Compassionate Communities (Online)

There is no charge for the series, but for those who can afford to donate, contributions are welcome and will enable us to maximise the grant, reach more people and run more groups.

Kindly sponsored by The Fore RAFT Fund.

You will need to make a weekly, two hour commitment for the eight weeks, plus some check ins at the start and at the end of the process.

COVID-19 has forced us all to change plans, and the challenges we face are without precedent in living memory. But crises can also be a time for community cohesion. French sociologist Emile Durkeim discovered that rates of mental illness and suicide actually go down rather than up during war times, as a shared sense of belonging fosters solidarity in the face of a common threat. It has been incredible to see how this pandemic has already sparked the emergence of a UK wide network of local mutual aid projects, and people being motivated by kindness and compassion to look after their neighbours and communities.

Shoots of social renewal have grown alongside a sense of anxiety and isolation. Lockdown has especially tough for those of us already living with challenges, including people working on the frontline of healthcare, and those living with isolation and difficult mind states, or supporting someone who experiences emotional distress. Families have been separated from loved ones in psychiatric care, and from older people living in care homes. Some people have told us they have avoided seeking support for fear of contracting the virus. And organisations have suffered too, with many including Compassionate Mental Health, losing income as we are forced to put usual business on hold.

The Fore is part of the Bulldog Trust, and is a fantastic charity that launched its own rapid response to the coronavirus crisis. RAFT (Rapid Action by The Fore and Trusts) has provided a lifeline to hundreds of small charities and social enterprises thrown into crisis by COVID-19. Compassionate Mental Health is one of those organisations, and we have been given a grant by The Fore in order to enable us to move some of our services online.

Thanks to The Fore, we are offering a founding series of online Connection groups. This series is part of our larger work to call for a more integrative approach to mental healthcare – one that relies less on diagnosis and prescription drugs, and more on empowering the person, communities and social networks. At the heart of the project is a belief that it is possible to begin to heal oneself and others through the power of community, connection, self care and solidarity.