Spotlight on Durham’s Haven Pain Café

The group finds that holding an open day not only gets the word out to the local community, it also brings together a good number of professionals to network and help each other. The day was a great success with plenty of people going along for information.

As well as the regular members who helped out,
they welcomed Angel Campbell the FMA UK regional coordinator for the north east, local social prescribers, physiotherapists, Age UK, Wellbeing for Life, Employability Durham, Thrive, Prof. Paul Chazot from Durham University’s  Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing, Joanne from the Bowen Technique, Les and Pam from Prostate Cancer and Balbir Singh Dance Company from Leeds.

Su Madden, who leads the group, also works with the dance group and Paul Chazot on a programme called Unmasking Pain which has been working with people living with pain to explore how creativity can unlock new ways of living well despite their pain. She also works as a lived experience trainer with Paul and Dr Frances Cole, training GPs in delivering the Ten Footsteps to Living Well with Pain training programme, an approach which she also regularly uses in the Pain Café.

Su Madden (left) at the recent Haven Pain Café open day in Durham