Funding boost for Littlehampton peer support project

We are delighted to announce that we've been successful in our bid for £25,000 of funding, which will enable us to support at least 50 people with serious mental illness in Littlehampton over the next year.

There are a variety of reasons why people don’t reach out for support if they live with ongoing, serious mental health problems. They may have long-term physical health issues, be suffering domestic abuse, have a disability - or they may simply feel isolated and unable to ask for help.

Our pilot community outreach project in Littlehampton last year sought to address this unmet need by using paid and volunteer peer support workers with lived experience of mental health to reach out to people who had previously felt unable to seek support with us.

This new funding from Heads On will allow us to build on the success of this project and run six peer-led support groups in Littlehampton per month within the first six months, rising to eight groups a month by the end of the first year.

Mental health champions who were part of the original pilot will continue to work with local organisations, such as food banks, churches, Citizens Advice and housing and homelessness organisations, to help us connect with people with ongoing mental health problems who might benefit from our support.

Sometimes people don’t see existing mental health services as being for them, for a whole multitude of reasons, and may have additional needs that aren’t currently being met, and a co-ordinated community-based approach can help to address this.

“We aim to support people before they reach crisis by building trust and reengaging with them through peer-to-peer connection,” said Kerrin Page, deputy CEO of West Sussex Mind. “Using this alternative support model, delivered by people with lived experience of mental health themselves, we hope to increase and maintain the recovery of those with enduring mental illness – and in the longer term reduce the need for clinical mental health intervention.”

Two new peer volunteers will also be recruited in the community within the first six months to support the new peer-led groups. It is hoped that this will help people who use, or have used mental health services, to gain skills and confidence and take steps towards employment and education through the experience of volunteering.

Heads On is Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s charity, which works to help people with mental health problems feel more supported and to be more involved in their communities.