Wokingham Borough Council has set up a free mental health and wellbeing service which offers a range of courses and workshops people can utilise to encourage them to become experts in their own self-care.
The Wokingham Recovery College was launched in May 2020 and is targeted at the over 18s. The aim is to prevent mental health problems becoming worse by teaching people to become experts in their own care and wellbeing.
A wide range of courses on offer
The service is based on the recovery college model first developed in the US and now in use around 30 different areas in the UK. There are a range of 30 courses open to people, allowing students – as they are known – to pick-and-choose the ones most appropriate for them.
The courses are co-produced, devised and delivered by people with personal experience of mental illness working together with mental health professionals. They are constantly being adapted in response to the needs of the local community with regular opportunities for feedback and focus groups encouraging students to be more involved in the provision.
The college is staffed by two mental health workers and one admin worker, although freelance trainers are brought in to run courses. The college also has 10 volunteer peer trainers, who are people who have used mental health services previously and been trained to provide support to others.
The courses are grouped into four main categories, which provide students with the option to focus on particular areas. These are:
- Wellbeing - supporting people to better understand their mental health and teaching them skills for self-management, including managing anxiety and low mood, improving self-esteem and handling stress through time management and becoming more adaptable
- Life skills – covers coping with change, the relationship between food and mood, how to get a good night’s sleep and developing assertiveness and resilience
- Creativity – a range of courses including art, collage, crafts and the art of journaling to help you manage your emotions
- Next steps – covers issues such as employment support, CV writing, interview skills and an introduction to volunteering
The courses are delivered both online and in-person. Some are one-off workshops, while others run over multiple sessions. There are also peer support groups that students can join.
Emphasis on ‘talents and strengths’
Nikita Moody, one of the mental health workers employed to run the service, said: “We always envisaged the courses and workshops would be run in-person, but we launched as the pandemic hit so we obviously had to do things remotely. As restrictions have eased, we are going more in-person now, but we plan to keep a hybrid model.
“Engagement is often easier in-person, but for some online courses are really important and without them they would not be able to take part. This can be for a variety of reasons, including agoraphobia, anxiety, problems accessing public transport or caring responsibilities. When we have a new cohort ready to go we ask what they prefer and plan around stated preferences.
The aim is to help people become experts in their own self-care and enable family, friends and staff to better understand mental health.
“An emphasis is placed on people’s talents and strengths with the aim of inspiring optimism, encouraging students to consider future opportunities, creating a culture of personal empowerment and an underlying feeling of hope.”
People can self-refer although the community mental health team and GPs also refer in. On joining the service students discuss what options are available with one of the mental health workers and can, if they like, draw up their own recovery and care plan.
Ms Moody added: “We want to help people not only recover, but empower them to rebuild their lives and maintain good mental health. The courses are very much aimed at people who have mild problems and preventing them getting worse. That is so important at the moment. We are seeing a lot of people who are anxious, have low mood and are lonely and isolated, all of which is definitely made worse by the pandemic.
“But we are also helping people who are on waiting lists for NHS treatment or who have been under the care of NHS services, but want more support to help them in their recovery. We are there for anyone who needs us.”
‘I’m the most stable I’ve been’
The client base has been growing ever since the service was launched. There are now more than 130 registered students. The most common age of those who are involved is people aged 46 to 59, although there is a spread across all age groups.
Students are asked to complete assessments using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. These show many making progress with one in three moving up from low to moderate on the scale after six months.
Sam (not his real name), one of the students who has been through the college, said: “It really helped me. I’m now self-employed and the most stable I’ve been.”
Another student, who went on to become a volunteer, added: “You are reminded how to help yourself, knowing that you have the support of others. My problems have not gone away, but attending the college has really helped me to manage them.”
Councillor Charles Margetts, Wokingham’s Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Services, said he was delighted with the impact. “The pandemic has caused many of us to feel unsettled, worried and anxious. Maintaining good mental health and wellbeing has always been important and more so amid a pandemic.
“I’m so proud of our officers and public health colleagues for their commitment and creativity, coming up with ways to enrich and streamline our service offer, breaking barriers and reaching out to everybody.”
Contact details
Nikita Moody, Peer Team Lead, Wokingham Recovery College, Wokingham Borough Council