The Portal Arts
- Project Status: On-going
The Portal Arts was awarded £87,560 in June 2025 to run their project for 36 months
A 36 month project to codesign and develop a process through which those graduating from existing support for people newly identified as living with a mental health condition are supported to re-engage as peer volunteers co-facilitating and supporting earlier stages for new participants. Through regular engagement the volunteers would take an active role in evaluating the programme and identifying developments, including potentially new activities.
Learning will be gained through understanding how an existing programme needs to adapt to create meaningful space for people with lived experience to lead, and the scaffolding that needs to be placed around individuals to support them to undertake the role. A better understanding of the challenges faced could help identify themes, such as where a person is in their own recovery journey, that means the opportunity is more impactful. Whether the presence of lived-experience leaders has an impact on new participant’s progression and/or engagement and how that could be evidenced as well as the impact on volunteer’s self management and specifically how this is supporting them to stay well.