Published on: 8 October 2024
As Gail Asher looked over at her son confidently helping out at a World Mental Health Day event, she could hardly believe her eyes.
“If you had told me he would be doing this, even a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you,” she said.
For Gail’s 18-year-old son has struggled with his mental health for years, even going through periods of being violent to his family as he learned to live with the autism diagnosis he was given aged five.
“We had a lot of challenging behaviour with him as he was growing up,” she said. “He was in and out of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for 13 years and we had fantastic support from them. They were understanding and empathetic to the whole family.
“I was so impressed with the support we had that I wanted to give something back, so started volunteering in 2015 with CAMHS.”
Her volunteering as an Expert by Experience soon developed into a paid role as a Parent Peer Support Worker within the Trust’s CAMHS Participation team, which ensures that the voices of young people and their parents /carers are heard throughout CAMHS. One of the Participation Team’s ideas was to open up a phone helpline for families struggling during the pandemic and then to start up groups shortly afterwards.
But as Gail immersed herself in helping others, she had no idea that the worst was yet to come at home.
“Between 2019 and 2021, there was a lot of violence,” she recalled. “We felt stuck as to what to do and where to go; it’s awful waiting for your child to come home from school and knowing there will be an explosion. I was black and blue for a while, and so was my husband.”
The couple both completed a Non-Violent Resistance course, and over time, along with a lot of support from CAMHS, family life has been transformed.
“I cannot thank CAMHS enough for what they have done,” she said. “We have had the right team around us and now he is in a much better place. He is currently volunteering and helping others and is on track to start an apprenticeship.
“When he told me last year he wanted to help out at the World Mental Health Day event that the CAMHS team were organising, I couldn’t believe it, it absolutely floored me,” she said. “He was brilliant, he spent the day working with the area service manager and wants to help again this year!”
Gail’s son will once again be helping out at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s World Mental Health Day event on Thursday, 10 October.
Run by the CAMHS team, the event will be held at Temple House on Mill Lane in Derby between 12.30pm and 5.30pm and will feature stalls and displays from the Trust’s CAMHS service and beyond.
Gail’s colleague, Lead Parent Carer Peer Support Worker Alison Moores, said: “There will be lots of CAMHS teams showcasing their services, including the family therapy team, eating disorders and cognitive behavioural therapy teams, to show people what is available once a young person has been referred.
“Several local schools are visiting, as well as the Royal School for the Deaf, 20 organisations from around the city including Derby African and Caribbean Community Initiative, and there will be craft workshops, cakes and a raffle. We’ve got some great prizes including an iPhone, vouchers, swim passes and meal vouchers.”
The event is free to attend but there is a small charge at some of the stalls, which are cash only.
“In the past, at previous CAMHS events, we have raised money for different charities, and this year it will be going to the CAMHS Participation Fund,” said Alison. “The Participation Fund helps to support young people and families during holiday periods when some services are shut down with activities and fun sessions such as music workshops, cake decorating etc. It’s a lifeline for a lot of people so we want to raise lots of money.”
