SMILE Group
Health
We want a contribution towards the cost of our peer support group facilitation and 1-1 Home Visits service within the Sandbach area.
About this cause
SMILE Group was set up in 2011 by two mums in Cheshire East who had personal experience of perinatal mental illness (PMI) and saw a gap in community support. We commission self-employed sessional workers to deliver our services, which includes groups in Sandbach, Macclesfield and Congleton, run by 2 trained facilitators offering support to those with PMI. Two wellbeing practitioners deliver a 1-1 Home Visits Programme, via health visitor referral, to parents that may be struggling to attend a group. We aim to provide consistent peer support for those with PMI; to alleviate isolation; to provide immediate relief & lifelong coping strategies through access to 1-1 counselling sessions & actively encourage the promotion of wellbeing with access to self-help techniques & alternative therapies.
How this cause brings people in the community together
Our services aim to: reduce isolation, loneliness and low self esteem; encourage social engagement; improve mood and diminish anxiety; enhance parent-child bonding;reduce the financial burden of PMI on statutory services & bridge the gap in talk therapy. In the Sandbach area, we aim to reach at least c.20 parents/year at the group and c.10 parents through the 1-1 Program.