Brave NHS workers share mental health experiences to inspire others

As Peer Support Workers, Charlynne Wright, 36, and Harley Powell-Rimmer, 25, currently provide emotional and practical support to individuals accessing Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) services.

Charlynne, who is from Lincoln, started working for LPFT in the perinatal team in October 2018 – just over a year after experiencing mental health issues while 14 weeks pregnant with her second child.

She said:

“What should have been the happiest time of my life was one of the hardest but I was fortunate to receive amazing care.

“It really inspired me to give something back and now my biggest passion is improving services.

“There really is no substitute for someone who has been there and done in to support service users in their journey. I really do love my job.”

Harley, also from Lincoln, was inspired to help other young people and children after accessing Children and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) services from the age of 13.

She added:

“As soon as I saw the job description I fell in love as I knew that was exactly what was missing within my own care.

“I really feel my experience allows me to have a big impact on the level of care we are able to provide to children and young people.

“I am able to translate the things clinicians say in a way our service users can understand and I can use examples from my own life experiences to show what is it is like to move through my own recovery journey and be proud of how far I’ve come.”

LPFT has a host of Peer Support Worker opportunities, including in the Personality and Complex Trauma team (PACT), Forensic and the Community Rehabilitation team.

Sara Brewin, Service Manager for AHPS, Recovery and Inclusion at LPFT, said:

“Peer Support Workers make a huge difference to the people in our care and that’s why we’d love to welcome even more people with lived experience to our teams.”

To find out more about Peer Support Workers, visit www.lpft.nhs.uk/Peer-Support-Workers