Contraception and Sexual Health Development Project

Brighton Oasis Project has been funded by the Primary Care Trust to provide a Contraception and Sexual Health Development Worker for a 9 month project. The post has been developed to improve access to and uptake of contraception and sexual health services for men and women with substance misuse problems in Brighton and Hove.

Some people find it difficult to take care of their sexual health and contraception needs for a whole variety of different reasons, and sometimes this is even more difficult if they have a substance misuse problem. As it is so important that we all look after our sexual health it is also important that special help to do this is offered to some people where necessary.

Jo Rooke will be looking at why some people may find it difficult to access generic sexual health services and find ways to make it easier for them to do so by working closely with health and social care agencies across the City to help remove these barriers.

Jo will also be able to offer some people 1:1 support with their contraception and sexual health needs where appropriate (for example to get to and from appointments).

To find out more about this project or to refer people for 1:1 support please contact Jo Rooke on 07880 716 001 or contact the main office on 01273 696970.

Summer Half Term Holiday Creative Group

During half term Young Oasis ran a 3 day creative group for children who are affected by familial substance misuse, and here is what they got up to:

Day One

There were 2 therapists present and 5 children attended. The children were welcomed and began by making their own name badges out of cardboard, and then they played a name game as a fun way of getting to know a little bit about each other. After this they were asked to participate in the making of a 'group agreement' in order to keep the space safe, and they negotiated well together.

It was then time to get out the clay! The children were encouraged to pummel, pinch and throw the clay down on to the table which they really enjoyed. Each child was invited to make a hand print in their clay.

For the next activity individual boxes were given to each group member, which they decorated with felt tips, paint, feathers and glitter. They were asked to write down or make an image of someting that they didn't want to take home with them and that they could leave behind in the box.

Throughout the session there was a friendly atmosphere and the children chatted happily to each other while getting involved in all the activities!

Day Two

The children who attended on day one went straight into continuing with their projects that they had already begun. Some of their clay objects had broken and time was spent carefully putting them back together. There was also a new member who was very happy to cut cardboard for other people and was keen to help out.

The group chatted excitedly between themselves and shared good ideas. The clay hand prints were decorated using paint, tissue paper and lots of glitter. Later in the session a story was read to the children and this was followed by some games, at which point the children became very noisy and full of energy! However we ended on a calm note, after a fun game of Chinese whispers.

Day Three

It was the last session and lots of children did not want the group to end! Everyone made an image of an animal that they'd like to be and these were cut and pasted on to one large collaborative piece. This was a busy process and there was lots of discussion and sharing of thoughts and ideas.

The group painting is now proudly on display in our group room at Oasis.

i Leave My Mark

i Leave My Mark is a national fundraising initiative that aims to support children who have suffered traumatic experiences in their life. As part of the Brighton Fringe Festival i Leave My Mark ran an exciting event in aid of local children's charities including Safety Net, Chestnut Tree House, Rockinghorse, Winston's Wish, the NSPCC and Young Oasis.

Members of the public were invited to donate £1 and 'leave their mark' by adding their fingerprint to create a giant picture of a child's face! The installation was held at one of Hove's beach huts and ran every weekend in May. Thanks to the large amount of people who got involved, the event was a huge success; 1517 people left their mark and a total of £3004 was raised!

On 1st June a presentation took place outside outside the beach hut. Eleni from Oasis went along and met Debbie (who ran the event), people from other charities, and the mayor was there too!

I would like to say a very big thank you on behalf of everybody at Oasis to the i Leave My Mark team for running this project , raising awareness and donating £500.18 to Young Oasis. We are very grateful - thank you!!!

http://www.ileavemymark.co.uk/

YOUNG OASIS SUMMER ART GROUP 2010

Hi ,

During the first week of the summer holidays, Young Oasis ran a 3 day art group for children affected by familial substance misuse. The participants were aged between 9-12years and the aim of the group was to be creative, have some fun, meet new people, chat, experiment with ideas and make stuff! All of which we did successfully! On average 6 children attended each day and 3 adults were on hand to help.On Day 1, we made ‘Shoebox Bedrooms’, the invitation was to either recreate your bedroom, or create a dream bedroom in 3D. The workshop was very productive and a wide range of materials used from magazine cuttings, bits of material, paint, glue, bits of string , cardboard and tissue paper. The results reflected each child’s individuality - and expressed both personal and universal elements of their life experience. There was much talking and laughing during the process and at the end of the session there were some amazing shoebox bedrooms, along with a collective mountain of chopped up bits and pieces! Here are some of the examples.

Day 2, we used clay and modroc for making sculptures and casts of hands and faces. This was a very energetic session with clay being thrown down onto the tables, pummelled, kneaded, pulled apart and rolled around. The children were encouraged to explore the texture and feel of the clay and to make shapes and sculptures – without thinking too hard. What was produced were abstract forms, pots, a swan, heads, faces and hands. Many of the children also made modroc masks of their faces. This was by far the messiest workshop and a lot of fun!

Day 3. This was the last day of the Summer Art Group and it felt important to work collaboratively. Each child was asked to make an image using collage, handprints, painting, drawing, that said something about themselves and things that they like. At first the workshop was very quiet and slow paced and there appeared to be much reflection going on. In the second part, they were invited to cut and paste elements of their images onto one big piece of paper. At this point the workshop gained momentum and was a hive of activity as each child added to the big picture and they worked together sticking and drawing and painting alongside each other. There were people taking their shoes off and making footprints, others making handprints, some colouring in. The final result was a surprise for all involved – colourful and diverse. We now have it exhibited on the wall at the project.The workshops were enjoyed by all and we hope to offer more in the future as a result.

Watch this space!

Jo

by Brighton Oasis Project
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It's a busy time at Oasis at the moment,loads going on and really busy groups and lunches. I m going to do an update about Tackling Drugs , Saving Lives week and all the activities we particpted in around that initiative but for now I wanted to post this contribution.
Idid say that we would use this blog to include contributions from our service users, updates on how they are doing, activities they have planned and how to get more involved with service user business. Tina has been really quick of the mark and produced a poem for the site.

If you're stuck in dark and scary places
And want some help -come to Oasis
To get some guidance and feel free
It could be where you need to be
Its just for women so why not come?
We welcome kids and make it fun.
So if you re lost and need support
or just want somehwhere safe to talk,
Oasis its the place to be-it's nice it's central and it's free .

I hope if you re reading this and need support it will encourage you to take the first steps, I m sure Tinawould provide a friendly face ( but not the only one) when you get here.

Welcome to our new website! We 've created this following feedback from our service users and the public. We ve tried to make it fresh and accesible with new features so that the content changes and it's easy to find the information you want. There is a section on the website to give us feedback so please let us know what you think. We want to make sure that everyone who needs our services knows we are here, we 've recently had some new flyers printed that we will be distributing that tell you how to access the service. We can always be contacted on the 01273696970 if you need help and advice.
We re going to keep this blog updated to let you know of things that are happening around the project. The service users will also be contributing to the blog with regular updates on their progress in treatment , their successes and struggles. There's a lot going on in the project at the moment so do keep an eye out for our posts.

New Blog for Brighton Oasis Project!

New blog set up! Very excited to be able to post all the happenings at the Oasis Project.