"Talk to Us" Project members Ashok Patel (Ashraya Community Initiative), David George (Servol Community Trust), Aiysha Aliyu (COPE Black Mental Health Foundation), John Tyrrell (Sikh Community & Youth Service UK) and Dorothy Vuong (Vietnamese Development Centre) at the Mind Fair, Birmingham, October 2007 for World Mental Health Day.
The "Talk to Us" Project is funded by Capacity Builders as a Change-Up Project. It covers the West Midlands Region and is aimed at supporting community-based organisations build their capacity to bid for commissioning for advocacy, counselling and advice services relating to current mental health legislation. In Birmingham support from the Commissioner for Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCA) has led to 8 people from community-based organisations being accepted for training as IMCA. The Sikh Community and Youth service, UK applied for funding organising a well attended Conference at Aston Villa in June, 2007.
In North West Birmingham various organisations are involved in the "Talk to Us" Project so that we can develop skills in providing talking therapies, advocacy and advice services which are culturally sensitive and in a range of languages: Afro-Caribbean Millenium Centre, Age Concern (Perry Barr), Ashraya Community Initiative, Asian Rationalist Society (Britain), Aston Vision, Cannon Street Memorial Baptist Church, COPE Black Mental Health Foundation, Mashriq (Women), Nishkam Centre, Servol Community Trust, Sikh Community and Youth Service UK, UK Asian Women's Centre, Vietnamese Development Centre, and the Women's Help Centre. Other organisations based outside but serving the area are Birmingham Citizen Advocacy, Chinese Community Centre and Trident Housing Association (Care and Support).
