Case Study:
Cup-O-T
Cup-O-T launches woodland space for wellness
Lauren Birch went along to the launch of Cup-O-Tea Wellness and Therapy Services’ woodland site. The site, which features a shelter, cabin and even a composting toilet, will be a great asset to deliver therapeutic sessions. The group has received several grants from the Norfolk Community Foundation to help develop and deliver activities to support people’s wellbeing, and is also a member of the Sir Norman Lamb Coalition for Young People.
Lauren, who runs the Norfolk Skills Transfer programme at Norfolk Community Foundation, spoke to Catherine Gray, Lead Occupational Therapist and Director of Cup-O-T services to find out how the group has benefitted from:
- Norfolk Community Foundation Funding
- Norfolk Skills Transfer support (part of Good for Good)
- Membership of the Sir Norman Lamb Coalition for Young People
Lauren: So, Catherine, how has Norfolk Community Foundation funding supported your projects here?
Catherine: One of the projects that we’ve run with the NCF funding has been our Therapeutic Photography group, which works with young people who have been discharged from a mental health service and are looking at what their next steps are or whose mental health is deteriorated because they’re waiting for mental health services. They come here, they take part in the photography group, and look at how they express their emotions, what their values and life are, and what their next steps are going to be. Additionally, we’ve been able to fund the Discovery Group, which helps them explore different things in the community, and find out what their interests might be without having to sign up for things and then not like it or not be sure about the environment. They can do tasters and trials and see what is it that they value, what they want to do to enhance their life past being in a mental health service and explore that in a in a safe environment.
Lauren: So the funding enabled some of that work to be carried out?
Catherine: Yeah, absolutely. It’s funded the groups. It’s funded our occupational therapist and youth worker to work 1 to 1 with those young people. If they’re anxious about coming to a group, they can do some work beforehand and then support them coming into the group and exploring those activities.
Lauren: Did you have a grant from the Apollo fund as well for the peer support training?
Catherine: The Apollo funding is running our peer support work training, and that’s for anyone with experience of mental health services or those caring for someone who’s had access to mental health services. In the training, they look at how they use their lived experience to support other people in a safe way so that they can share their experience to help the other person, but in a way that doesn’t re-traumatise them. Hearing about experiences from a person who’s been through it rather than someone who’s had clinical training going, “Yes, I’ve learned about this”, is much better. They get it. They’ve been there. They can be alongside them in finding their way forward.
Lauren: It must make a real difference to have support from someone with lived experience. And how about the Skills Transfer programme? How has that helped you?
Catherine: Well, it’s been wonderful. We’ve got a fantastic photographer here today who’s taking photos of the event. We can put some images on our website so people know what to expect when they come to the wood. We also had help with our website so that we can make sure that people accessing our online learning for the peer support work programme have a really good, smooth experience and support in how to use the online platform. It’s been something we wouldn’t be able to access as we didn’t have the reserves or funding to access these kinds of professional services. And it just makes the experience for everyone that much better for our clients.
Lauren: That was Tom at Byra Marketing and Stuart Beard Photography taking photographs – I run the Skills Transfer programme, so it’s brilliant to hear that it has helped you so much. You’re part of the Norman Lamb coalition as well, aren’t you? Has that been a great support?
Catherine: The whole coalition’s been fantastic. We’ve been able to link up with other organisations and have a bigger impact. So places like MTM Youth Services, Swan Youth Project in Downham Market, Sprowston Youth Engagement Project, ASD Helong hands… we’ve run groups with them to reach more young people. It’s also helped us ensure that if someone has therapy with us, they then have a community organisation they can go to afterwards. So it’s not “Here’s your therapy, and now there’s nothing”, it’s making sure that there are good transitions once the therapy is over.
Lauren: So it’s been worth being a part of?
Catherine: Definitely.
Lauren: Thank you, Catherine.
The support from Norfolk Community Foundation has been transformative for Cup-O-T, enabling the organisation to expand its offerings and reach more people in need. Through grants funding crucial programs, professional services accessed through the Norfolk Skills Transfer program, and the collaborative opportunities bought about by the Foundation’s the Sir Norman Lamb Coalition for Young People has amplified Cup-O-T’s impact, ensuring that people receive ongoing support beyond their therapy sessions. Thanks to our backing, these initiatives and the positive outcomes they generate will continue to positively benefit communities.
Photographs in the article were taken by Stuart Beard.
[Published: 08.08.2024]
