Peer Mentoring is a goal orientated one-to-one service. People will work with one of our trained mentors – all of whom have a lived experience of mental health challenges – to plan and carry out steps towards achieving goals to enhance their wellbeing or address a particular challenge they are facing such as improving social confidence, using public transport, accessing education, voluntary work, and employment.
Peer Mentors are volunteers with a lived experience of their own mental health challenges and recovery, selected by Mind BLMK for their interpersonal and communication skills and trained to support you to create an action plan to work towards your goal/s. Peer Mentors are not counsellors and do not provide crisis support but can provide a means of support with setting goals and achieving them.
A mentoring relationship is founded upon trust, mutual respect and confidentiality. It enshrines the values of Mind BLMK in as much as it aims to meet individual needs and promote recovery, wellbeing and independence. Mentors meet with their mentees at one of our venues or in a public place for 1 hour at a time, normally once a week for a period of up to 6 weeks.
Mind will assess individuals for suitability for mentoring services and may make a decision not to offer mentoring if deemed inappropriate. Mind will match the individual with a Peer Mentor and arrange an introductory meeting. Once the Peer Mentor is introduced to the mentee and the goals are discussed, the mentoring relationship commences.
For mentoring to be successful the individual must be willing to make changes to work towards his/her goal. The decision whether to take up Mind’s offer of support lies with the person referred?
I found my mentoring service to be a very useful experience and felt that it has contributed greatly to my continuing improvement. My mentor was a great match and I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to meet with him.
For most people, self-referral is the simplest way to access our service. You can do this by completing our online referral form. Click on the ‘Access Support’ button at the top right of this page to start your self-referral.
For some people, a referral from another place is best. This might be a GP, another mental health service, a charity or voluntary organisation or someone from another organisation. If you would like to refer someone for support, we would encourage you to discuss the referral, or to click on the ‘Access Support’ button at the top right of this page to submit a referral.
If you are referring someone else, please ensure that they are happy with the referral and that they know it is happening. Please also ensure that you have completed all areas of the form and provided any relevant additional information, such as care plans, risk assessments or similar.
If you have any questions about mentoring, please find the contact details below:
t: 0300 0330 0648
e: [email protected]
Download Mind BLMK leaflets and posters HERE.
This service is funded by East London NHS Foundation Trust
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Find out more
Information and advice on a huge range of mental health topics from the national Mind website.
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