NSUN is the National Survivors User Network - Working to aid survivors and survivor support groups

<p>In 2003 service user-led research resulted in the report ‘On Our Own Terms’. This report made a number of recommendations, including the need for a national network to bring groups together, encourage good practice and build capacity within the sector. Inspired by this report service users and survivors employed within two voluntary sector organisations, Together and the Mental Health Foundation, organised a conference focussed on discussing the possibility of setting up a national service user / survivor network. Nearly 200 service users and survivors attended the ‘Our Future’ conference in Birmingham in March 2006. Out of the Birmingham conference a National Planning Group was formed. This National Planning Group included representatives from a whole range of service user and survivor led groups. Together they applied for and were successful in obtaining funding from Comic Relief and the Tudor Trust. With the receipt of funding, the National Planning Group was dissolved and replaced by a management committee selected by an independent panel of service users and survivors. This management committee met for the first time in February 2007. Currently the NSUN management committee is: </p> * Anne Beales * Tina Coldham * David Crepaz-Keay (Treasurer) * Mark Henderson * Rob Henderson (Chair) * Kath Lovell * Chris Wright<P> We plan to recruit another 10 people to this committee soon so that the management committee will eventually consist of 17 service users and survivors. By the beginning of May three members of staff had been employed. This staff team now share an office with Catch-A-Fiya a national network organisation for service users and survivors from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities. This staff team are: * Chandra Fowler (Coordinator) * David Reay (Finance and Administration) * Laura Schofield (Communication and Media) In May 2007 the Inaugural Mission, Aims and Values of the Network were agreed along with a Strategy for the coming months. The name NSUN was also finally agreed. NSUN will be accepting members very soon and if all goes well we should be ready for an official launch in the autumn.<P> <A HREF="http://www.thecampingshop.co.uk/catalog">Click here to enter the shop<P> </A>