The Bureau Glossop

We are a nationally accredited volunteer centre and the needs and rights of both local people and our volunteers are at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to developing solutions that can be delivered through effective voluntary action and partnership working.

Over the last 20 years The Bureau has grown and evolved, in line with the changing needs and wants of local people. We have moved on from being ‘just’ a volunteer centre and now offer a range of different services including:

• Community Companions – helping people who need a bit of extra support with practical day-to-day services. This helps people look after their health, stay active and live independently within their local community.

• Volunteering – ongoing support to help people find the right formal or one-off volunteering opportunities that match their interests, skills and time.

• Economic Wellbeing – help for people to move into paid employment through skills development, volunteering placements and pre-employment support.

• Social prescribing – helping people to overcome barriers and connect into local activities, support and services, as well as providing signposting for other services such as mental health support.

• Infrastructure Support – helping other local voluntary groups to recruit and induct volunteers, provide DBS checks, and training for volunteers. We also provide meeting rooms and equipment hire, photocopying, promotion and information sharing.

• Working in partnership – with local groups, the public sector, regional and national bodies to develop vibrant and creative volunteering communities (with thanks to the Big Lottery for supporting our services).

How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?

As detailed above, we provide a number of peer support, self help and early intervention services including (but not limited to):

• Pre-employment support – enabling clients to return to work or engage in meaningful activity (i.e. volunteering)

• Companions services – weekly telephone befriending, one to one befriending services, volunteer car scheme which are all aimed at reducing loneliness and social isolation

• Volunteering opportunities and groups – again aimed at reducing social isolation and loneliness, we provide a wide range of volunteering opportunities and also have a volunteer group for those who have additional support needs

• Social activities – we support a local chair-based exercise group, as well as our Time Out session which brings groups of people together for social interaction, support with shopping and an opportunity to discuss other requirements

• We take great pride in the general support we offer to our clients and volunteers, and are always on hand for general enquiries

• We also provide hot desking spaces and free room rental for TOG Mind and Healthy Minds

• Planning awareness events with the neighbourhood team and community health teams such as Adult Social Care, district nurses and the Patient Neighbourhood Group

What are your current priorities?

Our current priorities in this area are:

• Facilitating the start up of a new peer support group aimed at men – Mentell is a self help process based on 7 guiding principals that offers all men the opportunity to work through any personal issues in a safe and supportive way. We are involved in the process of setting up a new circle in Glossop and offering our building for the meeting

• Out of hours drop in – we are aware of a gap in provision in our area so would also like to start up a new cafe-style drop in service during one evening to allow those needing support to drop in if needed

• Securing funding to allow our much-needed social prescribing service to continue. We receive the majority of our referrals through this service and find that some of the most vulnerable members of our local community receive some level of support through our community navigators

• Facilitating groups – we are continually looking to support other community groups in our area with our community minibus, room rental and general advice. We are always on the lookout for more groups to link into

• We have recently secured a contract with the Royal British Legion to provide a much-needed local touchpoint in Glossop which provides current and ex-servicemen with advice and support. A priority of ours is to support the start-up and make it a success

What challenges are you currently facing?

We struggle with funding for the gaps in our services, which means that we don’t always have the resources to provide the support that we would like.

We have recently seen a high increase of people struggling with their mental health in our area and are seeing the majority of our clients having complex issues and needs. There have been a couple of particularly distressing incidences of suicide in the local area recently and we don’t have the immediate funds to be as reactive as we would like.

We are also aware of a lack of mid-level mental health support in our area – many people we interact with are too unwell for low level interventions but do not meet the criteria for secondary care (therapy etc) and even if they do, the waiting lists are incredibly long. The support alongside therapy is not extensive either.