Upcoming Meetings
What helps our mental wellbeing?
Tuesday 9th June from 2pm to 4pm, Oxfordshire Recovery College, The Straw Bale, Restore, Manzil Way, Oxford, OX4 4JP
Who’s it for?
This is a workshop for anyone interested in learning more about maintaining positive mental health – our own and other people’s. It has been developed for people working or volunteering in a wide range of community projects, and it’s suitable whether you know much about mental health or not.
What will the workshop cover?
In a small friendly group we will explore the factors which evidence shows contribute to feeling positive – such as connecting with other people and identifying what means most to us.
We will share tips and strategies for building resilience , and increasing a sense of hope. We will learn from people who have experienced mental distress themselves.
This workshop accompanies the new CHIME leaflet about recovery in the community and we will also discuss where to look for specialist and non- specialist support in Oxfordshire.
The workshop will be delivered by Oxfordshire Recovery College, who provide a wide range of free courses about many aspects of mental health.
Where will it be?
The workshop will be in person at The Straw Bale Training Room at Restore, Manzil Way, Cowley Road, OX4 1YH
There is no cost and simple refreshments will be provided
When is it?
Tuesday 9th June from 2pm to 4pm
How do I sign up?
Email Stephanie.hess@restore.org.uk to request a place.
Recovery and Connection
Connection is the first of the ‘CHIME’ principles of recovery. In October 2026 (date, time and venue to be confirmed), we hope that the Archway Foundation, Alice’s Tea party and other local organisations will come together for a social event and workshop about connecting to other people, and how that helps with recovery.
Previous Meetings
Network Launch and CHIME Leaflet
Our first meeting took place online on Tuesday 10th March 2026 between 11 and 12:30.
In the first half of the meeting we were joined by some of the people involved in setting up the network, and heard about their hopes for it. The meeting was well-attended by local network participants, as well as people from Improving Adult Care Together (IMPACT), who have co-ordinated several pieces of work focussing on recovery including ours. In the first part of the meeting we heard from people about how we can make the network work for them and the people they know.
In the second half of the meeting we talked about a leaflet we’ve produced based on CHIME, an approach to recovery based on a review of the best research evidence.
We chose CHIME because of the way it communicates the concept of ‘recovery’ using language that’s easy to understand. If you fold out the leaflet, it also has QR codes and links to local organisations and groups providing specialist and non-specialist support.
You can download a copy of the leaflet here or contact us if you’d like some paper copies.
About The Network
Background
For the last year, we have been hosting an Impact Network on recovery-based approaches to mental health. The network consisted of people with lived experience of mental distress as well as staff and volunteers from statutory and voluntary organisations, and met four times over a six-month period. During this time we discussed the many issues facing local people experiencing mental distress, and considered how the idea of ‘recovery’ could be useful in improving things. You can read the full mission statement that the original group developed here.
Over the early autumn of 2025, we consulted widely to see if there was an appetite for a local network. People wanted about 3 meetings a year that were about and hour and a half to two hours long with breaks in the middle. The consensus was for a blend of on-line and face-to-face meetings with a strong practical focus.
Community Glue has a strong focus on development and collaboration; we are not an appropriate organisation to host projects in the long term. However we have agreed to host the network on a short-term basis until it can find its feet. We will be updating this page until another host can be found.
Purpose
The network aims to bring together three main groups for mutual support and planning:
- The wide range of community groups that may be providing support to people recovering from mental distress, but which do not consider themselves to be mental health ‘specialists’. This may include, for example community larders and food projects, warm spaces, community arts and so on.
- People working in voluntary and statutory mental health services who want to develop stronger links with local community groups
- Anyone managing their own recovery, or helping other people with theirs (peer support groups, friends, family members, or neighbours).
Joining the Oxfordshire Recovery Network
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