Keeping People Connected
The service offers free, regular, ongoing support for adults with learning disabilities and/or autism across County Durham. If you, or someone you know would like support, please get in touch using our Contact Us page.
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 2021
October 10th - World Mental Health Day 2021
October 10th, 2021 is World Mental Health Day! 1 in 4 people will experience poor mental health during their lifetime. Some people deal with mental health problems throughout their lives. We want to raise awareness and support people to access help and support when they need it.
Below you can find some useful downloads and website links to help you manage your own mental health and wellbeing.
Feeling Down: Looking After my Mental Health
An easy-read guide to looking after your mental health. Click this link, then in the right hand column on their website, you can download the guide under 'Publication File'.
Managing Your Anxiety
An easy-read guide to help you manage your anxiety. This link takes you straight to the guide. https://ca1-ecl.edcdn.com/Managing-your-Anxiety-FINAL.pdf
Guide to Mental Health
Learning Disability Wales have created this easy-read guide to help you understand mental health and how to look after your own mental health. Click the link to view the guide.
Family Carers Guide to Mental Health
Inclusion North have created an easy-read guide to support family carers of people with a learning disability and autistic people, with their mental health. Click this link to view the guide. https://inclusionnorth.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Family-Carers-Guide-Mental-Health-Easy-Read-final-May.pdf
Support Services
There are lots of support services available if you need to talk to someone about your mental health.
If you are an adult with a learning disability and/or an autistic adult and live in County Durham, you can contact our Keeping People Connected service on 01388 449410, Monday - Saturday, 10am-4pm. You can also email us at hello@bridgecreative.org or message us on Facebook.
Other support services
Samaritans - you can call Samaritans 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and speak to a trained volunteer call handler if you are ever feeling down. There phone number is 116 123.
SHOUT - SHOUT is a text service which you can use if you are unable to speak on the phone or don't feel comfortable speaking on the phone. Just send a text the word 'SHOUT' to 85258. This service is also available 24/7.
Remember, it's always best to talk to someone if you are feeling down or upset. Please speak to someone if you are worried about your mental health.
About Keeping People Connected
Our Keeping People Connected service was set up in response to the evidence suggesting that people with learning disabilities would be significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The project launched in April as part of a regional response coordinated by The North East Learning Disability Network and Inclusion North. 14 organisations from across the North East and Cumbria were involved in the delivery of the project, supporting over 1,100 people in the first 3 months.
The project supports people by phone, email, text and social media including daily group video calls allowing people to connect with friends safely from home. There is a closed Keeping Connected Facebook group people can join too. We have been sending activity packs out to people during lockdown and even provided people with a smart phone loan to get them online.
In County Durham, we have supported over 170 clients, working in partnership with Darlington Association on Disability and Include In Autism. The project has been life-saving for many of the people we have supported, highlighting issues that were already being experienced before the Covid-19 crisis including severe mental health issues, loneliness, isolation and social exclusion.
Initially, the project was funded by the Integrated Care System, and then through the Durham Clinical Commissioning Group. As we move forward with the project, funding has been sought by the Durham Area Action Partnership to continue until November.
If you or anyone you know would benefit from Keeping People Connected, please get in touch by calling us on 01388 449 410 or emailing connect@bridgecreative.org.
