Social Prescribing: Andy’s Story

I am passionate about mental wellbeing, having suffered with depression and anxiety for the last 15+ years.

Since leaving University, I’ve had a few voluntary jobs and I’ve enjoyed them all massively. However, for one reason or another, I was never quite content or totally happy in them. It ended up just being something to do rather than something I really wanted to do.

‘I felt like I was struggling mentally and really needed help’

During lockdown, I wasn’t doing anything productive; I had no motivation or direction and went into a very dark and scary place. I got in touch with my GP who advised me to do a self-referral to Minds Matter.

Once I’d got in touch they did an assessment, and based on my scores they sent me for counselling, which really help me to understand what I was going through.

While receiving counselling, I was told about a service called More Positive Together. MPT is a Lancashire-wide EU Social Fund project whose aim is to try and help 2,250 people to improve their job prospects. This was unsuccessful as there was little to no communication throughout.

I then heard about West Lancashire Social Prescribing. Introduced in April 2018, they aim to get to the root causes of people’s ill health and bring about lasting change.

I had a call from Lawrence Smye-Rumsby who told me what he does and how he could help me. After a chat, he helped me to look for opportunities that would allow me to utilise my degree. He also helped me find someone to give me advice on my CV.

I got in touch with Roger Blaxall who runs a local website. At the time, Roger was away but he said he’d be interested in meeting up when he got back. I was also advised to get in contact with the National Careers Service about my CV.

Meanwhile, Lawrence came back to me with another suggestion. He asked me if I’d heard about this magazine in Skelmersdale called ‘About the Town’ and then asked if I would I be willing to speak to the owner and editor Bev Roberts, which I agreed to.

It took me a couple of weeks to find the courage to get in contact with Bev, but we had an initial meeting prior to me deciding what to do next. I was impressed by her passion and vision for the magazine! Bev told me what she started with, her aim, and the direction in which she planned on taking the business. I was in full agreement and knew from that meeting that I wanted to be part of this project.

Something that really struck me and has stayed with me since is how much Bev wanted me on the team. At the time of the meeting, she had just found a new office and was about to move into it. It wasn’t wheelchair accessible, so I would have to work from home or once a week in the Shakespeare Café in Upholland. However, not content with this, Bev set about looking for an accessible office as she wanted her new team to be together in one base and for me to feel included in this; Certacs House has now been our home since March, and the team vibe really helps support me in my road to recovery from my mental health struggles!

Ever since I started on March 9, my confidence has improved, and my depression and anxiety levels are the lowest they’ve been for years! My self-esteem has grown, my interpersonal skills are much better, and I now feel I have a sense of purpose and a sense of direction in my life!

So, if anyone is ever in a similar situation to myself, I would definitely recommend getting a referral to Social Prescribing and they will do everything they can to help! They really helped and encouraged me, and I’m now in the best place, not just mentally but in my career!

Written By Andy Forsyth