Peer Support

I have volunteered within Peer Support for five years. During that time, I have seen the value and impact these groups can have. They can support people to re-find and/or redefine themselves. Lived experience of mental ill-health is a vital tool in supporting other people. It provides a natural empathy that otherwise would just not be there.

My Peer Support experience is predominately from volunteering at Havant and East Hants Mind (HEH Mind). This has given me experiences that have been both interesting and fulfilling. It has also provided the opportunity for me to give back to both a charity and to the local community.

At HEH Mind I am supported by Heidi, who is the Peer Support Lead. During one of our conversations, Heidi shared an insight that really resonated with me. Heidi said; “Peer Support is built on shared lived experience, which in my opinion is so very special. When someone has been through a similar challenge or struggle, they understand it in a way that is hard to learn from a textbook or even from one-to-one support.“

Havant and East Hants Mind is a mental health charity offering free to access well-being and crisis services. HEH Mind is affiliated to the national charity Mind, but importantly is independent, meaning they raise their own funds and obtain grants to develop services based on local need.

The wellbeing service, which Peer Support is part of, is a recovery focused mental health service. It aims to provide its clients with the tools and resources to manage their own mental wellbeing. HEH Mind accept both self-referrals and referrals from professionals. The area covered by HEH Mind includes the towns of Havant and Petersfield, as well as Bordon, Liphook, and Hayling Island.

HEH Mind’s Peer Support Groups are delivered either face-to-face or online. They include groups that are devoted to art, mindfulness, walking, older people, and general mental wellbeing. These groups bring together people with shared experiences. They also empower people to give and receive support.

HEH Mind delivers mental health Peer support groups across South and East Hampshire. Across Hampshire, there’s also Andover Mind covering North and Mid Hampshire, and Solent Mind covering South West Hampshire.

For the past five years I have worked as a Peer Support Volunteer with Havant and East Hants Mind. Currently I help to host five different Peer Support Groups.

Some clients are understandably nervous before first coming to a group. We have welcomed new attendees who have been or are struggling from extreme anxiety, stress, low mood, and depression. They have said that picking up the phone or filling in the referral form often feels like a huge thing, and walking in that first time can be difficult. But we do everything we can to help welcome and settle people into groups and to provide an environment for them to find peace, to pause and relax.

At the end of groups sessions, we’ve had people share that we helped them feel comfortable and welcome, and that the groups have “changed my life incredibly“, with attendees developing confidence and connections. This is something that can make an invaluable difference when people are struggling, potentially with loneliness and isolation while experiencing mental health issues.

One group attendee shared that; “it really uplifts me to go to the groups each week. It’s also encouraged me to start new art and craft activities at home.“

It is very rewarding to see someone gain confidence within a group. I have found this to be particularly true within the two art groups that I help to run. People will sometimes say that, “I am no good at art.“ Then within a few weeks they learn to enjoy the process. I very much believe that art, and the wellbeing service, is about the journey. The journey is the thing that is important, not the destination.

Volunteering as a Peer Supporter has helped me personally. It has given me a purpose in life, and I can use my own experience of mental ill-health to help other people. I also have the satisfaction of passing on the skills that I have learnt. This has helped to boost my self-confidence, too.

At Havant and East Hants Mind ,they really do rely on and value the kindness of volunteers, fundraisers, and donations to keep delivering free access to services across South and East Hampshire. Without volunteers, HEH Mind, and charities like them, could not deliver the services that they do. Thus, the charity benefits, as do the volunteers and the clients. Peer Support Groups are a winner all round.

I would recommend volunteering, and specifically within Peer groups, to anyone looking to give back by supporting local mental health charities and services. Being a volunteer really does allow the charity to support more people. It also allows us to use our lived experience to empathise and support someone currently struggling. If you are interested in volunteering, contact your local charities or volunteer banks, and find out what opportunities are available.

Hammersley Homes also provides this support through their Outreach Programme and Connection Sessions – just like these Mind groups, we show how interacting with peers and others with lived experience, can really change lives for the better. It’s truly a wonderful thing to witness. But all charities who provide these services, need your support, so please, if you are moved to do so, a donation would be enormously welcome.