Peer recovery hub

Moray Peer Support Partnership: a regional approach

Moray Wellbeing Hub and SAMH started The Moray Peer Support Partnership in 2022.

Recognising there is strength in partnership working, the two organisations came together to discuss their vision. They identified that it would be helpful for peer supporters from their own organisations to connect with others. By doing so, they hope to raise awareness of peer support and encourage more people to get involved.

The Moray Peer Support Partnership established after a successful bid to the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. The partnership provides people who offer peer support the opportunity to connect and build relationships with others resulting in:

• Mental health and wellbeing support for themselves
• Reduced social isolation
• Increased influence of peer support development in Moray
• Benefits of peer support are visible to the wider community

Quarriers, Arrows drug and alcohol support service has joined the Partnership. Here at Scottish Recovery Network we support the partnership by sharing learning and resources from and with the project from the wider Scottish Community.

• Top tip – When you apply for funding remember to include costs for supporting people to be involved.

Connection and co-design

The partnership brings people together for four events a year. Three events are online and the fourth provides an opportunity for people to meet face to face. Each event builds on the previous one and through co-design sessions there are opportunities to get involved in planning. Using this approach people asked that the events have an element of learning, discussions and introduction to useful resources.

The events gave me the opportunity to be with and connect with like minded people who are also passionate about peer to peer support and who want to move forward with raising awareness in our communities.

Event participant

• Challenge – Encouraging people to come along. The partnership put a lot of effort into promoting without making much of an impact. Securing dates for the events well in advance is now a priority. This will allow for promotional lead in and booking time. Using existing networks and personnel connections will also help promotion.

A collaborative approach

Partners support each other. The beauty of working together means being able to draw on a range of knowledge and skills. Taking a learning approach, people involved in the partnership are able to draw on each other’s strengths and resources and achieve more together.

There is also more of a sense that working in collaboration to coproduce these types of projects is key to expanding the reach and impact of the efforts to establish peer support in Moray and ensure those who are providing peer support have a space for themselves to be supported.

Partner

Achievements

Using the CHIME (Connections, Hope, Identity, Meaning, Empowerment) Framework, the partnership regularly reviews its key outcome and indicators. Achievements so far include:

• Reaching a wide group of people involved in peer support activity and building a strong foundation to further develop the partnership
• Arrows, an addiction support service, has joined the partnership
• Funding secured for further development work
• The project has also produced a short film about peer support

Peer support – What’s that?

In the spirit of sharing, you are welcome to use this film. When doing so, please credit the Moray Peer Support Partnership