Return of What Is Help?

It is pretty clear that what passes for support is nothing of the kind. It's nothing more than bootstrap mentality bolted onto American self help guru buzzwords granted the gift of funding from the likes of the EU Social Fund. I guess that won't be happening anymore!

Schemes that have go-getting names like 'Aspire', or use numbers instead of words, like 'Aim 2 Succeed'. It just sounds like self reassurance rather than actual positive support. Like an affirmation: say it enough times and you'll start believing it. That, at least, is the theory.

In practice it just amounts to industrial scale gaslighting. If you do not fit in with very narrow definitions of what support actually amounts to then expect to be held responsible: "we just don't know how to help you". Then why are you spending public money? Why aren't you addressing fundamental structural problems rather than blaming the individual for their circumstances when those circumstances are largely dependent on the environment?

For example, Second Step, another local provider, has been caught in lie. I applied to their Peer Employability Programme. In fact I met with the person running it. I explained my circumstances, but ultimately they had nothing to offer other than the usual vague talk of action plans and 'confidence building', which I think is their euphemism for everything else. I've no idea how that would address structural unemployment problems nor the conditions of the labour market that people out of work with mental health issues would have to face. How can it? It's the employer that will decide not to hire the person with such a 'colourful' history and there's nothing you can do about it.

So I complained a month or so ago that the scheme wasn't delivering what it was purported to offer. Subsequent to that the line manager for the person running it told me, emphatically in two separate emails, that the scheme wasn't intended for people with mental health problems. Something they neglected to tell me either at first contact or during the meeting I had with them. If you don't cater to that then surely you'd say something, right?

Last week I contacted Second Step's North Somerset provision (the scheme was run in Bristol - separate office, the usual nonsense). They said they had nothing comparable but might I be interested in something called the Peer Employability Programme being run in Bristol - because it caters to mental health sufferers! Here's what they told me:

I have just found this service that we have which you may find useful please contact them using details below:

For people with experience of mental health problems

We understand that it can be daunting to return to work after having time off because of mental health problems. That's why we're working with the Rank Foundation - a grant-giving charitable trust - to look at the barriers faced by unemployed people with mental health problems to get back to work.

The result of this partnership is a new project called the Peer Employability Programme which will support people who have experience of mental health problems to get ready to enter the job market once more. 

The project is open to people who have used health and social care support services and have been unemployed for at least three months. The idea is to work closely and collaboratively to help you become job-ready and maximise your potential for paid work.

Participants will be offered a combination of one-to-one support, employability workshops and help to explore work goals. Our highly personalised approach will mean we can work on the barriers people come across and do our best to overcome them together.

To find out more about the programme, which runs until September 2019, please contact 

Caught in a lie. Writ large: for people with experience of mental health problems. I emailed back and told them this. Their reply was to abrogate responsibility:

I have forwarded your previous email to our complaints officer. Please direct any future correspondence that you may have to her. 

This is help. The ability to take no responsibility once caught in a lie. All while dealing with vulnerable and potentially vulnerable people. Such as those suffering with mental health issues to one degree or another.