deliver our Mental Health Counselling and Addiction support services, as well as helping people on a group and individual level via our own initiatives, as well as the help we receive from partners.

BECOMING A FOUNDATION PARTNER

We are always looking to enhance our partner stable, and welcome any new partners or corporate donations with open arms! If you are interested in joining us, please do get in touch. You can find out more on our partner page HERE.

LAUNCH OF THE  STANDING TALL BUSINESS CLUB

In the new year, we are looking to launch our very own Standing Tall Business Club.

Our Standing Tall Foundation Business Club is an exclusive, paid members club based in St Helens. It is the first of its kind in the area, whereby all the profits generated go back into the Charity.

Why Join?

This is a brilliant opportunity to not only network with other people from a variety of backgrounds, but also as a forum to learn how to improve areas in your business via structured workshops and guest speaker presentations.

On a more personal level, we will also showcase the range of services we offer here at the Foundation, in the form of Mental Health workshops and holistic therapies such as Auricular Acupuncture.

CSR Responsibility

By becoming a Business Club member, you will be helping to fulfil your CSR obligations and ambitions. Your donation will go towards helping those in need and supporting the local community by continuing to provide the mental health and addiction support services we do.

Please watch this space for further details and the launch date or go to our Contact Us page to register your details.

OUR FRIENDS AT ST HELENS COUNCIL

Last month we had the pleasure of meeting with Councillor Burns, Ruth De Plessis and Matt from St Helens Borough Council to discuss the mental health and addiction support services we offer here at the Foundation.

In turn, it was great to hear all about the fantastic work they are doing in the community with mental health and addiction, in particular their suicide prevention campaign #ok2ask.

We are looking forward to working together in some capacity in the near future.

Here at STF, our key aim is to promote the mental and physical health of all community groups, which we further extend to those in financial hardship via the provision of grants, resources or services made available to us.

We do this by delivering free Mental Health Counselling services, and providing addiction support.  It has therefore been incredibly busy at the Foundation in the last few months, as we have not only been helping community groups via various initiatives and group sessions, but also people on an individual basis who have found themselves in need.

Here are some of the highlights from the last few months:

Mental Health Support

Our qualified Mental Health Counsellor Phil has seen a large increase in clients over the last few months, displaying a wide range of issues, including anxiety, PTSD, depression, bereavement and stress related illness.

In the last month alone, Phil has seen over 75 clients.

In addition to his Counselling services, Phil has also been offering Hypnotherapy as an alternative form of therapy. This is a paid for service that has many great benefits and may suit some people better as a holistic form of treatment.

Addiction Support

Our Addiction Support team, headed up by our Key Addiction Support Worker Chris, has been busy over the past few months, helping people to recover with their addiction issues.

We are delighted to announce that Chris has recently gained a diploma in Drug, Solvent & Alcohol Abuse Counselling – Level 4.

In the last month alone, Chris has seen over 35 clients in relation to addiction issues and continues to help people on an individual level as well as in group sessions, using a mixture of 12 step recovery and CBT recovery based tools.

In addition to the current services on offer, we are also looking to introduce a new group known as SMART Recovery. This stands for Self Management And Recovery Training and is an alternative recovery programme that provides assistance to individuals seeking abstinence from addiction. This is not just limited to substance addiction such as drugs and alcohol, but can also be applied to behavioural addictions such as gambling or sex addiction.

Watch this space for more information as we are looking to launch these groups in the next few months.

Veteran Support

We try and help people on an individual level or via direct intervention. Due to our Co-Founder Andy Reid MBE’s military background, many people that get in contact with us are Veterans or Ex-Veterans who know or served with Andy.

One such person is Neil Painter who left the army in 2015 after serving 22 years and decided to remain in Germany where he was based. Everything as going great until 2020 when Neil’s wife of 19 years filed for divorce. Neil re-located back to the UK to seek support, but on arrival he tried to register with HMRC and was told they couldn’t find him on the system. After serving as a veteran for his country for that length of time, Neil felt disgusted and hugely let down by the system.

He struggled to get work and even hold down a job due to his mental health and pending divorce, which led to financial difficulties which just impacted on him even further, with only him military pension to see him through.

Finally, he reached out for help and contacted Andy who promptly asked for his CV. Within a day, Andy had reached out to our partner agency Menzies Distribution and managed to secure Neil an interview, meaning he has since gone on to land a highly successful role as Transport Manager there which he is relishing.

We are delighted for Neil and wish him all the success in the future!

Here at the Foundation, we aim to help as many people as possible in the community and beyond, who are suffering from mental health and addiction issues.

One thing we pride ourselves on is being able to provide our services for FREE to those most in need. In order to do this, it is vital we receive donations, however big or small which all go towards delivering these.

As the cost of living crisis continues to effect people both mentally and financially, it is even more crucial that we are able to continue to help people.

We are therefore asking you to please help us to help others.

If you would like to donate to us and help your community in the process, please go to our Just Giving Page HERE.

Thank you all for your continued support, it means the world to us 🙂

Here at the Foundation, your support is invaluable to us in many ways. Your donations are crucial as they allow us to continue delivering the mental and physical health and addiction support services we do in the community and beyond, and these sessions help to save lives.

Becoming a partner means we can work together to help others by collaborating on projects or hosting events.  You will also receive benefits by working with us as a registered charity,  such as fulfilling your CSR commitments and initiatives.

In addition, we can provide mental health or addiction support services for you and your team, and we have other corporate well being services on offer, such as Mental health First Aid Training and First Aid Training courses.

If you are interested in becoming a partner, please get in touch as we would love to have you on board!

You can find out more HERE.

We are delighted to announce that we are now offering Wellbeing Services for Businesses that can be adapted to suit your team’s specific needs.

We are trying to encourage more companies to focus on wellbeing in the workplace by providing services either as stand alone sessions or as a package.

These include a First Aid and Mental Health First Aid Training Course with our STF Trainer Terry Bates, and Hypnotherapy and Auricular Acupuncture sessions with our Mental Health Counsellor and qualified Practitioner Phil Parr.

Please get in touch if you would like more information via our Contact us page on the website.