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Volunteers for Mental Health
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History

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1991
  • A newly qualified Registered Mental Nurse was doing voluntary work at a small hospital for abandoned babies with HIV in Romania and was taken to Tarnaveni Hospital.  He was profoundly moved by what he saw and by the overwhelming levels of need.
  • He believed that “driving over lorry loads of aid and walking away feeling like we’d achieved something was not the solution. I wanted to get to the heart of the problem and to find out what was wanted.”
 
1992
  • The Tarnaveni Project was founded by a group of psychiatric nurses based in London, Birmingham and Swansea as part of The Relief Fund for Romania.
  • The project provided aid such as bedding, but the main purpose was sending volunteers to work with the patients and staff.

1995
  • An Occupational Therapist persuaded the hospital to open up a basement room to provide therapeutic activities for patients.
  • The project continued to organise some overland trips along with short volunteer placements.
 
1998
  • Volunteers for Mental Health became a registered charity and an independent organisation.
  •  It began to recruit long-term volunteers to work with patients, prioritising this over the supply trips.
  • Volunteers divided their time between working on the wards and providing activity in the basement room, which became known as the "Club".

2003
  • There was a break in volunteer activity while the board reviewed its work in the hospital.
  • New trustees were recruited to join the board and placements began again the next year.
  • Volunteers began to organise structured programmes of activities for patients and to hold regular meetings with Nurse Managers.
  • A translator was employed to help with communication, promote understanding and improve working relations with hospital staff.

2007
  • Romania joined the EU and new legislation led to significant challenges for the hospital and a period of uncertainty for the charity.
  • Trustees commissioned an independent review of its work by an experienced V.S.O. volunteer and some key recommendations were adopted, including a move towards localising the project.
 
2010
  • VfMH appointed a Romanian Volunteer Coordinator in partnership with Pro Vobis, the Romanian National Resource Centre for Volunteerism.
  • It also created a formal Collaboration Agreement with the hospital as a first step to localizing operations.
  • The Coordinator’s role was to oversee the work of volunteers on placement at the hospital and act as a link between hospital and the charity.
 
2011
  • VfMH set out a new Vision, Mission and Goals with objectives for 3 years and continued to recruit volunteers for placements of 3 – 6 months.
 
2012
  • The hospital opened a new Occupational Therapy Department and VfMH was invited to move into the unit with the aim of developing collaborative working.
  • The next year the Volunteer Coordinator left the charity and the post remained vacant.
 
2014
  • Trustees reviewed the Vision, Mission, Goals and set new 3 year strategic objectives with a clear direction for the future work of the charity.
  • A Development Director was appointed to develop strategic planning and to promote community based alternatives to institutional care whilst based as a long-term volunteer in Tarnaveni. 
  • Two staff members from Tarnaveni were recruited to support UK volunteers and went on to run the activities programme independently, providing consistency and culturally appropriate support for patients.
 
2015
  • A new Development Lead role was created for a Romanian consultant to develop the work of VfMH in Romania according to the Delivery Plan
  • This post holder was also to assist in recruiting and leading a small team of Romanian staff, to deliver support to patients and to develop and extend opportunities for community based activities. 

2016
  • Work began on setting up an NGO based in Tarnaveni, to take over provision of the service, together with a greater focus on providing services based in the community. 
 
 

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Copyright © 2015