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Role Description
Role title: Peer Supporter (Volunteer role)
Background
Together is a national charity working alongside people with mental health issues on their journey to leading fulfilling and independent lives. Today we work with around 4,000 adults a month, the majority of whom are building a positive future for themselves whilst living with complex and recurring mental health issues, in more than 100 different projects.
At Together we strongly believe that people experiencing mental distress can lead their own positive lives. Together’s Service User Involvement Directorate comprises of people with lived experience and was established in 2004 to develop and support innovation in SUI that is lead by people with lived experience.
Together is trusted for our expertise in service user involvement. In everything we do we are inspired and guided by the hopes and wishes of those we support. We work alongside people, supporting and facilitating service user involvement, empowermentand leadershipthat promote and support wellbeing.This includes people leading their own positive lives and supporting others to do so. Peer support is key in our philosophy and service delivery.
Peer Support Role
As a Peer Support volunteer, your expertise from your own personal 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. This role is open to anybody with experience of using mental health services who feels they have the skills to support others. You will work alongside clients who live in one of Together’s residential and/or supported living settings in Hampshire, accompanying them along their road to recovery.
The way that you provide peer support can be flexible.With guidance from your peer support coordinator, you will provide peer support in a way that is led by the people you are supporting and suits your strengths and skills. This could include:
- Supporting clients through one to one sessions, providing emotional and/or practical support. This can include helping clients to focus on their strengths, set goals and develop action plans;
- Providing one to one and/or group peer support drop-in sessions, offering emotional and/or practical support;
- Welcoming and supporting someone when they first move in to a residential project and/or as someone prepares to move in to the project;
- Identifying local services and activities that a client might want to access,signposting and supporting them to access these as appropriate;
- Sharing your lived experience (when appropriate) to express empathy and hopefulness. This can involve sharing skills and techniques to help clients identify their own self-management tools and ways of moving forward with life;
- Providing support as someone prepares to move on from a residential project;
- Supporting clients to increase their social support networks by encouraging informal peer support and accessing group activities in the community;
- Accompanying a client to appointments, meetings and activities, providing emotional and/or practical support as a peer;
- Facilitating or running peer support groups and/or user-led groups;
- Supporting less experienced or confident peer support volunteers in their role;
- Encouraging service user involvement and leadership;
- Working alongside clients, other peers and staff to develop peer support as a service;
You are welcome to add to this list and suggest other ways of providing peer support. You can give as much or as little time as you wish to peer support. The important thing is that you are using your position as a peer, drawing on your own experience to support others.
Key Skills:
These will depend on the types of peer support that you give, and will include:
- Personal experience of mental distress and using mental health services, past or present;
- Passionate about user leadership in recovery and services, user led peer support and the empowerment of people experiencing mental distress;
- Good ability to communicate and engage in a respectful and non-judgemental way with a range of people with lived experience;
- Excellent active listening and interpersonal skills: empathy, kindness and patience;
- Ability to share personal story of mental distress and recovery as/when appropriate to demonstrate empathy and share coping and self-management strategies;
- Ability to problem-solve, be proactive and resourceful when supporting people;
- Ability to deal with all enquiries tactfully, sensitively and on a confidential basis;
- Able to maintain high standards of customer care, to uphold the Equality and Diversity Policy and health and safety standards.
Whilst volunteering as a Peer Supporter, you will have regular support and guidance from your Peer Support Coordinator. You can go to her with any issues or questions about peer support, and you will work with her to develop and use your skills as a peer supporter in a way that benefits you and the people you are supporting.
Expenses
Reasonable expenses such as travel tickets for sessions and meetings with clients will be reimbursed.
If you have any questions or wish to discuss this role description further, feel free to contact Jess Worner-Rodger, Peer Support Coordinator for Hampshire Recovery Services:
Tel:07545926602 Email:
Kirtling House, 14 Compton Road, Winchester SO23 9SL