Video Spotlight: Helen, CAPITAL Volunteer, on finding safety and support at CAPITAL
Helen says: “I didn’t even want to start volunteering, I was depressed, and the only reason I applied was because it was an online form so I didn’t have to talk to anyone. But it’s completely changed my life for the better.”
Fast forward a year, Helen now helps with lots of aspects of CAPITAL like calling members who are more digitally/socially isolated and supporting our CAPITAL community groups in Bognor twice a week with a solid group of volunteers. This is where people come together to connect, create and recover through peer support.
“When I walked through the doors for the first meeting at CAPITAL, I felt relaxed and safe, and that’s not something I’d felt for many years.”
That sense of safety and belonging is at the heart of what makes CAPITAL unique. It is a community led by people with lived experience of mental health challenges, built on understanding and genuine kindness. “At CAPITAL, if you say you’re having a wobble, no one makes a big deal of it. People just understand.”
CAPITAL’s community hubs and creative groups are vital. They are places where people rediscover confidence, make friends and feel heard. Many of our volunteers began as members themselves, showing how peer-led recovery empowers people to grow at their own pace.
Now, these vital groups are at risk due to the massive 80% funding cuts. “If we lose CAPITAL, people will end up back in hospital because they won’t have the support we offer anymore.”
CAPITAL fills a gap that traditional services cannot. It offers long-term, community-based support rooted in empathy and trust. Losing it would mean losing a lifeline for many who have nowhere else.
We need your help to keep these spaces open.
Donations, partnerships and local support make it possible for people like Helen to continue giving back and feel properly supported, and for members to keep finding hope through connection.
CAPITAL is more than a service. It is a community where people genuinely care, and where recovery begins with understanding.
Thank you to Helen and all of our dedicated volunteers who make CAPITAL possible, and for always keeping members and the people we support at the heart of everything we do.
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