This initiative is part of the NHS Community Mental Health Transformation programme, which aims to improve access to mental health support in communities across Newcastle.
To deliver this project, we’re partnering with the Recovery College Collective (ReCoCo) and the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in Newcastle. Together, we’re improving access to mental health support for people in our community who have experienced severe mental illness.
We’re creating 28 new jobs in the area, including 21 for people with lived experience of mental ill-health.
We’re hiring seven Mental Health Community Development Workers, who will provide links to areas and pre-existing community groups who need additional support.
We’re also recruiting for 21 Peer Support Workers; these are people who have experienced mental ill-health in the past and will use their experiences to help others. Our Peer Support Workers will help individuals, groups, and organisations that already support people with mental ill-health in the community.
Adam Crampsie, Chief Executive of Everyturn Mental Health said:
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Newcastle’s PCNs and ReCoCo to provide these vital roles in the community. We know that community-focused mental health support makes a huge impact in reducing health inequality, improving employment, and getting people with mental illness on the road to recovery. This is the future of community mental health support. To make it happen, we need to go to where people need us, not wait for them to come to us.
We’re recruiting for these 28 new roles now, so if you have lived experience of mental ill-health, we want to hear from you. As well as working with individuals, we want to ensure that existing groups and organisations in the community, which are making a real difference to people’s lives, get the help and support they need to continue their amazing work.”
Alisdair Cameron, Co-Director at ReCoCo, said:
“Peer support workers turn their experiences of problems into positives, using their knowledge of being on the receiving end to assist others, and to improve practice across the board. As a peer-led and run charity, we’re delighted to see this expansion of peer support to benefit the citizens of Newcastle upon Tyne.”
If you think you’d make a great Mental Health Community Development Worker or Peer Support Worker, check out these roles and apply here.