- Overview
- How do I register for this service?
- Contact us
- Meet the team
- Reviews and feedback
- Useful resources and links
Type
Peer Support ServicePeer Support Workers are people with personal experience of a mental health condition who are trained and employed to work in a formalised role to support others during recovery. Their approach is built on shared experiences and empathy to support service users to gain a greater sense of control over their lives. Peer Support Workers are embedded into teams and their responsibilities will be defined by the needs of the team and their service users and carers.
Who can access this service? The Peer Support Service is for service users or carers who would like peer support from a trained Peer Support Worker.
How do I register for this service?
Internal referrals can be made by practitioners who have a peer support worker embedded in their team.
Contact us
If you would like to get in contact with our Peer Support Service you can email us: admin.peersupport@nhft.nhs.uk
Peer Support Workers are employed by specific teams within NHFT. You can speak to the team providing you care to see if they have a Peer Support Worker embedded as part of their team.
Meet the team
The Peer Support Service is still a relatively new team, and we are growing.
Nicola Oliver is our Service Manager for the service.
Kirstie Mycroft is our Peer Support Coordinator.
Zoe Steele is our Peer Support Administrator.
Reviews and feedback
We are very excited to get to a point where we can share feedback with you. If you would like to let us know your thoughts, you can do this via our Patient Advice and Liaison Service or email us on: admin.peersupport@nhft.nhs.uk
Feedback on our training courses
Pat
“My peer support training was the best thing I did as a carer. It gave me the opportunity to learn from people using services and seeing the situation from a 360 degree view. Understanding my frustration but also seeing my advocacy succeed. My whole outlook when dealing with mental health challenges within my family, friends and peers is one of calm, joy, listening ears and empathy.”
Waverley
“When someone mentioned Peer Support to me 6 months ago I had no idea how life changing it would be. Having spent over 3 years out of work focussing on my recovery, enrolling to the Peer Support program was my first big step back into the world of employment. My training experience was extremely positive. The trainers and my fellow cohort were great and I learnt something from everyone I spoke to. One of the key principles of Peer Support is Mutuality and throughout the course I came to really understand what this meant. Not only were my eyes opened to the huge impact having a peer can have on peoples recovery and navigating them through crisis, but I realised the positive impact it would have on me and my own recovery. I found an outlet for my passion for mental health and have grown more confident and future focused as a result. Yesterday I was offered a job as a Peer Support worker. The next big step on my recovery journey is about to begin and hopefully, in turn, someone else’s with the utilisation of peer support.”
Marianne
"For me, the peer support training was amazing. It was a scary step, and I questioned whether I was ready, but I really enjoyed it. It was such an amazing feeling knowing that my struggle all these years doesn’t have to be all negative, and it can be something positive not just for myself, but I can use my experience and story to help others too. Since finishing the training it has definitely been a confidence boost, and I’ve also tried to use the experience and training to have more of a voice with services and how they run."
Kerry
"Hi I took part in peer support training earlier this year . I had just completed 18 months of dialectical behavioural therapy with my Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) and my name was put forward by my mental health team . I found the training very intense and a little challenging but was on a personal mission myself to complete as much as possible . I have limited tech knowledge but the facilitators took the time to break things down into a language I could understand which gave me confidence to push forward . The modules are very informative and as my wish is to volunteer and help my community, I am signposted to community projects in my area that I use and can pass on to others in my town. I have had some home and personal issues which have left me burnt out after the online therapy then the learning so have decided to tend to my health and then continue. I am very grateful for being invited to join peer support training . It is an well-constructed highly informative and well-run course that I enjoyed so much."
Denise
"It’s been one of the most enjoyable courses I have ever been on and its taught me so much about myself. I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in peer/carer peer support roles. I am now looking forward to offering hope and support to carers and their loved ones on their own recovery journey."
Useful resources and links
NHS Health Education England (HEE) Peer Support Workers' framework can be access here.
ImROC Preparing organisations for peer support [pdf] 519KB
Video resources
Recruitment opportunities
We are consistently updating NHS Jobs about recruitment opportunities. You can sign up for notification on our job opportunities by filling in our Microsoft Teams form.