Federation of Experts by Experience Trustee Report for year ending 31[st] March 2023
The Trustees did not have regular Trustee meetings in this period due to several Trustees being unwilling to use public transport and attend meetings due to concerns about risk to health following the covid outbreak in the United Kingdom . Also our constitution did not permit on line meetings.
Another major constraint during this period was that the organisation had no current bank account as our Barclays bank account had been closed in July 2021 and despite going through Barclays complaints procedure and completing several on line application forms we could not obtain a new bank account with Barclays.
The experience of the Covid lockdown had a major impact on mental health of all age groups, leading to a reluctance on behalf of many people to engage in social activities and leading to a greater incidence of mental distress in the community . We thus consider that The organisation will have to relaunch itself and seek support from other organisations and stakeholders if we are to develop our membership.
We still believe that mental health service users need a united voice in N.Ireland to monitor and speak out on a range of significant issues at a time when there is more pressure than ever on mental health services , not just the impact of the covid pandemic, the cost of living crisis, the shortage of social housing , the budgetary restraints impacting availability of services , both in the statutory and voluntary.
The organisation also needs to have more trustees on the Committee who have specific experience in using digital forums and fund raising . So this is a goal that we will be pursuing in the next two years.
Signed Maeve Mills Secretary
Catherine McGroggan Treasurer