Welcome to the The Bridge Collective C I C
Unit 4, King Street Business Centre,
7 - 9 King Street ,
Exeter EX1 1BQ
Tel: (01392) 433358
e-mail: bridgecollective@hotmail.co.uk. Company:
6201528
- We are a new social enterprise set up as a Community Interest Company.
- We are building a democratic community of mutual support run by people who have experiences, beliefs, and feelings that have sometimes been labelled as mental illness.
- We are creating a place where these experiences can be talked about freely, safely, and without judgement.
- Our company has been formed from well established and respected groups such as The Joan of Arc Project, The Greenwood Project, Underground Sound, Experts-by-Experience, The Exeter Hearing-Voices Group, The Exeter Social Anxiety Support Group, The Exeter Bi-Polar Group, and The Better Believe It Group. All present and future work is to be under the democratic control of the people most involved in it.
- We are committed to as open and democratic a process as is possible to create and to an approach based on respect for all members’ views and on working to arrive at consensus where possible. We are also committed to respecting the autonomy of groups and projects within the Collective. We publish a quarterly newsletter containing news, poetry, observations, arguments and articles.
The Bridge Collective offers opportunities for social contact and
mutual support, learning, teaching, discussion, being active and making
a valid
contribution both to the Bridge Collective itself and to the wider world.
Some
examples of our support groups, activities and social opportunities follow:
Self Help Group:
The Bridge Collective
runs a Voices Group on Thursdays. The group offers voice-hearers the
opportunity to share their experiences with others who have had or are
having similar experiences.
A
place where it is safe to talk about any beliefs or experiences without
being judged or being told that you have got it wrong.
This
group aims to help anyone who has been given a diagnosis of manic depression,
uni-polar, bi-polar or rapid cycle illness. The nature of the small group
means that nobody need feel intimidated when confidentially discussing
their experiences and coping strategies. It is much easier to share ideas,
anxieties and aspirations with fellow sufferers.
This
group meets to help people who suffer from anxiety in social or work
situations. If you are feeling depressed or alienated from others, having
trouble meeting people to relate to, struggling to cope with modern stresses,
or feeling the lack of community support, and you are aged over 30, then
this weekly evening group could be helpful to you.
The SA Group meets to discuss social anxiety issues and offer
mutual self-help and support. Sufferers of SA have the opportunity to meet
and socialise without feeling the uncomfortable and upsetting associations
of stress in meeting new people and situations.
Underground Sound:
The project is run as a drop-in centre with an emphasis on
music and other arts. We have a range of musical instruments including
guitars and electric drums as well as decks, amplifiers, and a selection
of CDs and records. There is a large comfortable room (The Crow's Nest)
that is reserved for Underground Sound participants all day on Fridays.
There are coffee making facilities available. The project is for people
who are within the age range 16 - 25 years old who are experiencing or
have experienced mental health difficulties as well as their friends and
other younger people who have an interest in mental health issues. The
project provides opportunities for individuals to benefit from being part
of a group, from learning new skills and from being creative using musical
expression. It also helps to develop and build upon existing talents, learning
from others and forming friendships which extend outside of the project.
The Greenwood Project:
This Project provides access to the physical and mental health
benefits of being in woodland and other outdoor environments. It also provides
a chance to learn about traditional woodland crafts. We find that making
meals and cooking on our own fire in a woodland clearing, telling stories
and making music under the stars and making things by hand from natural
materials we collect ourselves, all allow us to see and experience life
in a new healing way. It helps us to appreciate and fully value the natural
world. We meet in a number of venues around the Devon countryside and at
our own allotment in Exeter.
These art and drama sessions aim to give women some much
needed personal space and an opportunity to explore their own artistic
ideas. The group has a real sense of community and a relaxed creative atmosphere.
DSEN is a group that meets every six to eight weeks in an
outdoor / natural setting. We share food and discuss the spiritual aspects
of the experience of emotional / psychological distress. We aim to provide
a safe, non-judgemental environment for people to explore a spiritual path
to support their recovery.
We are loosely affiliated to the National Spiritual Crisis Network.
We are loosely affiliated to the National Spiritual Crisis Network.
As
participants in the Bridge Collective enterprise, we believe that it
is important
to recognise the important part people who experience
mental health problems have to play in training mental health workers
and related professions. Organis-ations and Groups can book ‘Experts-by-Experience’ to
deliver training on most mental health issues based in personal experience.
Fees are available on request. Opportunities are available for members
of the Bridge Collective to participate in training with ‘Experts-by-Experience‘ and
to receive payment for it.
These individual insights offer an opportunity for mutual learning leading to a greater knowledge and understanding of mental health. Further, along with other groups such as the Exeter Service User Groups, ‘Experts-by-Experience’ have been very influential in changing the power dynamic between service users and professionals such as student social workers, nurses, doctors, police, DPT staff and trainee psychologists.
These individual insights offer an opportunity for mutual learning leading to a greater knowledge and understanding of mental health. Further, along with other groups such as the Exeter Service User Groups, ‘Experts-by-Experience’ have been very influential in changing the power dynamic between service users and professionals such as student social workers, nurses, doctors, police, DPT staff and trainee psychologists.
Under
the title of ‘The Joan of Arc Project' we have
initiated and collaborated with at least a dozen significant research
projects, many with Departments of Clinical Psychology at Plymouth,
Bristol and Exeter
Universities. Graduate and undergraduate students have frequently derived
their dissertation topics and data during placements within our groups
and / or liaison with Experts-by-Experience. If you are looking for an
opportunity to be part of a user-led research project, then please contact
us.
The
Bridge Collective also offers one-day courses which are open to mental
health workers,
service users, survivors, carers and others.
They are delivered by Experts-by-Experience and they are informed by
survivor-led research, and the experience of the survivor movement
including self-help
groups working in the Bridge Collective. They all aim to promote understanding
of subjective experience and look at practical ways to support recovery.
They include: 'Hearing-Voices’ (Voices & Visions), 'Self-Harm',
and 'Beyond Belief'
(details, booking form and fees information available on request).
(details, booking form and fees information available on request).