STAR mental health centre |
Help us get evidence to fund our 'STAR Stability & Sustained Support' Project
We are looking to apply to the lottery for a substantial grant for the next 2½ years to help fund STAR and activities at our new mental health centre. Please read the project outline below and then respond to the poll.
Our idea is to establish ourselves as an accessible, multi-function mental health centre offering one-to-one peer support, group support and other positive activities for residents of Blackpool and neighbouring areas. This will include:
Our idea is to establish ourselves as an accessible, multi-function mental health centre offering one-to-one peer support, group support and other positive activities for residents of Blackpool and neighbouring areas. This will include:
- A helpline open 10am to 10pm, 7 days a week, taking calls and texts from people who are anxious, stressed, depressed or have other mental health issues, triaging them and then offering the appropriate level of support or referral;
- Recruitment and training of volunteers to take on peer mentoring and triaging roles;
- Delivery of direct peer mentoring support to over 50 clients annually via phone, online and, where safe, face-to-face routes. This will include a bespoke assessment with them, where they wish, and helping them put together a personal action plan with milestones to help them progress;
- Delivery of counselling or therapy sessions online and, where safe, face-to-face routes;
- Arts, craft, music, cooking and other workshops with facilitators supporting group delivery to improve a sense of peer linkage;
- Daily group mindfulness sessions bringing together clients and volunteers to improve peer linkage, relaxation and enhance stress management;
- Training in peer group facilitation to run both peer support groups and workshops for clients;
- Health sessions with a community nurse and exercise classes;
- A 10 session parenting of teenagers training course;
- A 10 session Cognitive Behavioural Therapy training course, which is a talking therapy to help people manage their problems and behaviour;
- Increasing awareness of support available by advertising in local, and social, media.
- Small-scale refurbishment within our new venue to create a welcoming space with a relaxation area, counselling spaces and group work rooms.
The difference made will be:
• Increased resilience to changing challenges people face;
• People feeling more social included and adept;
• Reduced fear, anxiety, stress and isolation and improved sense of cohesion and mood;
• Reduced reliance on statutory mental health services and not returning to hospital;
• People having improved social support networks
• People in the community being able to give support to their peers and feeling able and confident to do so;
• People having increased confidence in working towards enhanced wellbeing.