NELFT Peer Support Service

NELFT invite local voluntary and community organisations to apply for a contract to recruit and provide culturally-informed and community-connected Peer Support Workers to join our Mental Health and Wellness Teams (MHWT) in Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking & Dagenham and Havering. Our MHWT provide specialist support for adults (18+) with moderate to serious mental health challenges, using multi-disciplinary teams to assess needs and develop plans that promote wellbeing and independence. Peer Support Workers build recovery-focused, therapeutic relationships, using their own lived experience to inspire hope and empower service users. They support care planning, hold caseloads, connect individuals with community resources, promote holistic wellbeing, and help service users navigate practical and social opportunities, while maintaining resilience and safely sharing their own experiences. The programme will run for three years with ongoing evaluation and co-production, aiming to build a leading person-centred mental health service. Targeted Focus and Innovation We have identified gaps through data and lived experiences showing some groups face poorer access and outcomes. The new Peer Support model will focus on these underserved demographics, working alongside local voluntary and community organisations to reduce inequalities and strengthen inclusion. These areas for improvement include, but are not limited to: * Increase awareness of the full range of available mental health services beyond anxiety and depression. * Provide longer-duration support with timely access and structured follow-up. * Deliver culturally competent care with PSWs matched to service users' backgrounds. * Ensure equitable access by addressing structural barriers, promoting clear complaint processes, and improving language diversity and support. * Design culturally relevant sessions incorporating mentorship and faith/community-informed approaches. * Support engagement by addressing isolation and the effects of generational trauma. * Provide culturally appropriate group and 1:1 interventions, connected to wider community resources. Providers are expected to propose innovative approaches and service improvements informed by specialist knowledge, experience working with local communities and feedback from service users, carers, and community partners. Peer Support Delivery Expectations Group Provision * Deliver culturally informed, co-designed sessions * Incorporate cultural elements (music, movement, cooking) * Target groups by demographic for cultural safety (e.g., younger/older Black men, South Asian women) * Facilitate links to wider community resources * Prioritise community-based delivery 1:1 Provision * Offer flexible, trust-building individual sessions * Match PSWs and service users by lived experience or culture * Help navigate services and prepare individuals for group/community participation * Use sharing of lived experience to promote recovery, reduce stigma, and model hope