Simon* first used our Harrow Cove in 2022 and has found that participating in the groups, meeting new people, and the support on offer has made a huge difference to his life.

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I first came to the service a year ago, but beforehand I had been dealing with depression for a few years and had also been self-harming on and off. During this period, I was doing agency work at a warehouse but my mental health got so bad that it caused me time off work for a little while. I went back to my GP last year when I started self-harming again, I knew I needed support, and that’s how I came across Hestia and the Harrow Cove.

“Before I was just completely on my own, I think that’s where this place has really helped me.”

I had one-to-one sessions at the start, where we did things like safety planning but a lot of the sessions focused on trying to live in the present and to stop worrying about the future, so I guess mindfulness practices. We deliberately focused on this because worrying about what could happen down the line was basically what had been making my mental health get worse. We practised the idea that if things are good now, then you have to focus on that, but if things are bad then you deal with it in the present rather than worrying about the possibility of it happening in the future. The team really have been great, it’s good help here.

Another thing I found helpful about the Cove is that you have different classes here and I find they have helped me a lot, I still come to a few now. I attend Arts and Crafts, Tea and Chat and there used to be a mindfulness group but now it’s a support group. I find that they’re a great way to meet other people, you can talk with different people that you might not have met otherwise. My favourite group is Arts and Crafts, you can do drawing and colouring in and those sorts of things - I find it relaxing. I think that’s where this place has really helped me, just meeting other people and getting support, because before I was just completely on my own. I would definitely recommend the Harrow Cove to a friend if they were going through something. I definitely want to keep using the Harrow Cove, even though I’m doing well at the moment, I know it’s there if I hit a bad patch again.

*Names have been changed to protect anonymity

 

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This case study is based off of research conducted for our London Mental Health Index. You can read our report below:

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