As we continue to support each other in our journey with Fibromyalgia, it’s essential to ensure that our meetings and online discussions spaces remain safe and supportive spaces for everyone.
Psychological Safety in Our Meetings: Creating a psychologically safe environment is crucial for our collective well-being. This means fostering a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing theirexperiences without fear of judgment or discomfort. To achieve this, we must be mindful of how we share and interact with one another.
Next Meeting Focus: We will dedicate our next meeting todiscussing how we can maintain psychologically safe spaces. One key ingredient for such a space, as an example, is that we can share, but should do so without oversharing. While it’s important to express our feelings and experiences, we must also respect personal boundaries and avoid delving into overly personal or distressing details. Our goal is to support each other, not to provide counselling. Another example is that whilst we encourage constructive critique regarding issues or process, our safe space isn’t meant for personal criticism, with our focus being on improving collectively, not on critiquing individuals.
The role of Mental Health First Aiders: Please remember that our mental health first aiders are here to provide basic support and guidance.They are not trained counsellors or therapists. Their role is to offer immediate assistance and direct individuals to appropriate professional resources if needed.
Safeguarding Update: As part of our ongoing commitment to the well-being of our community, we are currently developing a safeguarding policy. This policy aims to address serious concerns related to mental health and welfare. Moving forward, it will explicitly state that if an individual is at risk of harm to themselves or others, we have a responsibility to share this information with statutory service providers, including social and healthcare agencies.
Our Purpose: It is important to reiterate that Fibromyalgia Friends Together was not established as a campaign group, but was established as a support group, with the campaigning work done by Fibromyalgia Action UK. Also, due to the increasing pressure on our volunteers, we regret to inform you that we are no longer able to provide benefits advice. We will continue to run in person sessions on applying for benefits and we will look to provide more online resources which you will be able to access. We greatly appreciate the dedication and hard work of our volunteers, and we hope you understand the necessity of this change.
Our primary focus is to provide mutual support, share information, and foster a sense of community among those affected by Fibromyalgia. Let’s continue being successful together, through creating a safe, supportive, and respectful environment for all members.
Mark Farmer
Chair of Fibromyalgia Friends Together, on behalf of the Steering Group.