"Helping One Another group"

Many thanks to you and everyone involved in setting up and running the Helping One Another Group. It's definitely helped my recovery.

From our first meeting, you made us very welcome and this is soon extended by other group members.

The staff present are professional, very approachable and always, quick to help if needed. The group’s secretary provides a very efficient secretarial service and importantly, you all make a lovely cuppa.

The formal meeting’s treated seriously but leaves plenty of time for a monthly speaker and informal chats.

The speakers you book in response to our requests for help are interesting and informative. You also supply us with background material to read.

Our informal chats can lift our spirits: we enjoy other people’s happy experiences; exchange useful information and laugh out loud.

The option to disclose can bring great relief in a crisis. After discussing my cat, I’ll never forget the genuine and unexpected sympathy I received from the group. I’d not felt so cared about since childhood. You also offered practical help and even monitored developments in A.O.B. It was so appreciated and your support contributed to the major steps I’ve taken to change my situation.

Attending the group can offer opportunities to help fellow sufferers: I’ve sat on panels interviewing clinical staff and participated in a feedback session in front of Trust representatives. It’s very uplifting to feel some good can come from our miseries.

You well deserve your CQC “Outstanding” classification and I hope in the near future you achieve the accreditation you certainly merit.

Many thanks from all of us.