Members of the community, local partners, service users and staff gathered at the Recovery College today (Thursday 6 April) to mark one year since it first opened its doors.
The Recovery College, based next to the Minerva Centre at Deepdale, is a community-developed space that promotes health and wellbeing through free courses, workshops and community opportunities. It’s run by our Trust, with the support of partner organisations.
Opening last April, the centre has welcomed hundreds of people and grown to the point where it now offers over 50 different courses in everything from recruitment and selection training to mental health awareness, walk and talk, understanding anxiety and digital skills.
There was plenty of coffee and cake to mark the occasion, and visitors also got the chance to plant their own seeds to take home with them.
Suzie Smith, Service Development Manager, said:
“It’s great to be here today and to be able to celebrate with all the people who have made the Recovery College a success. Co-production is at the centre of what we do, and we’re really proud that our curriculum has been developed by and continues to be improved by the people who use and need it.
Feedback is so important and we have to know where we have gaps so that we can fill them, to make sure we’re always providing the best, most effective support.”
As a result of feedback, the Recovery College will shortly be launching courses in Urdu for people from South Asian communities where English may not be their first language. A walk and talk group, making use of nearby Moor Park, has also been established due to a desire from the community to look at mental health in a more positive and preventative way. The team is also keen to introduce wellbeing sessions with animals.
One of the most popular courses is a session on ADHD which is run by a volunteer who shares her lived experience of getting a diagnosis in adulthood and breaking the taboo to encourage others who feel they might have ADHD, to seek support.
Suzie added:
“We have a real mix of people who come and visit, and it’s especially pleasing when we get generations of families coming together. We think our courses are great and we’d encourage everyone to try them, but even just coming down to have a coffee and a catch up is so important for wellbeing and the prevention of poor mental health, given the isolated lives we can often lead.”
The team have invested a lot of time into talking to local residents and spreading the word which has meant the number of visitors coming to the Recovery College has increased in the last six months, and it’s hoped that it continues to grow.
Courses run daily, and are also available at the Burnley site, the Chai Centre. Online courses can also be booked for those who don’t live in the local area.
