Pillar Kincardine Policy   -   Membership   -  Revised version adopted 21 June 2011

Membership

Note: Membership of Pillar Kincardine is open to both service users and non service users, whether individuals or organisations.  The following paragraphs relate specifically to members who are service users.

Membership Criteria

Service using membership of Pillar Kincardine shall be open to any adult over 16 who:

  • Is normally resident within Aberdeenshire South.
  • Has experienced acute or chronic mental ill-health, causing personal distress and problems in everyday living.
  • Has recently (within the past 2 years) required assistance and guidance for mental health problems from their GP or other appropriate health professional.
  • Is likely to benefit in terms of their mental health from social contact of the type that Pillar provides.
  • Comes to Pillar of their own free will.

Member Services

Pillar Kincardine will aim to facilitate social contact of a kind which positively enhances mental health both within its own meeting places and elsewhere in the local community, and members will be expected to make positive choices about the groups or sessions they wish to use, in conjunction with other community resources and facilities.  While it is not a treatment service, people who use Pillar will be able to access advice, information and support when they are in crisis or in distress.

Pillar Kincardine is committed to active user involvement in the management of its services.  Members will be encouraged to make suggestions about future activities or to raise general issues about the running of the organisation through regular service feedback sessions, and to stand for election under a Constitution which guarantees a fixed proportion of Member Directors.

Membership Reviews

Membership of Pillar Kincardine is intended to be used as a stepping-stone into ordinary activities and services – it is not open-ended.  Reviews of existing membership will be undertaken on a rolling basis with regard to our membership criteria and members' individual circumstances.

Members will be given review dates during the course of each year.  As part of this process, members will be encouraged to review their contact with Pillar and, with support from staff, to move towards making positive choices about how they use the service; this may include identifying activities and resources outside Pillar.

To facilitate this process Pillar will make active links with other organisations such as Community Education.  Any choices that members make will be viewed flexibly, so that members are able to lean more heavily on the service when less well.

Moving On

Where the initial review indicates that a member is using Pillar inappropriately, they will be given suggestions for alternatives to explore. It may be that, in subsequent reviews, such a member may be asked, with active help, to move on from Pillar.

Moving on should be a positive choice and experience for Pillar members.  The friendships that people form through Pillar can be maintained outside Pillar without any direct Pillar involvement.

Moving on is not a one-way process, and ex-members may return at any point where their needs are compatible with the service Pillar provides.

Pillar Kincardine Policy   -   Membership   -  Revised version adopted 21 June 2011