Moving Forward South Tyneside

Who is the service for?

Moving Forward South Tyneside helps anyone who has experienced mental health issues to get back on their feet. Our main aims are to help people to:

• rediscover their self-confidence
• learn new skills, or rediscover old interests
• build a stronger social network and have more people to spend time with
• get back into education or training
• find paid or voluntary work

We will support anyone for whom their mental health problem is the primary barrier to social, educational or vocational activity.

How we help

Our team helps people to find activities in the community that match their own interests and aspirations. Everyone using the service has a Link Worker, whose job it is to help the person find the right activity at the right time and place, giving just the right amount of support to make this work. Our Link Workers all have a vast amount of knowledge of what’s out there.

We also support people who share the same interest to set up their own interest group, if one does not already exist. The activities can be anything from spending a day walking in the countryside, to sharing a cup of coffee with a new group of friends, or joining a pub quiz team.

We have a variety of courses and support on offer for people who would like to gain new skills, brush up on previous knowledge, or take steps to getting back to work. Our team runs its own courses, as well as provides advice and support to find the right starting point for activities in the community.

We work at the person’s own pace, both one-to-one support to start an activity, if needed.

Moving Forward supports people with everything from learning how to use a computer, improving confidence and assertiveness, to starting a course at college.

How to refer yourself

We try to keep our referral systems as simple and responsive as possible. If you live in South Tyneside, you can refer yourself using the contact details below.

Telephone: 0191 427 0011
Email: mfst@mentalhealthconcern.org
Text: 07594 154 768

I’m a professional and would like to refer someone

The process is the same for people referring themselves. However, we will ask you for some additional information, including risk assessment, to start this process off. Please just contact us either via telephone, or secure email at southtyneside.movingforward@nhs.net.

What happens once you are referred?

You will be allocated a Link Worker who will make contact with you as soon as possible; this will usually be over the phone. Your Link Worker will arrange to meet you either at our office or at a community venue near to where you live. We always meet people face to face and don’t do assessment over the phone.

Your Link Worker will then work with you to develop a plan to help you to achieve your goals and aspirations. This could be one-to-one practical help, accompanying you to the first few sessions of a college course, or telephone advice and ‘signposting’ to things in the community that you might like or find helpful.

Information for health professionals

All of Mental Health Concern’s Moving Forward services are commissioned by CCGs, local authorities, or both. We support people with a wide range of mental health issues and have experience of working with people with very complex issues, such as psychoses and personality disorder, as well as people with more ‘common’ mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

Organisationally, we have considerable experience and expertise in supporting people with complex mental health problems to recover, and we have a reputation for providing high quality and outcomes-focused services.

Moving Forward uses the wide scope of activities and support that is already available in the community, rather than duplicating existing provision. The role of the link worker is to help to identify and successfully link the individual with the most appropriate activity for them. Where there is not an appropriate activity already available, Moving Forward can support people to find others with similar interests and to set up their own interest and activity groups.