APP December 2024 Newsletter
Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year from all of us at APP
A message from APP's Chief Executive, Dr Jessica Heron:
“As we come to the end of 2024, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported APP this year. It’s been one of our busiest years, and we are all so appreciative of everyone who has volunteered for APP, made generous donations to support our work, taken on fundraising challenges, and re-shared and amplified our campaigns and stories on social media.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff and volunteers, this year we provided peer support to 1,062 women, partners and grandparents, including 683 individuals supported by an APP peer via our NHS partnership projects. We held 148 café group meetings, including regional meet ups plus online groups for grandparents, partners, LGBTQI+ families, Muslim women, and for those managing an ongoing Bipolar diagnosis, as well as book club and creative sessions. We launched a new bereavement support service and trained five new bereavement peer support volunteers.
Earlier in the year, we launched our newest Insider Guide: “Being a parent after PP”. There were more than 9,000 views of our 3-minute video ‘How To Talk To Expectant Parents About Postpartum Psychosis’ with Midwife Marley, highlighting our free training toolkit for antenatal educators. 192 of these toolkits were sent to maternity hospitals across the UK.
Our powerful digital billboard campaign to raise awareness about PP and signpost to the resources and support APP offers was seen by 16 million people across the UK (with billboard space and design expertise donated by JC Decaux and award-winning PR agency MotherLondon). In March, we ran our first-ever charity appeal on BBC Radio 4, presented by our impressive Ambassador, Laura Dockrill, raising £27,500.
This year’s Alex Baish Memorial Webinar “Essential knowledge for preventing maternal suicide” saw 3,891 sign-ups from health professionals. Since 2014, 22,000 health professionals have heard an APP lived experience speaker and 650 health professionals have attended APP’s full day training. After years of campaigning, we attended the official groundbreaking for Seren Lodge - a new Mother and Baby Unit that will care for those with severe postnatal illness in North Wales and the Chester region: our campaign to secure funding and a timescale for a Northern Ireland MBU continues.
All of us at APP would like to wish you and your loved ones a very happy festive period. At APP we know that for some women and families, Christmas and New Year can be a difficult time, particularly for those with loved ones spending Christmas in an MBU or struggling with recovery. You are not on our own – APP’s peer supporters are available every day of the year via our Forum”.
Peer Support during the festive period
APP’s Forum is open as usual over the festive period. Our staff and volunteers are ready to talk to anyone who needs support. If you would like to talk to others who have been there, please get in touch.
If you are emailing the APP office or requesting one to one email or video call support over the festive period, please bear with us. It may take a few days for us to get back to you.
Christmas in a Mother and Baby Unit – we are there for you
Hospital isn’t the place anyone wants to spend their first Christmas as a family – but some mums will spend some or all of the festive period in a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU).
APP’s peer support teams in our NHS partnership projects have worked on MBUs since 2018 and we know what it’s like – not just for mums but for partners and other family members too. Our embedded peer support workers have been running Christmas craft events for mothers currently on MBUs, like those pictured above at Andersen Ward in Manchester and work with staff to make MBUs feel like home away from home.
Please know that we are there for you – find out more about APP peer support on our website.
Whilst it’s not always easy to think now, you will get better. If you or your loved one is in hospital, there are still special memories to be made for your baby’s first Christmas. You can read others’ experiences on our website as well as find ideas about how to write a card to a mum who is spending the festive period (or any time of the year) in hospital from our Birmingham MBU Peer Support Facilitator, Soukaina, here.
Health professional training: book now for 2025
Book now for APP’s health professional training days. Our workshop, “Best Practice care in Postpartum Psychosis” is designed to help professionals: recognise and manage the early signs of PP; remain up to date with research into causes, risk factors, best practice care and treatment; and feel confident supporting women and families through to full recovery and beyond. The day is highly rated by attendees, with 100% saying they would recommend it to colleagues:
"I thought this training was absolutely excellent. It was invaluable to hear lived experience and I felt confident in the absolute expertise of everyone included."
"The training material is excellent, and I hope this training will be offered to all mental health professions."
The next online training day is 5th February 2025. You can find out more and book a place here.
We are recruiting
APP is looking for a new casual Peer Support Worker to join our team providing peer support to women who have experienced postpartum psychosis (PP) across Greater London, and to help raise awareness of PP and the support available to women and families.
We’re looking for someone to work with our team to respond to requests for peer support, talking to women one-to-one, via email, telephone and video call as well as in-person. The role also involves being part of a team running a monthly social ‘cafe’ group for recovering and recovered women with experience of PP. The new Peer Support Worker will build relationships with the three Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) in the Greater London area, raising awareness of APP peer support services and café group meetings amongst staff and families.
There’s more information about the role on our website.
The closing date for applications is midnight on Monday 13th January 2025.
Big Give thanks
Thank you so much to everyone who supported our Big Give Christmas Challenge appeal this year. We raised an amazing £4,408!
This will go a really long way to help us develop information and signposting for women and families facing legal or rights based issues after a PP diagnosis. Find out more here and watch this space over the next year for updates.
Thank you also to our generous supporter and to the Hospital Saturday Fund for matching donations for the duration of the Big Give appeal.
2025 challenges
If you’re already thinking ahead to the new year and what you want to achieve in 2025, why not check out the huge range of fundraising challenges we have on offer - from 2.5k fun runs to cycle rides, swims and ultra-length trail runs - plus tough mudders, skydives and bungee jumps - we have something for everyone and all across the UK (and beyond!) Take a look at all the events you can choose from here. Sign up and get a FREE APP top, a fundraising pack, and loads of support and encouragement!
A big thank you to Lucy who organised a fabulous festive Big Bake and raffle in Garvagh, Northern Ireland last month to raise funds for APP. They sold out of everything they made and enjoyed it so much, they’re planning to make it an annual event! Thanks Lucy!
Join us for our first-ever APP Adventure!
Next June, we’re inviting you to join a team of APP staff, volunteers and supporters to take on an exciting hiking challenge in the Peak District!
We’ll be doing an inspiring 8 mile circular walk through the beautiful Derbyshire countryside, taking in the iconic Mam Tor (Mother Hill) and going through the village of Hope.
Together, with women, parents and families who have been affected by postpartum psychosis, we’ll make memories and enjoy breathtaking views - all while raising funds and awareness for the charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis to support others.
We’re really excited about it and we’d love you to be part of the adventure. Numbers are limited, so reserve your place soon here.
📅 When: Saturday 21st June
📍 Where: Peak District, Derbyshire
✨ 8 mile (13km) circular walk
🗻 Includes Mam Tor and the village of Hope
⏳ Duration: Approx. 4 hours
🎯 £25 registration fee, £200 fundraising target per person
💌 Questions? Please contact Fliss at: fundraising@app-network.org
Dates for your diary
- APP Manchester face to face café group meet up, Friday 20th December
- APP Muslim women’s virtual café group meet up, Friday 20th December
- APP Lancashire and south Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Blackburn, Friday 3rd January 2025
- APP Northern Ireland virtual café group meet up, Tuesday 7th January 2025
- APP Lancashire and south Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Blackpool, Friday 10th January 2025
- APP Lancashire and south Cumbria virtual café group meet up, Monday 13th January 2025
- APP Lancashire and south Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Lancaster, Wednesday 15th January 2025
- APP dads and co-parents virtual café group meet up, Wednesday 15th January 2025
- APP Lancashire and south Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Preston, Friday 17th January 2025
- APP London face to face café group meet up, Saturday 18th January 2025
- APP North East face to face café group meet up in Newcastle, Monday 20th January 2025
- APP Manchester face to face café group meet up, Friday 24th January 2025
- APP Sussex and Hampshire virtual café group meet up in Newcastle, Monday 27th January 2025
- APP North East face to face café group meet up in Newcastle, Monday 17th February 2025
- APP Manchester face to face café group meet up, Friday 21st February 2025
Contact information for all APP café groups is available here.