Video Spotlight: Linda, CAPITAL Trustee on How Peers Support Recovery

Peer support transforms mental health care by bringing something that other services, textbooks and training cannot: the power of shared experience.

For Linda Gibbs, a long-standing member and now Trustee at CAPITAL, peer support is a deeply personal and proactive choice.

Her story is a reminder that behind every peer worker is someone who has been through hardship and returned to walk beside others still finding their way.

Finding Hope Through Peer Connection

Linda first came to CAPITAL over 15 years ago. After facing years of mental health challenges and feeling isolated, she discovered something in CAPITAL’s peer community that no service had offered her before: understanding.

“When everybody else pushed me aside, Capital was there. The peer support workers were there to pick me up.”

Those early connections became the foundation of her recovery. Talking to people who had “been there” made all the difference.

“They listen, they let you talk, and they don’t judge or tell you what to do. Doctors talk at you. Peers talk with you.”

That empathy changed everything, so much so that Linda later became a peer support worker herself, determined to give back the same compassion that had helped her heal.

More Than Just Support

Peer work is not simply about listening. It is about shared humanity and being met where you are by someone who truly understands.

Linda explains that peers are often the first to notice what someone really needs, whether it is a conversation, a moment of silence, or just a safe space to cry.

“Sometimes you just need someone there. A hug. A bit of understanding. Peers know that because they’ve been in that place themselves.”

At CAPITAL, this approach is at the heart of everything we do. It bridges the gap between formal services and the real, lived realities of people’s lives.

The Reality: Peer Support Under Pressure

Despite its proven value, peer support faces ongoing challenges. CAPITAL, a charity built entirely on lived experience, has seen drastic cuts to funding and the removal of peer roles across mental health services from December 2025.

For Linda, and everyone at CAPITAL collectively, this feels deeply unfair.

“You can’t tell people they’re doing a brilliant job and then take it away. Peer support keeps people out of hospital. It saves lives. Taking that away doesn’t make sense.”

She highlights something often overlooked, that being a peer worker doesn’t just help others, it helps the workers themselves.

“When I’ve supported someone, I walk away feeling lighter too. It helps both sides.”

Peer support is a mutual healing process, and that is what makes it so powerful.

A Message for Decision Makers

Linda believes that the best way for commissioners and policymakers to understand the importance of peer support is to experience it firsthand.

“Come to a group. Talk to the members. See what happens when someone walks through that door and finds people who truly understand.”

It is a heartfelt plea for empathy, to see people, not numbers, and stories, not statistics.

Why Lived Experience Matters

To Linda, lived experience is what gives peer support its strength.

“Doctors know what’s in the books, but peers know what it feels like. They can tell you the truth, not the theory.”

Every person’s mental health journey is different, and that is why having someone who has walked a similar path can be life changing.

At CAPITAL, we see that truth every day. It is why our work exists and why we continue to fight for the future of peer support.

Keeping the Heart of Care Alive

Linda’s story is one of resilience, compassion, and community. It shows how peer support can turn isolation into connection, and how lived experience can lead the way toward more humane, hopeful mental health care.

To Linda, to Mandy, and to every CAPITAL voice who continues to show up with kindness and honesty, thank you. Your voices matter. Your work continues to change lives.

Peer support is essential.