Organisation Background
Waddington Street Centre (WSC) is a well respected and long established charity based in Durham City. We specialise in the provision of a wide range of learning and support opportunities for people experiencing severe and enduring mental health difficulties. We aim to help people live fulfilling lives in the community by offering opportunities for personal development, social interaction, and by supporting person centred recovery. We were started in 1981 on a small scale by volunteers and have grown steadily and organically since then. We have a team of 13 paid staff covering; management, administration, finance and support. 7 members of New College Durham teaching staff are seconded to us to provide outreach courses which form the core of our education provision. We also deliver learning based activities with volunteers and sessional tutors funded by grants. The subjects we cover fall into 4 key subject areas; visual and performing arts, personal development, skills for life and humanties. Since 2011 we have also had a health trainer service which has enabled us to offer greater support around physical health. We believe physical and mental health act in tandem and wellbeing comes from having a balance of both. Our current board is made up of 10 directors, 2 of which are our service users. Others include; a proffessor of social policy at Durham University, a retired Minister, an assistant psychologist, a retired mental health social worker, a teacher and a retired consultant psychiatrist. WSC seeks to have a Board which combines complementary skills, recognises and includes the Centre’s key partners, and which has strong service user representation. We currently have 32 volunteers who support the centre in a variety of ways including; administration, support work, teaching, classroom support and governance. We are here because of volunteers and we are able to continue because of the time and efforts of volunteers. The 120 adult service users that we currently support are some of the most vulnerable in the county with most having multiple physical health problems too. One of the biggest issues for most people is social isolation, we know that this only exaserbates any existing problems and leads to people becoming more severely unwell. Our aim is to bring people together. Knowing you are not alone and that others are or have been where you are is important for many. Learning based activity is also an essential componant of recovery and personal development. It helps to raise aspirations, increases cognitive function and gives service users new, more positive identities as learners, artists, writers, footballers etc. Referrals are predominantly made to us via Community mental health teams. In the last two years we have develped referral routes through primary care and we also work in partnership with county Durham partners who support adults with some form of mental health difficulty. For the last 5 years we have developed an informal referral system whereby partners can send service users to us for activities. In short we want to help people, we want to break down barriers and provide a range of services to promote all levels of mental wellbeing. As a charity we choose not to turn people away who need our specific area of support.
