FAQs
Welcome to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page! Here, we’ve compiled answers to some of the most common questions we receive about Grow With Hope and our services & resources. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly. We're more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
Are your staff DBS checked?
Yes, all our staff, including facilitators and hope champions, must have an Enhanced DBS with barred list check issued within the past three years or obtain a new one if they do not have an up-to-date certificate. Participation in workshops or training as a facilitator or hope champion is contingent on this requirement.
Facilitators are also required to provide a reference and will be issued an ID lanyard containing DBS details, to be returned upon cessation of their role. Representatives attending sessions in educational settings are expected to bring photo ID and a copy of their DBS certificate. Any information disclosed on a DBS certificate will be managed in accordance with our policy.
Individuals must reside at a UK address to undergo a DBS check. If they have lived abroad in the past five years, an Overseas Police Check is also necessary alongside their DBS check. We re-check DBS status for all staff every three years, with an annual program for those with a portable DBS.
For additional information, you can check out our safeguarding policy on Our Policies page.
Are you covered by insurance?
Yes we are covered by a range of insurance which includes Public liability, Employers liability, Professional Indemnity, Property & Portable damage and Cyber & Data risks.
What qualifications and professional experience does your team have?
Our core staff team have a range of qualifications -
Elisa has over 30 years experience as a registered mental health nurse. She is currently working as the Quality and Practice RMN within a supported living organisation and also in private practice as an advanced psychotherapist. She has also previously worked as a Mental Health Advisor at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). She has the following qualifications:
BSc (Hons) - Nursing RMN (Registered Mental Health Nurse)
BSc (Hons) - Psychological interventions with psychosis
Post Grad - Solution focused brief therapy
Diploma - TA and Integrative Psychotherapy
Roz has previously worked as a special education training assistant, a primary school teacher teaching in both year 5 and 3, an English Second Language Instructor teaching English as a foreign language at public school in Hanoi for grades 1 - 5, a regional head teacher and was the manager of 17 teachers across various primary and secondary schools in Hanoi. Following this she worked as a Project Officer on a DfE funded project for the charity Diversity Role Models, this role included delivering school workshops for both primary and secondary schools. She is now currently studying her MSc. She has the following qualifications:
Bachelors degree - Primary Education with QTS
She is currently studying her MSc - Speech and Language Therapy
Rory has previously worked as an English Teacher and as a Regional Head Teacher in Hanoi. Following this he worked as a project officer for the charity ReachOut UK and was involved in delivering workshops to students. Currently, he is studying his MSc in Data Analytics and Social Statistics with his focus on mental health.
He has the following qualifications:
BA - History and Politics
He is currently studying his MSc - Data Analytics and Social Statistics with his focus on mental health
Riley is trained as a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA England) and is currently studying his BSc (Hons) in Counselling and Psychotherapy. He also has a range of relevant volunteering experience which includes -
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Chairing the under 25s mental health service user group within Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation. This role includes working with young people, their carers and a range of mental health professionals and teams. He is also asked to attend regular meetings around projects and services related to Children and Adolescent Mental Health services, as well as asked to talk at a range of events. This work has allowed him to gain great understanding into young peoples mental health and the current challenges young people and their carers are currently facing when accessing support for their mental health.
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Volunteering as a role model for the charity Diversity Role Models sharing his own personal story and supporting the facilitators in delivering pupil workshops and staff training.
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Co-delivering a CPD accredited course for Mental Health Professionals with the charity Lancashire LGBT on LGBTQ+ Awareness
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He also sits on a range of additional service user and carers groups. This includes The Crewe - a group of service users and carers of young people who have been an inpatient at The Cove which is the CAMHS psychiatric unit in LSCFT. This involves using his personal experience to help improve the current experience of young people accessing The Cove.
In addition to professional experience, All our staff have lived experience with mental health which we feel is just as important as the professional experience.
Do you provide any workshops for primary schools?
Unfortunately we don't currently provide workshops for primary schools however it is something we plan to look at in the near future.
I'm struggling with my mental health, can you help me?
We do not offer specialised support for individuals or crisis support however you can access a wide of free resources through our website under our 'For Young People' section that you may find helpful. You can also find a variety of organisations that may be able to help you on our 'England Mental Health Resource Directory'. If you feel you or a loved one may have reached crisis and are really struggling to cope then please click on the 'Urgent Help' section for organisations and services who may be able to help you.
Do you provide workshops for organisations supporting young people that are not schools?
Absolutely! We are more than happy to tailor our workshops to meet the needs of various organisations. Please contact us here to discuss your requirements, and we'll work together to create a customised plan that suits you perfectly.
You are a community interest company, how is that different to a charity?
A Community Interest Company (CIC) is a not-for-profit organisation similar to a charity but with different legal structures and regulations. CICs are limited companies that trade commercially under the Companies Act 2006 and must be registered at Companies House. They need to pass a 'community interest test' that ensures their activities benefit the community, not just their members. Unlike other companies, at least 65% of profits must be reinvested into the work the CIC does and benefit the community.
You often use the terms mental distress, poor mental health etc. Why do you not use the term mental illness?
At Grow With Hope, we try to stay away from more medicalised and diagnostic language. We believe labelling someone with having a mental illness can have some disadvantages such as someone believing their is something fundamentally wrong with them or the common misconception that poor mental health or distress is caused by a chemical imbalance (this is a theory that has never been proved) which can lead to some people believing there is nothing that can be done to improve their mental health or life and a sense of hopelessness.
Instead, we prefer to take a much more trauma-informed view that often people have poor mental health and mental distress as a 'normal' response or adaptation to an 'abnormal' or unhealthy situation such as trauma, abuse, chronic stress, experiencing prejudice etc. We do not deny that people have distressing experiences with their mental health that are often labelled as specific symptoms or a diagnosis and the huge negative experience these have on someone's life.
We are not against anyone who would like to use this language for themselves. We also do not deny that receiving diagnosis' can have a positive impact for some people. However, we prefer to ask not what is wrong with someone but instead what has happened to them. We prefer to have a person centred understanding of people's experiences - two people with the same diagnosis can have very different experiences and so we try to understand the person for who they are and what their world is like.