The Independence Trust – grant recipient - Barnwood Trust

The Independence Trust – grant recipient

Exploring new experiences

The Independence Trust is a charity providing support for people with severe and enduring mental health issues living in Gloucestershire.

For a number of years, Barnwood Trust has provided funding to help the Independence Trust arrange stimulating, holidays for their clients; some of whom have been in the mental health system for as long as 25 years.

Those travelling pay something towards the cost of the holiday; our funding enables The Independence Trust to use a reliable travel company, who provide a good standard of accommodation and catering.

Overcoming barriers

As Team Leader Sue Tomlinson explains, people with mental health issues can find it very difficult to plan and organise holidays.

The pressure of finding dates and making arrangements can seem overwhelming. And going on holiday without support can also be a stressful experience.

‘We’ve got quite a lot of new people who haven’t had a holiday’ says Sue; ‘landing with us and talking with other clients, they have found they can have a holiday and go to the seaside and do stuff that we all do’

Genuine participation

This project enables clients to join in the process of choosing and planning the holiday, secure in the knowledge that they are going to be with friends and carers.

This means they can enjoy the excitement and stimulation of visiting a new place without feeling threatened or disorientated by a strange environment or unfamiliar people.

‘We’re going to Ilfracombe this year’ says Sue: ‘We all sit round the laptop and get the information and make an itinerary. They choose wherever they’d like to go, like boat trips and zoo trips, local history and markets... It’s just allowing people to live a normal life, getting the benefits of what we all have’

Moving past stigma

‘If you have mental health challenges you can come up against an awful lot of prejudice’ says client Richard; ‘and they will stand up for you if that is what is needed. Or give you the confidence to do it’.

Those who’ve benefited from the holiday project are certainly keen advocates:

‘It gets you away from the place, refreshes you’ says Mark: ‘Everyone needs holidays – just cheers them up, makes a change. The staff come with us so it’s secure. It’s nice. You don’t have to worry.’

Terry agrees:

‘When you come here they help you a lot and they organise it for you as well. It takes away all the pressures. Just takes it all away.’

Tellingly, Terry’s poem ‘The World’ includes the following:

Birds sing
Clouds open
The sky brings light
Life goes on.
Sometimes we fly
Knowing our lives will be colourful

For more information about Independence Trust, visit www.independencetrust.co.uk

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