Hear from our connectors
Below are quotes from our trained connectors and how being a connector has helped enhance theirs and the community they work with experience of working and engaging with the Trust.
“We took part in the World Diabetes Day event held on the University of Huddersfield Campus. This provided a valuable opportunity to engage with the public, raise awareness and connect with potential service users.”
Griff Gay – Shaping Care in Kirklees, November 2025
“The two groups I visited would not normally engage with the trust if you did a survey, they would be missed out. By being a community connector, I was able to identify these two specific groups and got them fully involved in the consultation. Additionally, we were able to provide interpreters to ensure they could be fully involved in a co-produced way.”
Yakub Rawat – Kirklees Carers Count, 2025
“A recent community event I attended was at Bradley Bar Woods where West Yorkshire Scouts held a networking and ideas event (Pin Day). They had asked for some CAMHS support and put this request in through Comms. The event was between 10 and 3 and gave me the opportunity to talk about our service and how leaders could help support/signpost young people with their mental health.
“A great opportunity to network and also talk about the fantastic work we do as a trust. I would say I spoke with about 50 different leaders there.”
Julia Chalmers – Kirklees Keep in Mind – Whole School Approach Lead – Kirklees CAMHS, 2025
“After becoming trained as a Community Connector, ACECIC was approached to take part in the MHAD public consultation. After a comprehensive brief of who, what, why, etc, we felt this would be a useful area of work for some of our service users and their families. We were able to engage people, helping educate, inform and empower people and why their input was essential to improving services. As a result, our communities feel more comfortable in engaging around mental health.
Our connector role has been to engage and support people from all backgrounds suffering from mental health, getting them 121 support and counselling from qualified medical professionals. This includes helping make referrals to specialist interventions.
This has helped create greater awareness and understanding of mental health, but also how other factors impact and providing a holistic and integrated approach to support.”
Mohammed Hanif – Advancement of Community Empowerment CIC, 2025
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