Day 3 ENUSP Empowerment Seminar 2015 Brussels

Tuesday 15 December 2015 was the third day of the Empowerment Seminar of the European Network of (ex) Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP, http://www.enusp.org ) , which took place in Brussels from 13 to 15 December 2015. The Empowerment Seminar “Strengthening the (ex) user/survivor voice in Europe” was organized with support from Mental Health Europe (MHE, http://www.mhe-sme.org ) under the European Commission Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme. 22 participants from 16 countries took part. It was great to be amongst peer activists and to discuss our strategies for further advocacy.

The meeting started at 9 AM. And although I woke up rather late, and also had to check-out from the hotel as well, I managed to be at the meeting at 9.05, just in time before its actual start.

After a short practical introduction we split into 4 smaller working groups, which were on ENUSPs Strategy, Fundraising, Communication and ENUSP Positions & Representation.

I led a working group on ENUSP’s positions on issues and representation, in which we discussed working structures and current priorities to engage with, such as identifying how we will approach the Council of Europe. Internally in ENUSP, we will use email for a Technical Resource Group as a pool of expertise, and we will create ad hoc working groups on specific themes whenever needed.

The working group on ENUSP Strategy proposed to update the current Strategic Plan 2012-2015, which is a very solid one, since it is based on a questionnaire amongst ENUSP members. All participants agreed to review the document and adapt it into an ENUSP Strategic Plan for the period 2016-2019. The working group had already prepared a lot of concrete suggestions that would need to be prioritized, and a draft Strategic Plan 2016-2019 will be prepared, to be circulated to all members and eventually for approval by the ENUSP Board.

The working Group on Communication had been discussing the use of social media, and has appointed 4 administrators for the public ENUSP facebook page. Additionally, a lot of work will be done on the website during Christmas, and many practicalities and desired features were discussed, such as accessibility, preferred languages (with a sense of priority to also have translations in Russian) and structures of the webpage. They also suggested to launch a logo contest, and presented possibilities for the use of social media for internal affairs, to relieve the string of email correspondence in the Board.

As a last group, the working group on Fundraising presented their work. Since there is no ENUSP Fundraising Strategy in place, a fundraising action plan was initiated during the working group. It is important to analyse what has been done in the past, and listing what we want, and what we can do. They shared practical ideas of creating a list of all possible donors, and to search for budgeting experts and other supportive tools. A Fundraising Team is needed for longer term commitment, and the working group decided to continue as a taskforce for fundraising and preparing the organisation of another ENUSP event next year. Of course all ENUSP participants were very happy to hear this.

Then the conference was coming to an end. We had just a little bit time left for the final wrap up, and some overall reflections, and then the lunch was waiting for us at the restaurant of the hotel. Olga Kalina had brought some sweets from Georgia, made from nuts and grapes, which is a traditional Georgian Christmas treat, very nice! Then, as a last thing we took some great group pictures in front of the European Commission building across the street, and then it was time to depart. We said goodbye, and most of us started our journeys home.

It was an amazing Empowerment Seminar. It was so good to be together. Our experiences and goals connect us, which is giving a unique dimension to the contact. I had a great time, sharing life stories and ideas in ways that can only be done amongst peers. It’s truly inspiring and empowering to be part of such a great group of amazing people, who all stand up to make a difference in the lives of others. And I look back at the Empowerment Seminar in Brussels with great and warm feelings. I am really proud to be part of the European Network of (Ex) Users and Survivors of Psychiatry!!
http://www.enusp.org