Mothertongue Partnerships
Mothertongue has worked with a number of organisations in and around Reading to deliver courses on culturally sensitive counselling, Mental Health Interpreting and training and consultation for volunteers and staff.

By working in partnership with these organisations we are able to reach communities and individuals who have traditionally not received culturally and linguistically appropriate counselling and psycho-educational support. We are able to lobby for change to services and this helps us to meet our objectives of widening access and improving communication, understanding and learning across cultures. Below are some examples:

• Leaving Care Social Services, Reading Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service - a quarterly study group to review cases, 2007 (ongoing)
• Reading Youth Offending Service - a joint art project to engage young people on the theme of identity culminating in an art exhibition, July 2007
• Prospect College and Reading Girls’ School on a series of art groups to help with the integration of new arrival students, 2009 (ongoing)
• Reading Borough Council Equality Services to deliver a series of Young Interpreters’ courses for students at Reading Girls’ School, February 2010
• Quarterly Study Group and regular training for West Berkshire and Oxfordshire IAPT Services, ongoing
• Reading Refugee Support Group - shared student social work placement, clinical supervision delivered to their case workers, April 2010 (ongoing)
• Key partner with Mental Health Providers Forum (MHPF) in developing the Wellbeing Compass, the companion tool to the Recovery Star, for counselling client evaluation, June 2010 (ongoing)
• Reading Citizen's Advice Bureau - offering effective language support for their expert advice services, January 2009 (ongoing
• Partnership with (MHPF) gathering information on IAPT services’ accessibility for BME communities, 2010 (ongoing)
• Birkbeck College and the University of East London -collaboration on a research project evaluating the role of language in therapy with bilingual therapists and clients, April 2010 (ongoing)