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TUC North West welcomes the launch of “Let’s keep talking” and is working closely with The Psychological Therapies Unit to promote support available to people during the current crisis.

Following on from their informative session at our Health and Wellbeing event earlier this year, The Psychological Therapies Unit in Liverpool have developed an initiative to help support people during the current Coronavirus crisis. They’ve contacted the TUC in the region to make sure that union members can access the support available, following on from their work with union learning fund projects. 

What’s the offer?

A Working Conversations project for the covid-19/ coronavirus crisis. You can chat in confidence to a trained volunteer to share your problems, have a listening ear & feel less lonely.

Why keep talking?

During these difficult times when our social contact with each other is limited, the Psychological Therapies Unit would like to make a small contribution to helping keep people feeling sane and connected.

They aim to do this through the simple act of talking, perhaps just for 10 or 15 minutes, on a regular basis, over the phone or, to anyone who is feeling isolated, frustrated or scared by their current situation, or who would like a chat about making the best of a difficult time.

What will the calls be about?

The person who will make the calls to you will be from a team of volunteers, who are all trained in “talking therapies”. They will focus on chatting with you about what’s helping you to keep going, anything you’ve managed to do that’s been good for you and how you’d like to see yourself coping in the near future.  Of course, they know that people like to share their problems and that often just having another person to listen and understand, without telling you what to do, can be helpful. Therefore, they are prepared to just listen, maybe ask a few questions and hopefully help you feel less alone with your difficulties.

How do I access the service?

You can arrange to start having calls by phoning, texting or emailing. When you first contact them, they will ask you a few basic questions to find out exactly what your hopes are from the service.  Your number and details will be passed to a volunteer, who will call you at an agreed time for your first conversation.

How long and how often will the calls be?

There will not be a limit on the number of calls you can have, and hopefully they will able to call you as often as is helpful for you, up to a maximum of one call per day. The length of calls will depend upon your needs and preferences, but in general expect the calls to last up to 15 minutes.

Interested? Please call 0800 090 2470 or email suzi@psychological-therapies-unit.co.uk