New Horizons group
Action Mental Health (AMH) works to improve the health and wellbeing of people with mental health needs or learning disabilities, by creating opportunities for progression towards independence and employment. New Horizons is a service offered by AMH and it offers a wide variety of highly valued person centred activities aimed at adults who wish to improve skills and gain qualifications which will enhance quality of life and prospects of accessing employment.
Our Volunteering Officer recently caught up with Celine Loughlin, Skills Coach who coordinates activities for the New Horizons group in Belfast and asked her a few questions about the volunteering they have been involved in with UWT.
Tell us a little about the New Horizons group you work with:
At New Horizons we provide opportunities for individuals to improve their skills and qualifications, and enhance their quality of life. Social Inclusion is also promoted through improved prospects for accessing employment and the opportunity to engage in other forms of meaningful activity in the community.
We have a focus upon ‘health and well being’ and offer opportunities for healthy activity as a means of enhancing mental health. These activities include walking, yoga, golf, gym programs and a Green group which regularly visits various nature reserves and wildlife sanctuaries in the Greater Belfast area.
Which nature reserves have you visited and what have you helped with?
We have visited Bog Meadows and Lagan Meadows. While at Bog Meadows we did site patrols, where we walked around the nature reserve looking for anything that needed doing i.e. grass verges that needed trimming back to allow easier access for visitors.At Lagan Meadows we helped with scrub clearance, this is carried out to stop Whin bushes taking over the area and stopping native plants and grasses growing that are beneficial to wildlife.
What have been the benefits to you and your clients/users?
Our group enjoyed the opportunity to work outdoors in pleasant surroundings.We have visited places that we wouldn’t get the opportunity to visit as individuals and made new social contacts. We’ve also learnt about the maintenance that’s required on the nature reserves to protect and encourage wildlife.
What have you enjoyed most/least?
Being able to work outdoors, learn new skills and get some exercise in an enjoyable way. The prickly Whin bushes were our least favourite!
Would you recommend volunteering to similar groups?
We highly recommend volunteering as we got so much from it. A sense of achievement was felt at the end of the day when we surveyed our work, and it felt good being able to put something back into the community.
When do you hope to be out again?
A team of us visited Bog Meadows on March 6th where we helped plant up one of the raised beds. We are enjoying volunteering so much that we now visit Bog Meadows every 2 weeks.
