The Peer Support Group Programme
Peer support groups provide a platform for students to support each other in an informal setting. Such groups can provide a vital safety net, ensuring that students have easy access to support. Groups provide students with the opportunity to meet others with similar experiences, breaking down social isolation and increasing motivation for recovery. As students have a tendency to confide in and seek help from peers, support groups offer an unintimidating framework for support and can be used as a first step into treatment.
The SRSH programme trains student volunteers to run peer support groups. The support groups provide invaluable support to students on campus. Volunteering in a structured programme provides students with an opportunity to develop new skills and improve their employability. |
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Recruitment
SRSH has standard volunteer application forms, available online. We interview all shortlisted applicants to ensure that they are suitable to train as group facilitators.
Supervision
We run an in-house supervision programme, through which we aim to talk to all students volunteers after each of the support session that they run. Supervision provides volunteers with the opportunity to reflect on the progress they have made, to think about what worked and what did not work and talk constructively about improvements they’d like to try to make in future session.
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Training
All new SRSH volunteers attend our two day training programme in Oxford. We arrange travel and accommodation for volunteers.
Our training covers;
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Support
Our project manager is on hand to help volunteers develop their support group as a Student Led Project.
The Wider Network
We have a strong network of over 100 student volunteers across the country. We provide opportunity for these volunteers to stay in touch, via online platforms and through one off events.
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Support Groups
We are currently set up to support volunteers to run one of three support groups;
Supporting Students with Eating Disorders: Eating Disorder Support Group
Recovery from an eating disorder usually takes years. Our Eating Disorder Support Groups ensure that through the process of recovery students always have access to the informal support they need to stay motivated to work towards recovery. This is an open access programme, allowing students to drop in and out of sessions as they wish.
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Supporting Students with Depression: Staying Positive
These groups are semi-structured following a programme of 6 sessions, encouraging students to set goals and review success. The groups work through set of self-help workbooks developed by the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. Students are welcome to join at any stage of the programme, but are encouraged to complete the whole programme
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Supporting Students Supporting Friends with Mental Health Problems: Supporting Supporters
These groups are open access, allowing students to drop in and out as they wish. The sessions provide students with time and space to think about the stresses they face supporting friends with mental health problems.
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Programme Costs
Annual Fee:
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For further information |
