If you are looking for peer support groups to join, please take a look at our services and support signposting page.
This page brings together various resources created by NSUN or our members that may be of use for user-led groups who do peer support as part of their activities. You can also find more general resources for user-led groups on our resources for groups page.
This page contains:
- The principles of peer support charter
- Shared learning sessions on online peer support
- Case studies of peer support groups
- Links to publications and resources about peer support
1. Peer Support Charter
A collaboration between statutory and voluntary sector organisations across Sussex facilitated the production of a peer led and produced ‘Principles of Peer Support’ Charter in 2018.
The Charter aims to promote the principles of peer support across varied settings. You can read more and download the Charter here.
2. Shared Learning Sessions on Online Peer Support
Building Community Online: learning from online LGBTQ+ peer support
Developed with Switchboard, NSUN, and Mind, this shared learning session explored how online peer support spaces can benefit members of the LGBTQ+ community, and more broadly what community-building in online peer support spaces might look like.
The session was facilitated by Ruairi White (Switchboard/NSUN), and Amy Wells (NSUN). This recording shows the presentation part of the session, with Ruairi feeding back on the two unrecorded group discussions that we had on the table of challenges/mitigations (time: 22:25) and the concept of community building (52:10).
This recording may be of interest to people who want to develop their online facilitation skills improve access to their spaces for LGBTQ+ people, and/or want to explore ways of offering peer support online that foreground community and connection.
Keeping a Safe Virtual Space in Online Peer Support
Developed with Taraki, NSUN, and Mind, this shared learning session explored safety, comfort and confidentiality in online peer support. Over the last year, many peer support projects have had to move online. This has created a number of opportunities as well as challenges for peer support.
This session was facilitated by Sandev Panaser and Amardeep Singh who facilitate online virtual forums for Taraki, an organisation providing mental health support and advocacy for people of Punjabi origin. They shared tips and suggestions on how to create a safe space and give confidence to those seeking and providing mental health peer support in this changing environment. This recording shows the presentation part of the session, with feedback on the group discussions that we had halfway through (22:10).
These sessions were part of a short series of three shared learning sessions organised by NSUN in 2021 in partnership with Mind.
The third – with Make Space, on navigating the topic of self harm in online spaces – was not recorded, but you can read a reflection from Make Space here.
3. Peer Support Case Studies
Mind and NSUN have published five case studies (pre-COVID) of peer support models from across the UK, demonstrating the value of user-led organisations working at the interface with statutory services.
Canerows
Canerows peer support is based within the charity Sound Minds in South London. Sound Minds is a user-led charity seeking to transform the lives of people experiencing mental ill health through music, film and art. They describe themselves as ‘a thriving community bound together by creativity and a shared belief in mutual learning and peer support’.
Suicide Crisis Centre
The Suicide Crisis Centre was set up by Joy Hibbins and supports anyone in Gloucestershire who is feeling suicidal. In particular they aim to reach people who have disengaged with mental health services because services are not working for them; and people who would never access statutory services in the first place and need something different.
ReCoCo (Recovery College Collective)
ReCoCo is a user-led collaboration between service users and the voluntary and statutory sectors. ReCoCo brought together Newcastle Gateshead Recovery College and the user-led organisation Launchpad into a new organisation. ReCoCo has now been running for five years.
Leeds Mind
Leeds Mind works with two local NHS services: the Rehabilitation and Recovery Centre and three CMHTs. The Recovery Centre is provided through a partnership of Touchstone, Community Links and Leeds Mind – together with the Trust, so there are other third sector staff in the Centre. Leeds Mind provide the only peer support workers in the Centre. There are two inpatient units, so the peer support offers in-reach to the wards and post discharge support.
The CAPITAL Project Trust
The CAPITAL Project Trust is a user led organisation; founded in 1997, it is run by and for people with mental health issues across West Sussex. CAPITAL supports and trains people with mental health issues to enable them to be involved in improving services in a variety of ways.
To access Word document (plaintext) versions of the case studies, please use the following links:
Canerows
Suicide Crisis Centre
ReCoCo (Recovery College Collective)
Leeds Mind
CAPITAL
4. Peer Support Publications and Resources
NSUN has published reports on Peer Support and Safety, Remote and Online Peer Support, Peer Support: Working with the VCSE sector and more. All of these can be found on our Publications & Tools page by clicking ‘peer support’ in the filter on the right hand side.
You may also be interested in the following reports:
- The ‘Jigsaw’ reports from Mind (2013 and 2022) on community-led peer support
- Lived Experience Leading The Way: Peer Support in Mental Health (2010)
- The Freedom to be, the Chance to Dream: Preserving User-led Peer Support in Mental Health (2012)
You can also explore resources on peer support via National Voices’ Peer Support Hub and Peer Hub’s Resources page.
You can browse general resources for user-led groups via our Resources for Groups page.