Peer Support
What is peer support?
Peer support is when people use their own experiences or specialist training to help each other. Peer support can:
Bring together people with shared experiences to support each other
Provide a space where you feel accepted and understood
Peer support can be helpful on its own, or it can be something you try alongside treatments like counselling or medication. It can also be a helpful way of getting support if you're on a waiting list for one of these treatments.
Uplift Peer Support volunteers
Uplift has 10 peer support volunteers
All Uplift volunteers are DBS checked
All Uplift volunteers have received training from the Samaritans training programme
Some Uplift volunteers hold Mental Health First Aid Training Certificates and also volunteer for Samaritans.
How to access Peer support
Send us a message via the Uplift Facebook Page
Email: Upliftskydiving@yahoo.com
Is the Peer Support Anonymous?
Face to face peer support: No
Phone Peer support: Yes
Where we can, we want to help support our volunteers by making the peer support as anonymous as possible.. Therefore we ask you only supply them with your first name or an alias.
Is the Peer Support service confidential?
Please see our confidentially policy for full details. If our volunteer feels there is a severe risk to yourself or others or they feel they are not the best person to support you they may discuss the case with an uplift director or a peer support volunteer for advice but they will keep your details anonymous.
Is there a volunteer who has been through similar experience to me?
We have volunteers that have experience or external training with
Addiction
Depression/Anxiety/Suicidal thoughts
Returning to skydiving after a injury
Witnessing a traumatic event/ injury/fatality in skydiving
Bereavement (including the loss of a friend in skydiving)
Eating Disorders
Domestic violence
How long is the waiting time for Peer Support?
We aim to respond to your message and try and arrange a call with your peer support volunteer within 1 week
How many sessions can I have with a peer support volunteer?
We are currently going to offer 4-6 sessions with a volunteer. This will be reviewed once the service has been running for 3 months. We will aim to keep you with the same volunteer however this cannot be guaranteed. If your volunteer feels you may benefit from talking with another volunteer that is better suited to help you they will ask your permission to transfer you.
How to apply to use the peer support service
You can contact us via Facebook messenger, email or the contact form below:
Please only supply your first name or an alias
Email: Upliftskydiving@yahoo.com