Peer Support Has Transformed My Life
Jane blogs about how working with women’s groups as part of the Women Side by Side programme has given her a new self-belief.
Through Women Side by Side, Agenda, in partnership with Mind, aimed to increase the availability of high-quality mental health peer support for women experiencing multiple disadvantage. In particular, women who have, or are at risk of developing, mental health problems.
The programme, funded by the UK Government Tampon Tax Fund, sought to combine the expertise of the women’s sector in delivering gender-specific and trauma-informed support for women, and Mind’s experience of community-based mental health peer support.
Women have highlighted a range of benefits including:
- improvements in their social networks
- being better connected to friends and neighbours
- feeling less lonely and isolated
- being more able to talk about mental health with friends, neighbours and acquaintances
- increased self-esteem, self-confidence and skills