Plymouth Mental Health Recovery and Empowerment Group CIC run educational workshops, to increase people’s understanding of mental health challenges and give them knowledge and skills to support recovery. All workshops are co-produced, being designed and delivered by people with lived experience of mental health recovery working in collaboration with people with knowledge from training and working in the mental health field. Workshops are free and open to anyone and take place in community venues across Plymouth. During this year we have run the following workshops: Grounding yourself through collage, attended by 5 people Understanding mental health for Highly Sensitive People, attended by 10 people Understanding and coping with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, attended by 4 people Challenging Perfectionism though collage (two workshops attended by a total of 9 people) Understanding and responding to psychosis, attended by 12 people Intimate partner abuse, attended by 5 people Exploring your mental health as a neurodivergent person, attended by 10 people Trauma, mental health and hope for recovery, attended by 6 people Living with Gratitude a collage workshop for LGBTQ+ people, attended by 3 people Trauma, yoga and the body, attended by 9 people The average rating of helpfulness of the workshops by participants was 9.3 out of a maximum of 10. Participants have fed back that the workshops have made them feel inspired, validated, better informed and more connected to other people. Participants have described a wide range of learning that they have gained from the workshops, including a greater understanding of the causes of mental health difficulties, greater self-acceptance and empathy for others, and new strategies for managing mental health difficulties. We have given 8 people with lived experience the opportunity to share their expertise by experience to support the learning of others, enhancing their confidence and sense of self-worth.

Our stakeholders are people living in Plymouth who are affected by mental health challenges, either personally, as a carer, mental health worker or concerned citizen. The members of the company have lived experience of mental health challenges and accessing local services and / or are mental health professionals and so have direct knowledge of what information would benefit these groups and developed the service model on the basis of their personal and professional experience. During this year we have recruited 4 new members with personal experience of mental health recovery and / or providing mental health support to others, and, alongside existing members, they have had the opportunity to influence the operation of the company through participation in regular development group meetings. We have also engaged with a number of new collaborators from our stakeholder groups, and developed new workshop contents, formats and venues based on their priorities. All workshop participants are asked to fill in an evaluation form, so that we know what they have found helpful about attending the workshop, if there are any ways in which workshops can be improved and any suggestions for future workshops. We have responded to feedback by adjusting the structure and content of workshops where possible. We have also interviewed 6 people who have been involved in our workshops, either as participants or lived experience facilitators in order to learn from their experiences; the analysis of these interview is currently ongoing.

Total directors’ remuneration included in the accounts is £5,418.50.

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration