Recovery College

Our courses are available for people aged 18 and over who live in Northamptonshire and are current or previous NHFT service users, as well as their families, friends, carers, members of partner organisations, and NHFT staff. All courses are free to attend. If you do not meet these criteria but would still like to join a course, please contact us directly.

Our courses are coproduced with service users and clinical staff to give you the benefit of their experience and knowledge. Our courses aim to provide hope, control and opportunity on both your recovery journey and learning to live with your condition

Our courses are free at point of delivery.

We have a range of courses that are available both online and in person. In person courses are delivered at NHS venues across Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Daventry and Rushden. Online courses are held via MS Teams or Zoom.

To join our online courses, you will need an internet enabled device such as a PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet, as well as a stable internet connection. We also recommend joining from a safe, quiet space that is free from distractions so you can get the most out of the session.

Seeing your faces gives us a community feel during courses and helps us interact with and teach you and be aware of your wellbeing! But we understand it make some people feel anxious, so if you would prefer not to have your camera turned on please let us know in advance.

Just yourself! But you may want to bring a pen and paper to make notes. We do provide post course packs and handouts at many of our courses.

Courses range from an hour and a half to full day sessions. Many of our courses are half day sessions lasting three to four hours. All courses include plenty of breaks and are delivered in a relaxed, informal environment. You can find the running time for each course in the prospectus.

Some courses include suggested tasks or reading to complete before the session. These are optional, but they can help you get the most out of the course. Post course resources and handouts are often provided as well.

Our courses are facilitated by both a practitioner and a peer trainer. The practitioner usually has a clinical background, while our peer trainers are experts by experience, bringing valuable lived experience knowledge related to the course topic.

We keep our class sizes small. On average, around 10 students attend each course, although numbers can vary and may be up to 20 for our more popular sessions.

Anything you choose to share during our courses is treated as confidential and stays within the group. We ask all students to respect each other's privacy and confidentiality in line with our Student Charter. In exceptional circumstances, a trainer may need to share information outside the session if there are concerns about a student's wellbeing or safety.

We are not a clinical or crisis service and do not have access to clinical records of anyone attending our courses. To find immediate support visit: www.nhft.nhs.uk/help

Recovery and personal situations are always changing. With this in mind, students are welcome to attend the same course more than once if they feel it would be helpful.

You can contact us with any questions at recovery.college@nhft.nhs.uk

Each and everyday people are giving their time freely as an NHFT volunteer. There are many opportunities to enhance and complement the care provided by paid staff by sharing your skills.

A volunteer is someone who gives their time, skills or knowledge, freely and by choice, for no financial reward, to benefit others in the community. Volunteers help in many different ways in our hospitals and services. 

There are a variety of roles including befriending on the wards, supporting occupational therapists, psychologists and clerical staff, as well as volunteering in roles such as gardening and as shop assistants.

To find out more contact the volunteer services:

phone: 03000 274109
email: volunteering@nhft.nhs.uk 
visit: www.nhft.nhs.uk/volunteer

for more information or to register your interest in becoming a volunte

Listening to patients, service users and carers' experiences of our services is the first step in finding out what they think of the service they receive. 

If you know of a patient, service user, carer or parent that would like to be involved in helping to improve services, please contact the Involvement Team:

phone: 03000 273 873
email: involvement@nhft.nhs.uk
visit: www.nhft.nhs.uk/involvement 

People who are experiencing mental distress often benefit from meeting others who have had similar experiences and have been successful in their recovery. 

A peer mentor is someone who has experienced mental ill health and wants to use their personal experiences to volunteer support to other service users and patients with mental health conditions. Carers often also value meeting other carers.

email: admin.peersupport@nhft.nhs.uk
visit: www.nhft.nhs.uk/peer-support

We encourage people who have experienced mental ill health to come and work at NHFT. Here at NHFT we are committed to making a positive difference. Whether this is to the life of our service users, patients and carers or the careers of those who work as part of our fantastic team.

As a Trust who provides support in the community and in hospital settings, for physical and mental health, as well as for adults and children, there are many opportunities available. 

To find current vacancies visit: jobs.nhft.nhs.uk

If you are a service user accessing one of the community teams and would like support finding and sustaining work either in the NHS or outside the NHS our 'Individual Placement and Support' Employment Team can help. 

To find out more information or to contact a team member:

phone: 03000 270800
visit: www.nhft.nhs.uk/ips

NHFT involves patients, service-users, carers and volunteers in the design, delivery and evaluation of innovation and research projects. We encourage everyone to take the opportunity to find out about and participate in research that they might be interested in or might benefit. Innovation and research is critical to the delivery of evidence-based care and the future of the a high quality NHS service. 

NHFT Innovation and Research team are involved in delivering national and local innovation and research projects across all our services. 

If you are interested find out more from 

phone: 03000 271717
email: research&Innovation@nhft.nhs.uk
visit: www.nhft.nhs.uk/research

Our members play a key part in the shaping and development of NHFT.  They directly influence the way we are run and how we will develop in the future. Our members add value to the Trust by representing the people who live in the communities we serve, our service users and carers. 

To find out more information about becoming a Trust member:

phone: 03000 273981
email: foundationtrust@nhft.nhs.uk
visit: www.nhft.nhs.uk/membership