Julie Dunkley at the Recovery and Peer Support service told us about a client she supported to regain her confidence and creative passion…

“Catherine* is the type of person that, when you meet her, she just lights up a room. She used to be a successful ceramic artist, run her own business and travelled the world. But there’s also a lot of sorrow there too – she had an abusive family life, some of which is only just coming to light now.

“She first came into P3’s services when she came to live at the hostel in Swadlincote; her husband had been abusive and their marriage had broken down, she had lost her business and her son had gone to live with his dad. She had started drinking heavily and needed support.”

“I met Catherine at the beginning of this year, when she was referred to Recovery and Peer Support. We sorted out things like her ESA, which had been stopped even though she has bipolar – the DWP had said she hadn’t attended appointments and wasn’t eligible for it.

“When she finally won her appeal, she got a £9,000 back payment, which can go either way! But she took responsibility for it and paid off her debts.

“I said to Catherine, now we need a goal and she identified she wanted to start up a small business again, but for that she needed to pass her Maths GCSE. So, we went to the adult learning centre in Swadlincote.

“Unfortunately, shortly after this, there was an incident with her mother, which sent her in a downward spiral. I could tell from her texts that something wasn’t right. She also had an episode in London with her boyfriend at the time and when she came back up, I went with her to the GPs to get social care and an alcohol support agency involved – she couldn’t remember these appointments later, as she was drinking so heavily.

"A month on, and Catherine had bounced back. She identified that her relationship was damaging to her and she cut all ties. We were in the car at the end of one appointment and she just casually mentioned that she’d passed her assessment for her Maths GCSE and signed up for a floristry course at Derby College!

“Catherine’s the oldest on her course, but as you can see from her displays (pictured) she’s loving it! We’ve had a lot of tears, a lot of hugs. She just needed a bit of motivation – that ‘yes you can’. She says the course is giving her a goal, some hope and I know she will do it.”

"I value the support I get from the Recovery service, and think very highly of P3"

Catherine