Members' Stories
Angela Wellon – First 4 Disabilities (Young People)
“First 4 Disabilities is a not-for-profit organisation that provides care and support to individuals and families with disabilities in Oldham. We have kept up to date with LINk activity and are members of many partnerships and networks that can feed into the LINk including the Disability Complex Needs Partnership. I am a mother of three children, one disabled and so the future of Oldham is of great importance to me as it involves my children’s future”.
Miranda De Blasio – PRT Oldham Carers Centre (Carers)
“As an organisation, a key member has been involved in the early work of the LINk Advisory Group to establish the LINk and I have been involved in the temporary Governance Group. As the Centre’s Manager, I have acted as a conduit between Carers’ Centre Groups and the LINk and facilitating LINk working groups via partnership work with our Carers’ Drop-In. I am also actively involved in strategically developing partnerships between LINks with the Local Authority and the PCT”.
Peter Bennett – Individual (Mental Health)
“I have been involved with the Oldham LINk since the Host was appointed and have been a very active member. I was previously part of the Patient and Public Involvement in Health (PPIH) Forum for Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust which is the predecessor of LINks. I have developed and delivered Induction Training for new LINk members with the Host Team and have been a member of the temporary Governance Group so that the LINk could begin its work. I was Chair for two years at Tameside & Glossop MIND (now Tameside, Oldham and Glossop MIND) and am actively involved with Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust as an Elected Member Councillor. As a past user of mental health services, this has given me a passion to bring about real changes.
Paul Benedek – Individual (Adults & Older People)
“I worked with Oldham Council to appoint the LINk Host Organisation, and worked as part of the early LINk Advisory Group to develop the LINk Governance arrangements and have also been a member of the temporary Governance Group. I was a Registered General Nurse for many years until I became disabled. I was previously part of the Patient and Public Involvement in Health (PPIH) Forum for Oldham Primary Care Trust which is the predecessor of LINks and before that a member of the Community Health Council”.
Nicola Shore – Age Concern (Adults and Oldham People)
“I have been involved in the very early work of the LINk Advisory Group, which was comprised of local stakeholders to develop the governance arrangements for the LINk. I am ideally placed to through my work at Age Concern and the networks I have developed to ensure that the work of the Oldham LINk reaches a wide audience and that people have the opportunity to contribute to this work”.
Fozia Amin – Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind (Mental Health)
“MIND has been actively involved with the LINk since the very beginning. The organisation was a member of the LINk Advisory Group and as such has been integral to the LINks establishment. MIND is a key voluntary organisation working in the field of mental health and is well placed to collate people’s experiences and present them to the LINk”.
Terence Booth – Individual (Disability)
“I was a member of the Patient and Public Involvement in Health (PPIH) Forum for Oldham Primary Care Trust, which was the precursor to the Oldham LINk. During which time I was involved in working with the Trust to monitor and give advice on their services from a patient and public perspective. I am a part of the Mental Health and In Control working groups and have conducted Patient Environment Action Team visits with Pennine Acute NHS Hospitals Trust”.
There is still a vacancy for an individual Young Peoples representative.
The LINk Governors were elected into post by the LINk Membership until March 2010.
LINk Governors can be contacted via the Oldham LINk Host Team.
