CS
LAMH are a great charity and have aided my recovery and have helped me stay well and feel less isolated.
S has really helped me and has given me regular input over the coronavirus period. She is always there to help, is very friendly, kind and easy to talk to. If I were having a bad day, she would give me a phone call and it would really help lift my mood, particularly as the pandemic has caused me to feel quite lonely at times.
LMcD
We have all had to face a new sort of life under Covid and LAMH has helped me navigate the highs and lows for me on this journey.
Your Facebook page has been informative in signposting me to community support from the very start. This got me access to food which I found difficult to source at the beginning of this pandemic. Your page also highlighted ways we can help manage the mental impact of this crisis with information on mindfulness and affirmations – both of which I have started to reuse again.
LAMH has helped me by having one to one chats with my support worker. Together we have tackled issues together and planned outcomes. I have lost my way more than a few times as my mental health imploded. The listening ears at LAMH are always there to reassure and help me devise ways I can cope. I am not the easiest of people to deal with so please accept my thanks and apologies in equal measure. In these darkest of days, I now see hope.
Ann
What can I say about this long journey; we need to stick to the rules and regulations that have been imposed on us during this difficult time, and face it together?
People with mental health issues find it a little bit harder in normal times trying to function on a daily basis, trying hard to find strength to do the little things others take for granted, like just getting up each day and facing your fears and insecurities. LAHM has been a lifeline for people like me especially when that black cloud consumes me and I feel like giving up, they are there to offer me support, advice and coping strategies.
Lockdown for me without the LAHM team would be daunting. I have received lots of support through daily messages. The have organised challenges so you do not feel alone, the daily walk challenge, the zoom exercise, only naming two. When I was struggling in the beginning to get a food delivery slot my support worker organised a food parcel to be delivered to me and my son, we literally had nothing to eat. That afternoon my food parcel was delivered, and I had my first cup of coffee for over a week. I was overwhelmed with gratitude who would think that a coffee and a biscuit would reduce you to tears, but it did.
DS
As part of my recovery, LAMH supported me to get back into employment.
And after many rejections and setbacks I was finally offered a position. However, two weeks before I was due to start work, the country went into lock-down. I was contacted three days before my start date by my new employer to say that I could not be on the premises due to Covid-19 and that I would have to work from home. Which basically required me completing some online training modules and keeping in regular contact with my line manager.
Over the weeks that have followed, I have been continually supported by LAMH and their World of Work service. My support worker keeps in regular phone contact with me and offers support with any issues I have. In normal times, living on your own with a mental health condition can be challenging enough. But during lock-down, those challenges have at times been heightened. So, as I live alone, this contact has been a much-needed lifeline and source of motivation for me.
There has also been lots of information and activities on the Facebook page that have helped me during the lock-down. Many of the activities and weekly challenges provided have helped to keep me focused and have given me a continued sense of purpose. I have also completed additional online training provided by World of Work which will help me in my new job. All this support has kept my mood positive during these difficult times and has helped reduce the isolation.