Latest news with #LaurenStonebanks
Edinburgh Live
4 days ago
- Health
- Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh woman 'terrified' of losing what 'gives her something to live for'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info An Edinburgh charity may see several programmes that serve the capital's most vulnerable demographics slashed as funding cuts loom closer. CAPS is one of the charities looking down the barrel of extensive funding cuts from the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board (EIJB), which announced its intention to make £2.2 million in cuts to social care charities. Edinburgh Live reported in May on delays to the funding cuts after Edinburgh mental health charities raised the alarm on the impact cuts would have on "lifeline" services. We also brought you stories from service users whose lives changed after gaining access to critical services at CAPS. However, this week the charity was informed of the final recommendation from the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership (EHSCP), who is asking the EIJB to vote to discontinue three CAPS projects. These services - the Out of Sight Out of Mind exhibition, Collective Advocacy for LGBTQIA+ people, and Collective Advocacy for minority ethnic communities - will be discontinued in November if the recommendation is carried later this month. CAPS offers individual and collective advocacy, providing safe spaces to explore shared issues. It has groups for those suffering from trauma, psychosis, eating disorders, personality disorders, and for LGBTQ and minority ethnic individuals. In recent years, collective advocacy groups have delivered training to Edinburgh nurses for working sensitively with LGBTQ and minority ethnic patients. Edinburgh Live spoke to Lauren Stonebanks, a service user who is heavily involved in all three of the CAPS programmes slated for the axe. She said the cuts to LGTBQIA+ and minority ethnic services will "remove the voices of already marginalised people. These are both protected characteristics. "All the antagonism towards queer and minority ethnic people is getting worse and worse. They're removing something that helps people understand what we go through." Lauren, 45, has autism and ADHD and dropped out of medical school in 2002 when her mental health "deteriorated". She has been involved with CAPS since 2011. "It's a really scary time at the moment. Myself and others have experienced queerphobic and racist abuse and that seems to be getting worse again," she added. "[CAPS training] was making a dent in negative attitudes. We were having an impact, especially when we were talking to students. "People always say they never would have know all this stuff if it wasn't for the CAPS training. All of that is going to be lost, the resources and learning are going to be gone. "People fear what they don't know and understand but when they learn about it, they realise we are just like you but a little different here and there." The Out of Sight Out of Mind exhibition is the largest art exhibition in Scotland showcasing art from people with mental health issues. The fate of the exhibition, which shows every year in Summerhall, also hangs in the balance. Lauren added: "The one thing that's most important [to me] is the exhibition, which [may be] cut. It's an Edinburgh institution, really. "It's given me something to look forward to, something to live for, something that actually makes a difference and gives me a sense of accomplishment. "I'm terrified of losing something that keeps me well and gives me something to live for." Lauren hopes that even if the EIJB moves forward with the cuts, CAPS can manage to hold on to the critical services. She added: "I'm hoping that something can be done that will save these projects and they will see there is value in all of them and find a way to keep them. "All the work we've put in the past years - it feels like it was for nothing." The EIJB's final vote for funding allocation is being held on August 26. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Councillor Tim Pogson, Chair of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (IJB), said: "The IJB funds a range of services through block contracts and service level agreements. Officers have recently completed an extensive review of all of this spend to ensure that we are investing our limited resources in the most effective way. A report with recommendations for future funding arrangements will be considered by the IJB on 26 August. "We recognise the contribution that our third sector providers make and the concern this review may have caused. Unfortunately, the level of funding Edinburgh's IJB receives has not kept pace with the increased demand and cost for our services. This means that difficult decisions have to be made in order to protect the essential support we provide for some of Edinburgh's most vulnerable people. "This review will help us to focus scarce resources on providing core, statutory services which help keep the people who most need our help safe and well cared for, while allowing our partners to meet their legal duties.'
Edinburgh Live
29-05-2025
- Health
- Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh woman fears 'life-changing' charity will disappear from funding cuts
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A woman who dropped out of university amid a battle with mental illness says an Edinburgh charity at risk of critical funding cuts 'changed her life'. Lauren Stonebanks, 45, atteded four and a half years of medical school at the University of Edinburgh before dropping in 2002 out when her mental health "deteriorated". The Meadowbank resident went through a slew of diagnoses in following years - including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder - before an Edinburgh charity turned her life around. Lauren discovered CAPS in 2011 and has been an active member of the independent advocacy organisation for 14 years. However, the charity is looking down the barrel of extensive funding cuts from the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board (EIJB), which announced its intention to make £2.2 million in cuts to social care charities. CAPS offers individual and collective advocacy, providing safe spaces to explore shared issues. Lauren soon found a community of accepting people with similar experiences. According to advocates at CAPS, they provide the only pathway for people diagnosed with personality disorders in Edinburgh and the Lothians. They worry that without their services, people with personality disorders will not have access the life-saving community that CAPS facilitates. (Image: Edinburgh Live) After receiving a diagnosis for borderline personality disorder, Lauren said she was initially devastated. She later was re-diagnosed as having ADHD and autism, but says CAPS taught her to battle the stigma associated with her original diagnosis. She said: "I spent two weeks feeling absolutely dreadful. There's not much good said about people with borderline personality disorder. It's all bad. That's what I was being taught in the late 90s and early noughties. "[CAPS] changed my life because it showed positives. It just changed my entire perspective on it. I wasn't toxic, I wasn't a monster. I wasn't manipulative and evil. I was somebody in a lot of pain and trauma, and just as deserving of compassion." Through CAPS' commitment to collective advocacy, Lauren began using her lived experience with mental illness to educate social care professionals on how to work positively with people with personality disorders. She began delivering training for mental health nursing students at Napier University as well as occupational therapy students, art therapy students, clinical psychologists, and social workers. She also organises exhibitions and advocates for LGBTQ and minority ethnic people. Lauren added: "I can make a difference to the attitudes of all those people." Prior to CAPS, she reported being too shy to speak to people. She continued: "It made such a difference." CAPS services are facing the axe this year with potential funding cuts from the EIJB and millions of pounds of funding cuts to social care charities on the docket. When Lauren found out about the proposed cuts, she said: "I cried, and then I got angry. "[At CAPS] I've gained a family. My [biological] family was kind of emotionally abusive and not accepting of my sexuality or gender identity. They also didn't [understand] the mental health stuff and kind of blame blamed me." She spoke on the change in her confidence CAPS has afforded her in her 14 years of involvement: "I used to run away if I had to give presentations, I would flee and speak in front of people. It gave me the confidence to actually challenge the diagnosis." Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Katharina Kasper, Chair of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board said: "The IJB funds a range of non-statutory services with third sector providers, through block contracts and service level agreements. We are currently carrying out a review of this spend, with the aim of reducing annual spend by £2.2 million. This will enable us to focus scarce resources on the provision of core, statutory services which help keep the people who most need our help safe and well cared for, while allowing our partners to meet their legal duties. "We have decided to take more time to consider this proposal until the IJB meets on August 26. This is to make sure we have taken the time to fully understand the services being provided, to assess the data and evidence on the impacts of any changes, and to consider the concerns raised by providers, service users and others. "We recognise the concern this may cause, however we are now in a position where unfortunately these difficult decisions have to be made in order to protect the essential support we provide for some of Edinburgh's most vulnerable people."
