The Peer Support Workshop took place on Thursday (May 15), hosted by the Good Shepherd in partnership with One Wolverhampton, Service User Involvement Team (SUIT), The Sanctuary Hub Rethink Wolverhampton and the City of Wolverhampton Council.
40 people attended the event, providing an opportunity for health professionals to collaborate with people with lived experience of homelessness and mental health challenges.
Participants took part in a collective discussion to identify key priorities and actional strategies for improving the quality and overall experience of peer mentoring programmes.
Discussions topics included how people living with experience can best engage with complex service users and the barriers to accessing support.
Chris Cole, Service Manager and lead for the LEAP programme at Good Shepherd, said:
“It was great to discuss the value of peer mentoring programmes with key partners and individuals with lived experience today.
“We’ve had great success with the Good Shepherd’s LEAP (Lived Experience into Action Project) and it was exciting to discuss how other similar projects can be developed in the city.”
Tanja Schulte, Senior Project Manager from One Wolverhampton, said:
“It has been an absolutely fantastic day and to get some many people sharing their lived experience in one room was amazing. The feedback we’ve had will help improve and drive services forward.”
Christiane Jenkins, Creative Arts and Research Lead at Service User Involvement Team, said:
“There has been so much support across services for today’s workshop, which addresses accessibility of mental health services from a lived experience perspective.
“Events like this do so much to remove societal stigma around mental health and addiction.”
Kirsten Rose, Service Manager for the Sanctury Hub, Rethink Mental Illness, said:
“It is always beneficial to speak with people with lived experiences – both peer support and those who attend our services. It ensures that voices are heard, barriers are identified, learning outcomes are identified and that services continue to be person centred.
“The workshop was a great opportunity to network and to get a better understanding of what is needed across Wolverhampton.”
Stefan Swystun, a participant at the workshop, said:
“I attended today’s workshop as someone with lived experience. The event was a real eye-opener. I didn’t expect so many people to come along and I didn’t know these different agencies existed in Wolverhampton.
“It’s been a great day, and really informative.”
Another participant at the workshop who was struggling with his mental health that day said:
“I wasn’t going to come because I felt so low today, but my mom persuaded me. I’m glad I did now as I’ve realised there are a lot more people out there who are going through the same as me and there is more support than I thought. Men just don’t talk about their problems and I’m learning I need to open up more. I’ve spoken to a lady from rethink today and she has got me an appointment to talk to someone this evening.”