The conference was designed to give Christians a better understanding of mental health issues in their own lives, in the lives of their friends and loved ones, and in the lives of the people they minister to and work among. It was held at Glenwood Church, Cardiff, on 15th November 2011.

The keynote speakers were:

• Ian Stevenson, Senior NHS Nurse and founder of the Welsh Spirituality and Mental Health Special Interest Group, who explained how the church could complement specialist mental health services, and
• Ruth Coombs, Manager for Influence and Change, Mind Cymru, who spoke about combating mental health stigma and discrimination in our churches.

These keynote speeches, together with an introduction to the conference by Jim Stewart, Policy Director of Gweini, can be downloaded here [Gweini 2011 Conference - the morning sessions - MP3, approx 98MB]

The conference then moved into roundtables. Delegates were able to attend three of the following 5:

• Prisons – Mark John
• Mental Health First Aid Course – Jenny Burns
• Mental health and the church – Rev. Elfed Godding
• Self harm – Caryl Stock
• Dual diagnosis – Leah Randall

A "spiritual reflection" led by Elfed Godding, Chairman of Gweini, was followed by lunch, and then a talk by Ralph Upton, Local Gweini Director, on how to partner with statutory agencies.

The afternoon session began with testimonies by Jenny Burns, an occupational therapist, and Sarah-Louise Hurst, a clinical psychologist.  They were followed by a taster presentation by Glenwood-based Going Public (http://goingpublic.org.uk/schools) of “Snakes and Ladders”, a drama designed to help schoolchildren understand mental illness.

Well over one hundred people attended the conference, and the feedback reflected an exceptional degree of interest in both the subject and the presentations.

Some sample comments:

• Really well done, very interesting and informative and it definitely met its objectives. Thank you.
• Conference excellent. We must go on from here. God is highlighting this area and we need to move on in His call. Luke 4.

For more information about the conference, and the resources that were highlighted, including a Mental Health First Aid course suitable for churches, contact Jim Stewart [j_stewart [at] eauk.org].