[Sarah, Citizens Advice volunteer]
Sarah: My name is Sarah I’m 23 and I'll tell you about how Healthy Hyde helped me get my confidence back in myself and take a step forward.
I’ve been under a zero-hour contract for 7 years and I really had no clear idea of where I was going to go what I wanted.
I was struggling a bit of problem with my back, and I couldn't see myself in 30 years still doing this with my uneven spine.
I really have a bit of problem with how to write a CV and even how to sell myself very much like you're stuck.
And that’s when I got an invitation, it came from the doctors it was asking all sorts of questions you know how you feeling about yourself, about mental health, physical health, are you socialising enough, how you doing with your work and do you need a little bit of help with that.
It was a very holistic approach, asking about all parts of your life where they could help you out. So, I filled it out and sent it over and I got a phone call from the doctor.
He said that he saw the answers "We've got a thing going on in Hyde there they can help you out."
[Ali, Social Prescribing Link Worker, Healthy Hyde]
Ali: The healthy Hyde is a one-stop shop and we help people to navigate services and point them in the right direction. I call it a super centre, it's somewhere that people know that they can get assistance either medically or socially.
In this centre we have the social prescribers and the well-being workers that actually run some groups for the community. We have a chitchat group here, we have a relaxation and meditation group.
We're in touch with walking groups we're getting involved with gardening groups we have craft clubs, bowling clubs, we have low-level mental health clubs and groups that people can go to and access fairly instantly rather than waiting 6 months.
So, it helps people to get them out and about it helps people to connect with other people and generally increasing their health and wellbeing.
Sarah: I absolutely didn't expect that so many benefits would come out of that, I've learned a lot
about myself, I've learned how to write, I've learned how to apply and I've learned a lot about my skills. I got a really nice set of exercises I need to get my back sorted out, so yeah it was really really good.
I've started volunteering with the Citizen Advice, for me the best bit is learning about the community where the people are struggling and being able to help them with the areas they're struggling with.
The best thing about Healthy Hyde is I felt like it provided a quality of care very quickly because I could speak to one person who was able to direct me to all the services I needed.
Don't be shy come and ask for help there's no shame in asking it and you never know how much good you can get out of this situation.
