Billie-Jo’s Story

I began volunteering with the Recovery College in it’s very early days, and have loved to see it grow into the wonderful service that it is today. I started volunteering here while I was studying as I wanted to gain a better understanding of every day mental health experiences and the support on offer in my local area.  I was lucky enough to find this amazing community just finding its feet.

When I began with the recovery college, I was given the opportunity to co-facilitate the Positive Psychology course and to support in the initial development of others and found a nurturing environment to develop my own skills. Although at first I was nervous, I saw my confidence in my facilitating skills and ability to talk publicly and listen to others grow throughout my time volunteering. I was supported by my peers and other volunteers to develop my own confidence in co-facilitating and co-producing and soon found myself developing and facilitating my own courses and groups.

I was able to use my love of research and my experiences of listening to others together to develop workshops around self-compassion and was able to support in the co-production of a course called All About Me focused on self-exploration. During this time, I found myself encouraging and nurturing others to explore their potential as peer supporters and volunteers too, and I am proud to see how much the recovery college has grown.

Through my experience with the recovery college, I was encouraged to apply for a job position within the larger organization. I am currently using my skills and knowledge of wellbeing developed during my time volunteering with the recovery college while working in a job that I love as a Link Worker to support people every day.