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Big Lottery Fund has awarded over £3.2 million to the mental health charity Mind to pilot a new approach to delivering high quality peer support within the mental health sector in England.

The two-year Peer Support for All programme will begin to build an evidence base for mental health peer support in England. The programme is a response to calls from people with experience of mental health problems to ensure that they have access to peer support across England, to evidence its effectiveness and to support its future sustainability.

Peer support means people supporting each other on an equal basis, offering something based on shared experiences. It occurs when people provide knowledge, experience and emotional, social or practical help to each other. It can take a number of forms and is distinct from other forms of social support. It focuses on an individual’s strengths, not weaknesses, and works towards the individual’s wellbeing and recovery.

Mind will deliver the programme alongside a number of partners including Depression Alliance and Bipolar UK. It will focus on building an evidence base for the effectiveness of one to one, group and online peer support, as well as promoting the value of peer support to those with experience of mental health problems and mental health service providers, including commissioners.

The programme will commence in early 2015 and includes the opportunity for 45 groups and organisations to apply to run a peer support project in one of nine areas in England, which are yet to be specified. 8,400 people with mental health problems are expected to volunteer to give and receive peer support during this project. Over the next few months Mind will begin the process of recruiting six people with experience of giving and/or receiving peer support to join the programme advisory panel. More information about the programme and how to get involved can be found on the peer support pages of the Mind website here:http://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/peer-support/.

Lottery £3.2 million to improve mental health

Paul Farmer, Mind's Chief Executive, said: "We’re grateful to the Big Lottery Fund for its backing of the Peer Support Programme. It presents us with an outstanding opportunity to build on our understanding of how to deliver effective peer support, so that thousands more people can benefit from interacting and supporting others who have been through similar things.

 “This is a programme we’re doing in partnership and we look forward to working with Depression Alliance and Bipolar UK, alongside a number of other partners, to deliver the programme and further our collective understanding of what peer support can do. We already know from the 16,000 people on Mind’s own online peer support community, Elefriends, the huge benefits of people with mental health problems supporting each other. Peer support can help people realise for the first time that they are not alone and it can also bring confidence to those who share their lived experiences and help others.”

Nat Sloane, Big Lottery Fund England Chair added: “The Big Lottery Fund has a long history of supporting mental health charities. The project which received funding yesterday fills a gap in what is already being done by piloting a new, coordinated approach to mental health peer support work within England. It focuses on voluntary sector provision of peer support services and has a great potential to influence long-lasting change on a national level of how mental health support is delivered to those who need it the most. “

Mind is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales. They provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.

Big Lottery Fund Press Office:       020 7211 1888

Out of hours media contact:           07867 500572

Website:                                             www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Twitter:                                              @biglotteryfund#BigLottery

Facebook:                                          www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

Notes to editors

• The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery.
• The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.