Honiton mum sets up mental health support hub for parents

Honiton mum, Sarah-Lou, is in the process of setting up a peer support group for people who are supporting family members with mental health issues.

She has drawn from her own, often painful experiences, to try to provide a helpline for other families struggling in similar situations.

She describes her own journey, which has led her to want to take action: "My children have been brought up in a good, safe area in the West Country.

"Their school reports were always positive about their attitude, their loyalty to their peers and their academic ability.

"They have always had family meals around the table and I chose to work part time so that I could be at home with the children when they weren't at school.

"When my child started struggling with their mental health I had no idea who we should talk to, so I started by calling the school who put me in touch with the school nurse.

"Then the GP, who told me to call a service called CAMHS, which I'd never heard of.

"I was warned they had a long waiting list, so I also called a charity that I googled, called Young Devon.

"This was all new and terrifying territory for me. 

"How on earth did I know who could offer the best help to my child? I didn't know anything about mental health and I didn't feel I could talk to my family or friends about it.

"I was certain at this time that I must have failed my child in some way. They presented as smiley and capable to the outside world but hidden away on their own they were clearly distressed and I was completely helpless.

"I was concerned for their future, the stigma, their distress and I longed for support, someone to talk to about my concerns."

Sarah was in contact with many different services but there was nothing that was truly effective at guiding them through the process. 

"We frequently came across differing opinions, which put us all under great strain," Sarah explains.

She continues: "During these years we have had to find our own way through a very complicated system. 

"This journey has been difficult, sad, empowering, frustrating but mostly isolating and lonely.

"As a parent, we all do our best for our children with the knowledge and the resources that we possess.

"We rely on information that we are given along the way, our own experiences and that of our peers.  

"I didn't know where to turn for help and I becoming increasingly aware that the reason for this is actually a severe lack of support services for families living with mental health difficulties.

"I would like to change this."

The idea of a Parent Support Hub has since grown and Sarah teamed up with friend, Sue Chambers, to further develop the vision.

Over the past four months, Sarah has been holding discussions with health professionals and existing support groups which operate in the area such as; Honiton Health Matters, Action East Devon, Recovery Devon and Devon Carers.

A survey was recently sent out to see what people would like in Honiton to support families, which culminated in dates being set for the first two meetings with the peer support group. 

These meetings are to be very informal and will involve tea/coffee and cake.

As Sarah is keen to "The vision for the Parent Support Hub is fluid. It will develop over time to accommodate the needs of the parents in Honiton."

"We will also sign post people to the relevant services and support them through this, helping them to understand the many acronyms and terms used by professionals.

"We aim to offer sessions where parent and carers can gain knowledge on parenting skills, validating emotions and different ideas for different stages of child development.

"It is already apparent from the survey that people would ideally like a drop in centre.

"We are looking at ideas of how we could make this work in a similar way to the Link Centres in North Devon.

"We also feel we need access to a mental health support worker for the sessions.

"Our long-term goal is to fund a full time mental health worker in Honiton.

"We believe that prevention is key, so will be looking at ways we can help educate and support new parents. 

"We will listen to their concerns and sign post them to useful services.

"We also believe that early intervention is paramount and we are looking at how we can play an active role in this area.

As people are aware, my drive for the Parent Support Hub is our story as a family, through our lived experience.

"For now, I will be content to provide a hot drink, cake, biscuits and a listening ear, but my hope is that this will develop into being a new helping hand for others on the parenting rollercoaster that is mental health."

The dates for the initial two meetings are Monday, 10 February 1pm - 2pm and Wednesday, 12 February 6.30pm - 8pm at The Kings Centre. Email [email protected] for more information.