Valued Lives is a new non-profit organisation, who support people who have mental ill-health to lead fulfilling lives in the community.
We will provide community based care and support, rehabilitation and enablement programmes, life coaching, complimentary therapies, and community based recreational activities for those subject to social exclusion.
Why the service is needed in Cornwall
Data published in 2016 showed over 220 cases suicide between 2013-2015, and 1172 cases of hospitilisation due to self harm between 2014-2015. This shows a huge number of people in severe distress, and feeling that there is no way out. Feedback from people has shown that they find it difficult to access services, and sometimes need to wait some months before receiving treatment. Out of hours provision struggles to meet demands, resulting in people reaching crisis and requiring hospitalisation to keep them safe.
Valued Lives will be able to respond to people out of hours, at their home or at our crisis cafe. We will reduce hospitalisations, and promote a quicker and fuller recovery. We will also support those close to the person to learn how better to support them, and understand how mental health effects their loved one.
Why we need to raise funds
The purpose of the Crowdfunder is to enable us to open our Hub and begin offering services. We need to purchase furniture and equipment, and recruit our first full wellbeing team. The Hub will offer an open door for information and advice, a crisis cafe which will provide emergency support, and will offer access to our wellbeing recovery programmes. We have also placed a stretch fund on our target, so that we can provide a 3 month trial for a 24 hour face to face emergency crisis response service, which will cover the county. This service will respond quickly, tackling the need for people to go to A&E, or be placed into inpatient care, and reduce suicide rates across the county.
We have been in discussions with comissioners from both local authority and health services to fund our community based support services, and have recieved an exceptional level of interest. Our services fit perfectly into the objectives of both the NHS 5 year forward view, and the Cornwall Health and Wellbeing strategy. We need to raise sufficient funds from the crowdfunder to launch the project, so that we can prove a track record, and financial standing, to allow us to gain commissioned contracts. Our ongoing business model will not rely on grant funding in order to survive, we have recently registered to become a charity, and will be re-investing profits made from our care and support services back into our community projects, which will enable us to provide services to those who may otherwise be ineligible for funding.
Our People
Trustees
The Hub
Im CEO and founder of Valued Lives. I have a background in health and social care, from on-the-floor experience in nursing homes, EMI units, Clinical care, Inpatient mental health care, and community based support, to senior management level for another local charity.
I have a specialism in promoting high quality care through training and consultancy, and have run my own business, as well as managed a City and Guilds training centre developing and delivering a number of accredited short courses, diplomas level 2-5 and bespoke training packages.
I've also experienced depression first hand, having struggled for 3 years post-natal, which left me feeling exhausted, desperate, and suicidal. This is why Valued Lives is very close to my heart, and something I am highly focused on making work.
Story so far
So far, we have recruited a registered manager to allow us to complete our CQC registration, an apprentice business support officer, a fantastic team of volunteers, and a very highly skilled and diverse board of trustees. Our charities application is submitted to the charity commission, and we are moving into our new premises based in Redruth. We will continue to recruit apprentices and volunteers, offering traineeships to support people into the career of their choice. We will also work collaboratively with other organisations to arrange work placements for the people using our services so that along side our enablement programmes we can support people back into work.
We are already actively campaigning, and will be hosting a number of events around Cornwall throughout October and November. Please look at our website www.valuedlives.co.uk to find out when we will be in a town near you. You can also find us on Facebook.
Campaigns that are already running include:
#FightTheStigma - A programe to provide information and advice around a range of mental health related topics within the Cornish communities, running information sessions, drop in clinics, coffee mornings, and free training sessions for people effected by mental ill- health and their families. The aim of this campaign is to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, and promote a more understanding and supportive community.
#PersonLedChange - A campaign that aims to promote service user involvement at a strategic level across mental health services, ensuring transparency and inclusion. We are running a number of events, bringing professionals together for standardisation and partnership working. We are currently recruiting our community comittee, who will help to shape the charity and its services.