Restore unites with The People’s Fair to celebrate city’s diversity and mental health

Restore are delighted to be joining The People’s Fair this year! More than a thousand people united last year and we’re looking forward to welcoming even more people at Florence Park on Sunday 8 July from 11am to 5pm.

Returning for a second year, The People’s Fair celebrates the diversity of Oxfordshire society and aims to bring people from all backgrounds and ages together. There has never been a greater need to strengthen ties between all of us.

The People’s Fair is a community event with a fresh barbeque, children’s rides, pony trails, bouncy castle, football and sports tournaments, live music, face painting, Henna, and stalls.

Restore are thrilled that The People’s Fair will be raising money for Restore’s much-needed recovery services and promoting awareness of mental health in the city.

Recent figures show a blanket increase in severe mental health issues across the county, with Oxford City ‘well above the average’ of all other districts. The figures were published in the Oxfordshire Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2018, an annual report by Oxfordshire County Council.

It showed the number of people diagnosed with depression in Oxfordshire increased by 7,100 between 2016/17 and 2015/16 – an increase of 14 per cent.

Depression is now the second highest diagnosis for patients across Oxfordshire, with the total of 56,800 trumped only by cases of high blood pressure.

All six districts within the NHS Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group recorded an increase in patients who had been diagnosed with a ‘severe and enduring’ mental health problem. This was most apparent in the Oxford City district, where 1.1 per cent of all GP patients were recorded as having severe and enduring mental health issues, compared to a high of 0.8 per cent elsewhere in the county.

Lesley Dewhurst, Joint Chief Executive of Restore, said: “With more people seeking our help, Restore is working twice as hard to provide care. We offer people seeking mental health support the chance to recover and build up confidence in our recovery groups in Oxford, Banbury, and Didcot. We’re delighted to be working closely with The People’s Fair and further embedding ourselves in East Oxford, a community we’ve belonged to for the last forty years.”

Restore was awarded a top charity accolade at the 2018 Oxfordshire Business Awards for our work in the community. More than 400 entrepreneurs from around the county used an app on their smartphones to pick the winner of The Oxford Times Charity and Community Award at the Oxfordshire Business Awards.

More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/476250686132283/