Who are we?

Stockport User Friendly Fellowship ( STUFF ) was established in 1999 by a group of service users with many years of lived experience of mental ill health and have a proven track record of commitment to service users within the Mental Health community locally. We are a service user led voluntary organization with no paid workers providing support to adults aged 21 and over within the Stockport area who are experiencing SMI serious mental illness, social isolation. We also support carers. We believe that service users who have lived experience of SMI serious mental illness are experts by experience and therefore best placed to support others on their journey to discover their own wellbeing and what it means to them. The organization is a pooling of skills and enthusiasm of a collection of very different individuals, therefore we believe we are able to identify appropriate packages of care by taking the person centred approach to wellbeing with the emphasis being on supporting each other through shared experiences within our own communities.

How do we do this?

We offer a range of leisure therapeutic and social activities in order to promote integration and mental and social well being. 

The charity aims to:

- Challenge institutionalised discrimination and put equality back on the agenda for mainstream mental health

- Make the policy of getting the right support, at the right time, in the right place a reality

- We called for a Safe Space in Stockport, non-clinical environment people can access in times of crisis.

- Reflect the social model of disability and promote informed choice and alternatives to medication where appropriate

- Challenge stereotypical images of people with mental health

- Give service users choices

- Recognize individuality and support people on their recovery journey

- Enable service users taking the person centred approach to support them into reaching outcomes that are specific to their individual need

STUFF offers recovery focused support including mental health/alcohol awareness promoting positive mental health and wellbeing

What we offer?

Our person centred approach is non-directive, we do not try to ‘fix’ or advise. We work with people to identify their own person centred solutions to difficulties they may be encountering, doing things with people not to people.

As a service user led charity we have been evaluating and monitoring the impact of the transformation within Greater Manchester and its implications/effect on mental health service provision within Stockport, we sit on the Greater Manchester Adult Mental Health Service User Network Steering Group seeking to enhance our positive engagement with our local council and statutory services whom we worked in partnership with over 20 years.

Practicality

As a result of the damage done by cuts to mental health funding alongside changes to the benefit system we are seeing an increasing demand for food bank vouchers, increasing support required in assistance with ESA/PIP forms and benefit sanctions, support to GPs, hospital appointments, including offering a translation service in Polish, advocacy service supporting people to stay in their own homes. We are here as an active listening post taking the person centred approach and our aim is not to signpost. We offer support in a safe environment where you will be heard non-judgmentally by people who have been in similar situations.                                                                                                    

STUFF ( Stockport User Friendly Fellowship ) would like to thank for their support over the past 22 years the service users, the family members, Stockport Council, Pennine Care, grassroots organizations and friends who continue to work co-productively for the wellbeing of the people of Stockport.

Team members:

Dianne, Naomi, Patricia, Janina, Bart, Marek, Miroslawa

STUFF

c/o Medical Records, Mental Health Unit, Oasis Building

Stepping Hill Hospital, SK2 7JE

email: info@stuffstockport.com website: www.stuffstockport.com