Hi this is my first blog post. I am the chair of Bournemouth Mental Health Forum, this is a service user led forum. Our aim is to combat discrimination, stigma and prejudice about mental illness, and influence statutory and voluntary services to provide proper care for service users. We are currently involved with the consultation regarding TORCH, a recovery service in Bournemouth. This is of ongoing concern amongst members and users of TORCH. We are actively involved and committed in making sure service users have a say in the development of their service and receive good care the way they want it. Two of our members, myself and the secretary are members of the Patient and Public Involvement Forum connected to Dorset Healthcare NHS Trust. As a Forum our members sit on various committees and attend various groups. These included:- Local Implementation Team, Service Users and Carer Council, Social Inclusion Steering Group, Acute Care Forum. We are an independent group but do have links with Rethink and Mind, with many of our members belonging to these national organisations. This allows us to keep up-to-date with national issues.