Let's Talk North East

15/04/2026

Hey everyone,

I would like to try and open a hub in Durham and Teesside simultaneously. I am heading up the opening of the first Teesside Hub so I would be looking for somebody who lives in Durham County to oversee things there

The reason for this is, we have been getting a lot of interest across Teesside and Durham, more so than other areas of the north east. Which tells me one thing, these are the 2 key places where our services are needed the most

Training and qualifications aren't necessary as full training will be provided once we can secure funding. Lived experience in any of the areas that we provide support is essential as a majority of our services are provided through our own experiences

I would also welcome some assistance with getting things moving on Teesside as well 😀

Please comment on this post or email enquiries@letstalknortheast.org and please share to any Durham based groups on facebook

14/04/2026

Please take a look at this campaign and sign both of the attached petitions :)

Here’s a reminder about the Hannah Deacon Campaign and what it’s fighting to change.

Since 2019, a small number of families have turned to private prescriptions for medical cannabis after exhausting all NHS treatment options for their children. Many have seen life-changing improvements—but at an average cost of £1,300 per month, this has placed a huge financial burden on families, in some cases for nearly a decade.

When medical cannabis was legalised in 2018, NHS access was expected to follow. The reality is that access remains extremely limited, despite clear and urgent need—something we continue to work on through the Medcan Family Foundation.

The campaign is calling on the government to step in and provide financial support for these families. This would cover the cost of prescribed cannabinoid medicines while children take part in observational clinical trials—helping both patients now and the evidence base for the future.

For change to happen, awareness is key. Here’s how you can help:

• Sign the petitions (both matter):
– Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-rishi-sunak-and-secretary-of-state-for-health-steve-barclay-stop-denying-patients-access-to-medicinal-cannabis-on-the-nhs?source_location=search

– UK Parliament petition
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/759240

• Support the Early Day Motion led by Tonia Antoniazzi, alongside Hannah’s mother, Maggie Deacon. More MP signatures mean more pressure for action.

Find out more and take action here:
www.hannahdeaconcampaign.co.uk

Thank you for your support.

13/04/2026

A great little visit to Brandon Community Hall in Durham this afternoon where Durham Haven Pain Cafe were hosting a networking event. It was brilliant to meet representatives from several organisations including:

Smokefree County Durham, Move County Durham, Live Well With Pain, Tackle Prostate Cancer, County Durham Resilience, Employability Durham and Fibromyalgia Action UK - FMAUK as well as Durham County Council's Equipment Advice Service

Had some really nice conversations and told them all about LTNE and our work whilst I was there 😀

Looking forward to meeting with you all again and working together in the near future

12/04/2026

Hey everyone,

So we need your help on a couple of things...

1. We are aiming to do some events across the North East very soon. We want to fit in as many areas as possible. The events will likely be on weekends to accommodate as many people as possible. Please comment your area below and suggest somewhere to go

2. We are also aiming to come to as many organisations as we can, to introduce ourselves and talk about our work and how we can work together. Again, please drop your organisation, workplace, school/college etc in the comments and I will be in touch to arrange a visit

Thanks all, please take this opportunity, we are only as effective as the people and sector that we represent so please comment and share

11/04/2026

Hey guys please check these 2 fantastic organisations out :) hopefully we will catch up with the 30 for mens mental health and brews bros sunderland very soon :)

If you’ve been following my journey with The 30, you’ll have seen me mention Brews Brothers a few times.

They’re a brilliant local group creating a safe space for men to come together, talk, and unwind — no pressure, no judgement. The pizza is canny too.

They’ve just launched a new page, and it would mean a lot if you could give it a follow and share it on.

You never know who might need something like this right now.

Sometimes it starts with something as simple as a brew and a chat.

👉 Please follow and share: Brews Brothers Sunderland

11/04/2026

Lets get back on track shall we. I haven't been in the right frame of mind to do it for a couple of weeks

Today, we are shining the spotlight on The Li'l Community Hub + Soundbites. They are based in North Shields and improve and maintain mental health and wellbeing through creativity, music and much more

They have regular drop-in sessions available to come along and take part in some activities, have some fun and improve your mental wellbeing and maybe even make some new friends

Please check out their page and give them a like and a follow and see what they have to offer :) it'll be well worth your time.

We are hoping to visit their fantastic team very soon as well :) keep up the amazing work all of you

10/04/2026

Ok, something that has been doing my head in recently...

Every single day I come on facebook, have a quick scroll and catch up on anything missed. During that initial 5-10 minutes on here, I am guaranteed to see at least one post about disability or mental health, no matter the time of day

And every day, I have a glance at the comments and what do I see, several uneducated, idiotic people spewing hate at disabled and mentally unwell people because they are too thick and lazy to do any research into something that doesn't affect them

Now, whenever I see comments like this you can guarantee there will be a reply from me, either on my personal profile or on here, challenging the ridiculous bile they are putting out

The only way to start reducing the stigma around mental health issues and disability is to TALK ABOUT IT, educate those who provide uneducated answers to diagnosable and registered medical issues, open up to a friend/family member, ask somebody you love if they are ok, really okay...it could honestly save a life!!

So, my invitation to all of our followers and members of our group. If you're doomscrolling through facebook (don't worry, I do it a lot) and come across a post that discusses mental health or disabilities, click on the comments, and if there is a negative comment, address it...help fight the stigma that we face every single day 😀

05/04/2026

So, once again I have been witness to, and victim of a failing NHS mental health service over the last 2 weeks. I contacted my GP 2 days after the incident on 23rd March...2 days. It took the GP a further 4 days to contact me (not counting the weekend)

In my online consultation I expressed thoughts of SH, suicidal ideation, vivid flashbacks and not being able to sleep...

When the GP phoned me, I explained the situation once again, including all of the above for a 2nd time in a week. The GP asked me one question, 'have you made any plans to take your own life?'

'No, not yet' I replied, from there the GP prescribed me promethazine to help me sleep and told me that he would send a referral to the mental health practitioner based at the surgery. 3 days later (almost 2 weeks after the incident) I get a text

'You have a telephone appointment with the mental health practitioner on 28th April'...over a month since the initial incident that has more or less taken me back to where i was 18 months ago!

We need to get rid of this idea that a simple prescription will solve everything whilst you wait months to see a professional mental health practitioner!

Just because I didn't have a plan to take my life today, doesn't mean I won't be awake all night making a plan, or make a plan the following day, which almost happened a couple of times.

Every single day, across the country, thousands of men, women and even youths are in this exact same position, or even worse...and every single day, you will see a post on your local news outlets social media feed or your local police Facebook saying a person has gone missing, or a search has been initiated where a person was last sighted

A majority of the time, you will find that these people go missing because their mental health needs have not been met by a primary care service such as the NHS, and sadly, some of them never come home

Medication is not a quick fix, it is not the 'go to' solution and mental health issues should NEVER be underestimated, yet they constantly are, and they are brushed off thinking that a person will still be here next week, when sometimes, next week is too late

Don't forget, we aren't only here to give support to people struggling, we are here to support those who are supporting people going through mental health issues

So please, reach out and seek help, we can point you in the right direction and provide support in the mean time. Don't suffer in silence, and don't think nobody will listen, because we will

31/03/2026

An attempt was made this evening to question Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council about their new, farcical recycling scheme. Collections were missed and a lot of residents haven't even received the 6 new bags and boxes that were promised.

Once these are received, residents now have to sort their recycling into 8 different containers ready for weekly collection. Normal green bin collections have now moved to every 2 weeks

SBC have also seemingly not taken into account those of us who have severe disabilities that restrict our mobility, so how are we supposed to sit there for an hour or so, sorting recycling into 8 different containers...bending and lifting constantly which will ultimately put us in extreme pain for hours or days at a time

Fair to say, the first day of this new scheme hasn't gone the way that SBC hoped. Does anyone else have a similarly farcical refuse collection system in their town or city? What are your thoughts?

31/03/2026

Ok im gonna go out on a limb and hope for a decent response :)

For those following the page or members of the group, what content would you all love to see? What would get you engaging with posts more?

Don't forget, the group isn't just about asking for help, its there to foster connections between people, its there for you to use within the rules, you can post, create events if you fancy doing something with members in your area and much more

For the group and page, and the organisation as a whole to be successful, it depends on our wonderful members and followers. We pride ourselves on trying to get the community as involved as possible in every aspect of what we do

If you have any ideas, suggestions or anything please do leave a comment and we will take all ideas on board :)

30/03/2026

Hi everyone, in an effort to 'future proof' our organisation with expansion hopefully expected one day, a new page has been created called Let's Talk Health & Wellbeing

This will be the main public page for everything to do with our organisation, no matter where we set up.

There will then be pages created for each region as and when there is enough public interest to open a branch

What I am getting at is, this page will not change, it will simply be the public page for the North East Region :)

I hope that all makes sense, the reason that its been done now is because there is already interest growing in one or two other regions and hopefully that continues

Things may change and it may end up being decided to run everything (except the north east region as this will serve as the main HQ region) through the new main page, but for now, this is the strongest plan that I can come up with

Feel free to head over and give the new page a like and a follow, not much on there at the moment but there will be

29/03/2026

Hey all. Just curious, if I was to start the video series again on tiktok and reels on YouTube, what content would people like to see (just as an FYI I won't be doing pranks and things lol.

If you have a look at the content thats currently on there you will get an idea :) at some point i will be looking to have people from other orgabisations on videos, live feeds etc to get their views and opinions on various things. Any organisations or individuals interested please contact us :)

Any ideas greatly received. Thanks