Month: November 2018

One of our delivery partners Employ-Ability has received great feedback and updates here in their blog – One of our participants says his self-esteem and self-confidence have both improved since working with his PSW over the past five weeks. The process has had a positive impact on his life, so much so that he is now in employment. He would recommend the HeadsUp programme to all who could benefit from the support on offer.

There have been a number of new contacts made across the county publicising HeadsUp far and wide. Members of the team gave a presentation at a GP’s forum and attended a Health and Wellbeing event in Southend and these have resulted in several referrals of new participants who wanted to join the programme.

The team have been exploring ways they can continue to work with those who are too anxious to leave their home to meet with a Peer Support Worker. One way they are hoping to still offer support in this circumstance is to trial the use of video call appointments – watch this space!

We will continue to find ways of reaching out to those who have experienced common mental health problems.

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) share their latest Blog – It was celebration time just recently when one of our participants secured a job in a care home in Maldon.  The role was for a domestic, laundry and kitchen assistant and she was very happy to have succeeded. She had high praise for HeadsUp, saying that she could not have done it without the support she received and we were able to provide her with an up to date reference.

Another participant has also said that he is now a more confident person.  Volunteering for ‘Dancing Giraffe’ he works in IT and looks after the website.  He may even secure paid employment at a later date. He said he will brave a phone call to the temp agency with regard to starting work, something he has not been able to do before.

Fantastic progress made.

Over the lifetime of HeadsUp, we’ve built up good links with employers across Essex, ranging from councils to multi-national companies and even small and medium enterprises.  Our aim is to show participants that employers and employment in general are not scary.  Furthermore we want to show employers that engaging with people who have mental health issues is not that scary either.

It is heart-warming to see that so many people genuinely want to help our participants; the usual response I get when I approach an employer is ‘How can I help?’  So many of us have direct experiences of mental health, maybe personally or through family, friends or colleagues, that there is now more than ever, a level of empathy and a desire to make a difference. By engaging with HeadsUp, either as an employer or a participant, we truly believe we can make our corner of the world a place where there is no stigma attached to mental health.  This has to be a good thing.

We are excited about our new Employer Engagement Events, bringing local employers to meet our participants in a relaxed environment. Participants will meet one of our fantastic trainers, and can then expect to hear different employers talk about working in their industry. Employers can expect to meet great people and even describe the brilliant things they do to support mental health in the workplace. Chelmsford City Council and Tesco have already taken part: Colchester Borough Council, Lloyds Bank, St Helena and others are taking part in the near future as we continue to deliver these events around Essex.

We’re really pleased with our new resource for participants and Peer Support Workers. Participants can access real working experience helping to ensure they are best placed to get back into the work place. Opportunities include work experience placements, shadowing and site visits. Contact HeadsUp to find out more.