With mental health problems affect around 1 in 4 people during their lives, Girlings is delighted to support Take Off as our corporate charity. Take Off is an inspiring local charity that works for better physical and mental health and provides people with much needed ready-made social networks and peer support services. It uses a peer support model and most of its services take the form of self-help groups, which are either ‘talking’ or ‘doing’ focused.
Take Off’s Assistant Director, Ellie Williams tells us what the charity is working to achieve with local people in East Kent; “Take Off is aware of the link between mental health problems and economic hardship, which also bring loneliness and lack of occupation and purpose. Whilst we can’t resolve people’s economic difficulties, we do have a belief that mental ill-health detests two things: oxygen and friendship.
This is therefore what we seek to provide as both these things take the problems from inside the head to the outside; while not necessarily removing them completely they do become easier to live with and they lose their hold over us.
To this end, we are 100% user led, believing that people who’ve themselves come through the problems are best placed to help those currently afflicted. We run entirely on the peer support model and most of our services take the form of self-help groups, which are either “talking” or “doing” focused.
Take Off provides ready-made social networks and also provide other peer support services as needed. When a need is identified, we will endeavour to design, develop and deliver a service to fill that void. We have a large group of sessional workers at groups spread across East Kent. Our peer workers are paid the living wage per hour and whilst we are not anti volunteering we actively encourage those interested to train with us and join our workforce. This provides employment for a traditionally unemployable group, which enables people with lived experience of a mental health problem to make good use of it to help others in a supportive environment.
Girlings looks forward to working with Take Off and to raising money for to support the vital work of this local charity.
For more information about the work that Take Off are undertaking across East Kent visit: http://www.takeoff.works/ Or contact Ellie: ellie@takeoff.works
Charity Number: 1069836