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Staywell Derby CIC
We are a Lived Experience Led wellbeing and recovery organisation offering a safe space, peer support, social and activity groups to help people with mental health, addiction, trauma, abuse and DV, self harm and suicidality, neurodivergence, dual and triple diagnoses, housing and poverty issues. All of our directors, staff and volunteers have experience of at least one of these issues, often several. We are user led and community focused, with a focus on the power of lived experience peer support to take ownership of our narrative, challenge stigma and generate hope. We are based in a large building in Derby City Centre with a cafe, therapy and learning spaces, and offices used by both us and other organisations who share our values. We recruit volunteers with lived experience in the issues listed, who wish to increase their skills and confidence and use their recovery stories to give hope and support to others.
How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?
We provide a safe place for anyone affected by suicide, struggling with self harm, or experiencing distress. We do not require referrals and don’t gatekeep our service. No one is excluded for being “too high risk” or “not sick enough”. Our directors all have experience of self harm and suicidal feelings; some have experience of attempting or of losing friends to suicide. We use this knowledge to make sure no one feels that they are alone in having suicidal thoughts, and to lead by example in reducing stigma in seeking support and talking about suicide. Isolation is a key risk factor in suicide and we aim to reduce that by having a regular timetable of social groups, as well as the cafe space where people can drop in any time, to chat or seek deeper support. We are a community and everyone is welcome here. We aim to train all of our staff and volunteers in First Aid, Mental Health First Aid, and Suicide Awareness as a baseline for excellence in lived experience peer support.
What are your current priorities?
Offering a safe space for people in crisis who are not receiving adequate care from medical or social care providers.
Recruiting and training volunteers.
Maintaining staff and volunteer wellbeing
Getting the message out in the community
What challenges are you currently facing?
The complex, multiple and intersecting needs of our clientele can be challenging to navigate, and it is dispiriting to see increasing numbers of people let down by services. Securing funding is constant work.