North East charity creates 28 new jobs in mental health initiative

North East based charity Mental Health Concern announced a new community mental health initiative, creating 28 jobs to help improve access to support for “those who need it”.

In partnership with the Recovery College Collective (ReCoCo) and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in Newcastle, the charity will hire mental health community development workers and peer support workers to “support and empower” people with mental illness in the area.

This initiative is part of the NHS Community Mental Health Transformation programme, aimed at improving access to mental health support in communities across the city.

Adam Crampsie, Chief Executive of Mental Health Concern said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Newcastle’s PCNs and ReCoCo to provide these vital roles in the community.

“We know that community-focused mental health support makes a huge impact in reducing health inequality, improving employment, and getting people with mental illness on the road to recovery. This is the future of community mental health support and to make it happen, we need to go to where people need us, not wait for them to come to us.”

“We are now recruiting for these 28 new roles, so if you have lived experience of mental ill-health, we want to hear from you. As well as working with individuals, we want to ensure that existing groups and organisations in the community, which are making a real difference to people’s lives, get the help and support they need to continue their amazing work.”

Alisdair Cameron, Co-Director of ReCoCo said: ““Peer support workers turn their experiences of problems into positives, using their knowledge of being on the receiving end to assist others, and to improve practice across the board.

“As a peer- led and run charity, we’re delighted to see this expansion of peer support to benefit the citizens of Newcastle upon Tyne.”