Samantha

At work, not only do we endeavour to make sure that all mental health service users have the opportunity to have an influence on the ways in which their services are commissioned, provided and evaluated, but we also aim to consider the mental health support needs of particular sections of the community.

Whether it be women, refugees, Black and Minority Ethnic or LGBT people, we want to make sure that local strategy takes notice!

My working week ended with a meeting of our LGBT Mental Health Strategy Group at which we discussed, amongst other things, a conference we're planning to hold next year on the topic of 'Sexuality, Gender, Mental Health and Faith' - we may need to come up with a snappier title... suggestions welcome!

Samantha is one of our lovely Group members - and I think she probably wins the prize for being the most stylish - just pipping me at the post, obviously...! She's a mental health nurse by profession and is currently working in Early Interventions - which, in a nutshell, means supporting young people (aged 14-35) who are experiencing their first episode of 'psychosis'. However, she's just about to take up a new role working with Addaction on a Chemsex project. I wish her well!

Here's a song about a different kind of chemical romance... 'NaCl' by the magnificent Kate and Anna McGarrigle www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0pjWZIPmHE