The Southwark Community Sanctuary is a crisis space open to anybody over the age of 18. We are run by the charity Together for Mental Wellbeing. The Sanctuary’s services are free and open to anyone who lives in Southwark or is registered with a Southwark GP. We are commissioned by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and provide a self-referral service for any persons experiencing mental distress. We can help service users to identify support and safety needs, develop coping strategies and assist in planning for better wellbeing.
We provide support in person, online via video chat, or over the phone. We are open for face-to-face support sessions Monday – Friday from 5pm to 11pm, and Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays from 1pm to 11pm. We offer peer support at the Sanctuary, and in-line with Together UK's principles of service user and peer leadership, we recruit peer support volunteers with personal lived experience of mental distress and/or accessing mental health services.
About this role
As a Peer Supporter, your lived experience of mental distress will be at the heart of your role. You will use your own experiences to empathise with and support people who are experiencing mental distress, sharing your lived experience in an appropriate way to express empathy and hopefulness. This will involve sharing skills and techniques to help people identify their own self-management tools and ways of moving forward with life.
With guidance from your Peer Support Coordinator, you will support people in a way that is led by them and suits your strengths and skills. All of what you do will draw on your lived experience in an appropriate way and this could include some or all of the following:
We welcome your suggestions of ways to provide peer support. The important thing is that you are drawing on your own experiences of mental distress and/or using mental health services to support others. Training and support will be provided to help you in your role as a Peer Supporter.
Who are we looking for? Your skills, knowledge and experience
What you can expect to get out of the role
As a peer support volunteer you will have access to regular supervision and ongoing support and guidance from your Peer Support Coordinator. You can go to them with any issues or questions about peer support and you will work with them to develop and use your skills as a Peer Support Volunteer in a way that benefits you and the people you are supporting.
There will be training and on-going learning and development opportunities available to you through on-line and/or classroom learning, and access to health and wellbeing support via a dedicated helpline.
Any reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred within your role will be reimbursed.
How to apply and what to do next
If you have any questions at all, wish to discuss this role further or would like to request an application form please contact the Peer Support Coordinator below.
Name: Meghan Spacey
Position: Peer Support and Volunteer Coordinator
Telephone: 07977 794065
Email: meghan-spacey@together-uk.org
Address: Thames Reach Employment Academy, 29 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UA
At Together we value and encourage diversity and inclusion within our workforce. We are committed to creating a workplace where you can be your authentic self, welcoming applications from people from diverse communities and backgrounds who share our values. As an employer, we are committed to making any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process.
Successful candidates will require an enhanced DBS check. To find out more, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service. Together is committed to equal opportunities and non-discriminatory practices. Charity No. 211091
Would you like to draw on your experience of mental distress to support others?
Would you like to develop new skills and build relationships with likeminded individuals?
Would you like to be a volunteer in our Peer Support Team at Merton Peer Support?
South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLStG) is working in partnership with Together for Mental Wellbeing, Talk Off the Record and Jigsaw4u to deliver the Merton Peer Support Service for people living in the Merton borough. The Merton Peer Support service will form a part of the Integrated Recovery Hub (IRH) to support with the delivery of increased timely access to a wider range of holistic mental health and wellbeing interventions. The service will work closely with individuals using the service, the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and partner organisations to facilitate access to and deliver appropriate peer support when such needs are identified.
Peer Support specifically provides an opportunity for people who have experience of mental distress to support each other towards greater wellbeing, as people of equal value, on a reciprocal basis, using their lived experience as a tool for support. The key aim of the service is to provide both 1-2-1 and group peer support to people experiencing mental distress who would benefit from peer support to reach the goals that are important to them. Drawing on their lived experience of mental distress, our Peer Supporter Volunteers will work collaboratively with the individuals accessing the service, focusing on the persons strengths and skills to promote better wellbeing, which may also include education and practical support.
Personal Skills and Qualities
We are looking for a person who is willing and able to draw on their lived experience of mental distress to support others and is interested to help facilitate and run groups. It is important that our Peer Supporter Volunteers at Together are friendly, non-judgemental, open minded and able to demonstrate a willingness to learn with a commitment to their own development and wellbeing. Working with and contributing to the team at Merton Peer Support Service is an important part of this role to support the development and integration of peer support within the service.
What you might do as a Peer Support Volunteer
What this role can offer
What our Peer Supporters tell us they get from the role….
"It has helped me to build confidence."
"Supports my wellbeing by having somewhere to be and something to do."
"It’s good to use my difficult experiences for something positive.
Connection with like-minded people -it’s good to feel part of a team."
"Given me experience to move to a Peer Support Worker role."
Sound interesting? Want to find out more?
Email Alexandra-deltoro@together-uk.org for an informal chat.
Please download the attached application form and sent to Alex Alexandra-deltoro@together-uk.org to apply.
We need your experience!
Do you have lived experience of mental distress and have come into contact with the criminal justice system?
Together is a national charity that works alongside people with mental health issues on their journey towards leading independent and fulfilling lives.
Our Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services work in partnership with NHS England to improve the health and justice outcomes for people who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
We are looking for people to become Peer Supports who will use their lived experience of mental distress and the criminal justice system to support others with similar experiences towards better wellbeing.
The best parts of becoming a peer supporter:
Travel expenses paid
Get in touch to find out more:Visit: www.together-uk.org
Email: anabel-cando@together-uk.org