Have a read at some of our Case Studies
Emma
A female aged 17 began attending Hope St sessions once a week in 2018. with anxiety and depression. She was initially referred into Hope St by her head-of-year at Ormskirk High School because her GP believed it was just adolescence and wouldn’t refer her into services. On her first visit and for quite a few weeks afterwards her whole persona shrank, she would cover her face with her hair, cry, perspire, shake, wouldn’t converse with other attendees and remained by my side; on the other hand she felt at ease because it was the only time she’d been taken seriously. She also liked the fact that the group were mixed sexualities and age ranges.
After several months of attending she became friendly with a mother and daughter who were also attendees, which helped her to detach from the security of me as a mother figure. It was during this time that Hope St were invited to give a presentation at this young person’s school to break the stigma of mental health in young people and she panicked thinking we would disclose that we knew her. After some reassurance that we would not breech her confidence, the day came to present at her school and during the visit several other students came forward about their mental health and began attending sessions alongside her. This gave her the confidence to be more open and she participated as a model for Hope St clothing brand at Liverpool Fashion Week. Again, this was another opportunity that instilled confidence in her as well as sharing her journey on radio city. She is now very open about her condition and has far less episodes.
Since leaving Hope St, she has started a part-time job, gone on to study ‘Health Care at Liverpool Hope University, lives independently and is in a relationship with a young man who understands and respects her condition.
This young lady has several positive outcomes as a result of attending Hope St alongside Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. She has become independent, no longer relies on Hope St for support, built healthy relationships with others, is in full-time education, is employable, doesn’t attend the GP or Minds Matters (Mental Health Services).
Hard Outcomes
• Living independently
• Full-time University
• Employable
Soft Outcomes
• Socialising
• Participating
• Laughing
• Smiling
• Happiness
• Positive relationships
• Living independently
• Less episodes
• Not reliant on Hope St or other services
Chris Ryley
A male aged 48 began attending Hope St sessions once a week in 2019 diagnosed with severe anxiety, depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He first attended a session we held on Holistic Harmonies because he had a real passion for performing arts; however, he’s become a regular attendee . When first attending, he would sit alone, wouldn’t converse with other attendees, would critique everything and had a very negative outlook on life.
However, after a month of attending he began the ‘Emotional Intelligence’ (EQ) course that we were hosting as part of National Lottery Funding. It was during this time that he built a friendship with another attendee and we gradually began to see the barriers dispersing. In time, he started to trust more and more people and participated in group activities as part of the EQ course but also became very vocal about his passion for writing. He soon became a massive part of the group and inspired us with his creative writing skills on Facebook. By the end of the course he was one of few participants who volunteered to partake in a survey to demonstrate the impact of improved EQ on his mental health and well-being. Not only had his EQ improved but his attitude to life had and he was no longer misusing substances; however, he also identified traits in himself of an addictive personality, which played a big part in his substance misuse and recognised this could be triggered at any time by outside factors, so we began looking at strategies for channelling his addiction into something more positive. At this point, it transpired that he was from an educated background and lived in an affluent area of West Lancashire; yet, because of numerous life traumas, he kept reverting back to a drug and alcohol dependant lifestyle as a means of self medicating. With this in mind and the help of Hope St, we worked with this gentleman to encourage the positive aspects of his life and he returned to creative writing as a distraction from his traumatic memories. He’s since had a book of short stories published and poetry.
This gentleman has several positive outcomes as a result of attending Hope St alongside much needed therapies. He has become independent, no longer uses substances, built healthy relationships with others, is employable, doesn’t attend the GP as frequently or Minds Matters (Mental Health Services). He’s a trusted member of Hope St who has been a guest speaker, facilitates walking groups and recently delivered ‘Creative Writing’ sessions to his peers.
- Discharged from NHS services £4,741 saved over 12 months
Stopped using substances £4,215 saved over 12 months drugs and £1,656 alcohol
- Employable
*Minus cost of intervention over 12 months at 1,000 = 8,612 saving to CCG and economy*
Case Study 3
A female began attending Hope St sessions once a week in 2018 with anxiety and depression after contemplating suicide the evening before. She found our services through the job centre, as she was receiving benefits for the debilitating mental health conditions she was diagnosed with.
Her first visit to Hope St was with her mother and sister who did all of the speaking on her behalf but didn’t refer to her thoughts around suicide. She appeared as a confident and bubbly lady but deep down she lacked confidence and was falling apart. Her husband who was the main earner had been out of work for 3 months and bills were piling up, so she deemed her presence in life was an added burden.
For approximately 6 weeks, she attended sessions with her family and sat with another lady and her mother. Eventually, the two became friends and wanted to ask their family not to accompany them anymore. For this lady in particular, it was a massive step because her family enjoyed the service and wanted to continue attending but she stood her ground and built the courage to say ‘no,’ something she had never done before. From here on in, both ladies began attending sessions alone and their journeys took a step that they believed would never happen.
After several months of attending, she became a massive part of Hope St and started volunteering as a buddy for newcomers. Also, during the next few months she created a vision board at one of our workshops and has achieved all but one outcome on it, which is to travel outside of her home town for an overnight stay; however, she has booked to come along to 2021 camping retreat.
As a result of attending Hope St, this lady has achieved numerous positive outcomes, such as: she no longer visits her GP, attended a job interview and was the successful candidate out of 10 others, has less anxiety episodes, has built resilience to deal with conflicting situations, built friendships outside of her family network, socialises and has increased personal and financial independence.
She still attends Hope St to support her less confident friend and is employed as a part-time support worker
Hard Outcomes
- Not at risk of sectioning under mental health act £10,000 saved over 12 months
- No longer receives benefits £9,912 saved over 12 months
- Financial independence
- Employable
*Minus cost of intervention over 12 months at 1,000 = 17,912 saving to CCG and economy*
Soft Outcomes
- Socialising
- Participating
- Laughing
- Smiling
- Happiness
- Positive relationships
- Living independently
- Less episodes
- Not reliant on Hope St or other services
- Grown in confidence
Colin Treverrow
A male aged 54 began attending Hope St sessions after coming across our Facebook in 2020. Following a diagnosis of severe depression and intense feelings of isolation, he first attended a session as he wanted to connect to other people who had similar experiences.
After having a carer allocated, he began to come to Hope St sessions more often. He has settled in well and has gained confidence within group discussions. With the help of Hope St, this gentleman has become more sociable, confident, and positive. He describes being in a more positive place than he was prior to attending, and has started to plan into the future.
SOFT OUTCOMES:
- Gained confidence
- Improved social skills
- Improved self-esteem
HARD OUTCOMES:
- Part-time employment in music