The Crisis Café in Sefton was set up to offer out of hours support to anyone experiencing a mental health crisis. With locations in Crosby and Southport, staff and volunteers at the Crisis Café offer a listening ear, signposting support and a warm brew for those suffering with their mental health.

We speak to Crisis Café Manager, Sherran Robb and volunteer (now staff member) Helen about how volunteering has helped Helen with her mental health recovery and giving her a new career.

Sherran

When we opened our Crosby site an employment vacancy also became available in Southport, as one of our Support Workers got promoted to Senior Support Worker at Crosby. Helen had been volunteering with us at Southport since the very first day we opened. She chose to volunteer most days and was happy to help out. She was a very reliable volunteer. When the staff position became available I did wonder if Helen would apply, she was still lacking a bit in confidence but we all thought she would be brilliant in the role.

Helen was successful and she got the job. We asked Helen about how volunteering helped her:

When did you first start volunteering and what were you doing?

I think I started Volunteering at The Life Rooms around 2016, I was attending courses there to help my mental health recovery, and one of the facilitators said have you thought about volunteering so I thought I’d give it a try.

How did volunteering help you with your mental health recovery?

It massively helped, it increased my confidence to the point where me and another volunteer were running our own board games sessions, plus helping out at big events such as the AGM at Aintree racecourse. It allowed me to have social interactions, it gave me structure to my day, something to do, to get up for.

What made you want to volunteer with the Crisis Cafe?

Mainly just to have a new challenge. I’d been at the Life Rooms a few years and I was ready for a change. I knew the Manager of the Crisis Cafe as she used to work at the Life Rooms and she asked if I was interested in volunteering at the new Crisis Café, and I thought yes I would be.

How did you feel when you discovered that a staff position was available at the same site that you were volunteering at?

I wasn’t sure if I’d get it after 13 years of unemployment, after recovering from my own mental health breakdown. But I volunteered most hours in the Crisis Cafe  so I wanted to at least try and apply, but I didn’t think I’d get it.

How does it feel now that are you staff? Are you proud of your achievements?

It’s great I love working there, each night there are different people and scenarios to deal with. I am training to be a Counsellor, so the work we do at the Crisis Cafe involves similar skills; we’re mostly just there to listen to people and offer them a safe space to share their thoughts. I struggled a lot with my mental health (and I still struggle on occasions, but over the years I have worked hard on myself to manage my condition). It just means I can relate to people who are struggling with their own mental health. I think that lived experience can be really helpful to people who attend the Crisis Café, as I have also been through similar dark times.

Yes, I am proud of my achievements, from how I was years ago to how I am now, I think I’ve done well.

Do you think your recovery story will inspire others?

I hope so. It feels good to be working again. No matter how hard things seem in a bad moment, just remember that those feelings are only temporary. At any point we can change our thoughts and our circumstances can change too. They did for me.

If you would like to volunteer at the Crisis Café, click here.