Timestamp: 00:00:08
Speaker: Nicola Leavesley, Chief Executive of Response
Response is a mental health charity, and we provide care and support and supported accommodation to adults and young people who have got mental health challenges or have had challenging life experiences. Many of the people we support have serious mental illness. The approach we take is to really understand each individual’s life experiences and really build that trust and sense of really understanding that person, so everything we do is very person-centred.
Timestamp: 00:00:33
Speaker: Anne Clarke, Director of Adult Services & Corporate Safeguarding Lead
When people come to Response supported housing, they face multiple challenges, maybe many periods in and out of hospital, long-term ill health, physical health problems, drug issues, often homelessness. We provide safe and secure supported housing to help people get that foundation in the start of their recovery.
Timestamp: 00:00:55
Speaker: Chris Brown, Lived Experience Support Worker
So I now work for Response as a Lived Experience Support Worker, and that journey started 25 years ago when I went into hospital with complex mental health issues. I was supported by Response in their accommodation and I eventually managed to secure a job at Response, and that’s had a massive impact on my life. It’s given me structure to my days, offered me an opportunity to help and support other people, and to be able to sustain my recovery and my financial independence.
Timestamp: 00:01:22
Speaker: Tony Nanton, Housing Support Officer
My idea of support is just to show people there is an end goal. Normally when you come into my line of housing, you’re only going to be there for a certain amount of time. It’s to basically lead you to live independently from having spent time with us.
Timestamp: 00:01:36
Speaker: Patrick, Response resident
I’ve seen so many young people move on and do well, and I live in the area. I see a lot of my young people, whether they’re delivering food, whether they’re out and about, and everybody is cool with me. Everyone is like, oh yeah, I’ve done this, I’ve done that, I’ve got my flat, that’s all good. And I just love that, because I can see what Response has done with other agencies to help people. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Life can be a lot better.
So I was in hospital. It was OK, it was a bit of a long journey. And then Response come saying, obviously, we’ve got placement for you. General everyday things that people don’t expect to be hard, but it is. I went a couple of days without eating, yeah, literally because I was just wasting my money. Response has helped me with money management, with my housing and with general life skills.
I suppose everywhere you go you want to feel safe. But to know that you’ve got your own space that is safe, I suppose that’s a lot of weight off your shoulders.
Timestamp: 00:02:42
Speaker: Nicola Leavesley, Chief Executive
Response have been around for over 60 years now, providing mental health care and support and supported housing across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Berkshire. We have over 150 people who are trained, skilled support workers. We also support over 500 people in supported housing, and this really shows the breadth and scale of Response.
And what is really important for us is the people that we do support really help to shape the services that we are delivering for them and with them. It’s really heartwarming to kind of see that we can make a difference.
Timestamp: 00:03:14
Speaker: Jamie Douglas, Associate Director of Response Youth
The Thatcham Wellbeing Hub is designed as an early intervention prevention service, so it’s open access, so any young person could get support from us. So the biggest thing we’re seeing is young people who are struggling to access education or employment or training. It’s amazing, I mean, it shows that we’re needed.
When we launched this project, we knew that it would be needed, but it really kind of proved to us that there isn’t anyone else out there necessarily to support that need. So really stepping into quite a local community like Thatcham and having such a difference so quickly, you know, really kind of warms the heart and really proves that this is really needed from Response.
Timestamp: 00:03:51
Speaker: Rufus, Response resident
Prior to coming to Response in 2021, I had a series of mental breakdowns. I’ve had them historically for a long, long time. Since I’ve been here, I feel I have made progress, gaining more self-confidence. I’m very grateful for the support that I do receive. Well, at present, I couldn’t function without Response.
Where I was five or six years ago is very different from where I am today. Sometimes there seems to be no progress, on other days there does seem to be progress, but Response is there.
Timestamp: 00:04:28
Speaker: Nicola Leavesley, Chief Executive
So the health and social care system and housing are under immense pressure, and there’s far more demand than there is support and supply available. And we play such a vital role for both the NHS and for local authorities to be able to provide that person-centred, focused, and trauma-informed service that we can deliver to the people who need it the most.
Safe, stable housing and individualised, personalised support is absolutely critical in helping people thrive. Without this, many of the people that we do support could end up at risk of homelessness. Their mental health could deteriorate, and they could end up back in hospital, and this is something that we want to be able to avoid at all costs.
The work we do at Response enables people to learn those life skills, have someone who really trusts and believes in them, so they can really achieve the goals that they want to set out for themselves.
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Response provides mental health support and housing for people across the Thames Valley. Find out more or support our work at www.response.org.uk or call us on 01865 397640.