People with mental health issues have taken part in a poetry competition run by a Swadlincote charity to raise awareness.
Social inclusion charity P3 recently held the poetry competition in Swadlincote to raise awareness about mental health issues among people in Derbyshire.
The competition, entitled 'Where's your head at?', aimed to encourage people with experiences of mental illness to express how they feel.
It was organised jointly by P3's I-Decide Derbyshire mental health and accommodation service and Recovery and Peer Support, a new P3 service in partnership with Rethink Mental Illness.
Lucy Mole, a support worker at the P3 Swadlincote hub, in Hill Street, said: "The idea for the competition was put forward by one of our clients but when we shared it within our other P3 services across the UK, we received 35 entries!
"We've also had people asking about P3 since seeing the poster, so it’s been a really good way of making people aware we’re here for them."
The prize-giving event took place at the Swadlincote hub, with first prize going to a client from Swadlincote, and other prizes going to people of all ages including an entry from a nine-year-old girl.
Winner Karen said: "I am thrilled that my poem won because one of my missions in life is to increase knowledge about mental health and to decrease the suffering and stigma attached.
"P3 is like a port in a storm, where you will be accepted and respected, supported and empowered by the wonderful staff and volunteers who work there."
P3's I-Decide service offers accommodation and tenancy-based support for people with mental health issues, both through supported accommodation and via five drop-in hubs across Derbyshire, in Swadlincote, Ripley, Buxton, Matlock and Ilkeston.
The recovery and peer support service helps people across Derbyshire improve and maintain their mental health and reconnect with their local community by offering targeted one-to-one staff support, phone support and community groups.
It is not the first time P3 has been in the news in Swadlincote. In November, last year, the charity welcomed This is England star Stephen Graham to its Swadlincote hub as he congratulated a group of starstruck young people for completing their further education.
Ambition, part of the P3 charity, invited the This is England and Snatch star to present its young people with their certificates.
The actor, who also appeared as Scrum in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, visited the charity P3 to learn more about its Ambition East Midlands charity - a partnership between P3 Charity, YMCA Derbyshire and The Y in Leicestershire.
Ambition East Midlands began in 2015 by improving accommodation options and positive work outcomes for young, homeless people whose support needs are poorly met by existing services or where there is a lack of specialist services available to them.
This group of people sometimes fall through the net and receive little support because of the complex and interlinking problems they are experiencing. They are sometimes too hard to help and many go on to an increased involvement in crime, rough sleeping, substance misuse and long-term benefit dependency.
One of those people, Natalie Pantall, spoke to the Burton Mail as she collected her certificate, saying P3 helped save her life by bringing her confidence, friends for life and the option to further her education.
Further details are available by visiting www.p3charity.org/services/i-decide-derbyshire and
www.p3charity.org/services/recovery-and-peer-support-service
About P3
It is a charity and social enterprise made up of passionate people who care about people. It runs a variety of services all over the UK that aim to give everyone the chance to be part of the community they live in and feel connected to society.
P3 says that everyone is unique and with support and confidence, can unlock their potential within, opening up a world of possibilities.
Its mission
To improve lives and communities, by delivering services for socially excluded and vulnerable people to unlock their potential and open up new possibilities.
Its vision
Its vision is that every person has the opportunity to be a full and valued member of
a society where social exclusion and isolation no longer exists.
Until that day comes, P3 says it will be here for the people who need them and is working to make that vision a reality.
