As a Peer Supporter, your lived experience of mental distress will be at the heart of your role. You will use your own experiences to empathise with and support people who are experiencing mental distress, sharing your lived experience in an appropriate way to express empathy and hopefulness. This will involve sharing skills and techniques to help people identify their own self-management tools and ways of moving forward with life.

At our new Breathing Space service, this will involve:

• Welcoming users of the Berkshire West Breathing Space; helping them to feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible.
• Providing emotional and/or practical support drawing upon your own experiences where relevant and appropriate to people accessing the Berkshire West Breathing Space
• Providing support alongside people accessing the Berkshire West Breathing Space, to identify with them local services and activities that individuals may find beneficial to access, as appropriate
• Completing time sheets and session logs
• Attending and contributing to the monthly Peer Supporters Team Meetings facilitated by the Peer Support Coordinator
• Attending and contributing to regular supervision with the Team Leader and undertaking regular training as agreed
• Adhering to the Berkshire West Breathing Space policies and procedures including Equality & Diversity, Confidentiality, Safeguarding as well as Boundaries guidance and Best Practice for Peer Supporters