Peer Support Workers

What is a Community Supporter?

Community Supporter roles are based on direct lived experience of mental health difficulties.

Community Supporters offer emotional and practical support to people going through similar kinds of experiences.

We use our own lived experience to connect with people and can help you by:

  • Giving you a sense of hope and wellbeing
  • Supporting you to gain a sense of control over your life
  • Helping you engage to build connections and have a sense of belonging to your local community
  • Helping you gain satisfaction in different parts of your life

Our lived experience connects us with you.

We understand!

As Community Supporters we understand what you are going through and coping with. We know sometimes people can feel isolated and stigmatised and we know about the relief of feeling that you’re not the only one and that there is support available.

What we do….

There can be different times you might want to work with a Community Supporter. Here are a few reasons why you might want to:

  • You may feel more comfortable talking to someone who has lived experience of mental health issues.
  • It’s not uncommon for some people to feel ‘patronised‘ or misunderstood when discussing their mental health issues. Speaking to someone with similar experiences can remove this feeling.

 

You could work with a community supporter in many different ways; whether that’s in person, over the phone or in a group setting.

We can help with:

  • 1:1 support
  • Signposting to other relevant organisations, agencies and community groups
  • Developing your goals and aspirations
  • Accessing community resources
  • Engaging with local communities

We are unable to provide:

  • Crisis intervention
  • Clinical advice eg, medication
  • Transport

The Principles of Community Support Workers

Trust – Feeling safe and having confidence in relationships and outcomes

Hope – Feeling you can achieve what can be had

Self-determination – Living the life you want to live

Commonality – Shared beliefs and goals

Empathy – Understanding and sharing the feelings of another

Equality – Having equal value and power

Diversity – Different and varied life elements and characteristics