LEAPS DOES EDINBURGH | THERAPUTIC TRIP | FUNDED BY THE BIG LOTTERY FUND

As you may have seen in our previous post; LEAPS received funding from the BigLottery Fund for our project: ‘LEAPS Wellness Weeks.’

 

“It was a beautiful day and very exciting because it’s the first time in a long time that I’ve been away”

-       Group Member

One of our plans in using this money was to take our members on a Therapeutic Trip to Edinburgh for the day. We’ve found that on previous trips (Carlisle and Berwick), members have thoroughly enjoyed themselves with being away from the usual stresses they face from the stigma of being unemployed. A lot of our members are unemployed due to mental health difficulties and so they’re often also battling the stigma of mental health that’s so ripe and debilitating these days.

“It was a lovely, enjoyable day. A good chance to be sociable”

-       Committee Member

“I found the day fun and enlightening – especially the Art Gallery. And Edinburgh has such amazing scenery!”

-       Group Member

Another thing that some of our members struggle with, is anxiety. A lot of this stems from housing issues, applications for state benefits, and general mental health difficulties. This means that physically being somewhere else is a bit of a (in my opinion) well-deserved break from the reality that is being unwaged.

“I enjoyed two shows at the Fringe”

-       Group Member

The hour-and-a-bit-long journey on the train was a great opportunity to have some nice, informal chats; something we often don’t get the chance to do at weekly meetings.

When we arrived in Edinburgh a few of us had something different that we wanted to see/do and luckily the Fringe shows were still on so a lot of us had a little mosey around there. I also met the Edinburgh City Center Police (and talked about the RESPOND training with Claire Andre and Inspector Steve Baker), explored Edinburgh Castle, briefly visited the Art Gallery, had food at a lovely Italian restaurant (where I had the most delicious seafood Pizza!) and even found the time to pay a visit to a couple of the shops (namely T K Maxx and Oliver Bonas)!

“It was a great chance to spend time with the group members”

-       Committee Member

And of course we'd like to say a huge thank you to the Big Lottery Fund for their generous funding that has afforded us the opportunity to have this therapeutic trip!