The Recovery College advisory group provides counsel, guidance and oversight to the College with regard to the quality of programme content.

It ensures that  adult education principles are  adhered to in  the design and delivery of  co-produced modular course content.

It also ensures that mental health recovery principles and recovery fidelity are evident and consistent throughout the  curriculum.

The MRC operational group provides management input and guidance to the college with regard to its daily and semester activities.

The group has a diverse membership and includes lived experience  The group offers multiple perspectives and deliberates the actions and activities of the College  in a consensual  and rigorous manner. The overarching aim of the group is to facilitate the smooth and effective running of the college,  the incorporated delivery of quality recovery education and the role of the peer educator.

Relative Peer Support offers families/friends of those with mental health challenges an opportunity to meet with a Relative Support Worker who has lived experience of supporting a loved one with mental health difficulties. Relative peer support is recovery orientated with the focus on inspiring hope for the future and supporting family members on the recovery journey.

Relatives are offered on-going emotional support, collaborative life skills work, links to community services in order to build resilience and assist the family to cope more positively with the challenges they are facing.

Bealach Nua offers this service to relatives who have a loved one linked to Mayo Mental Health Services. This service is jointly managed by Shine in partnership with Mayo Mental health Services.

Contact details for this service are as follows:

Maria Mcgoldrick, Relative Peer Support Worker, 086 0450835

Peer support may be defined simply as “offering and receiving help, based on shared understanding, respect and mutual empowerment between people in similar situations”.

Peer Support is about mutual support including the sharing of experiential knowledge and skills and social learning and plays an invaluable role in recovery. Consumers encourage and engage other consumers in recovery and provide each other with a sense of belonging, supportive relation-ships, valued roles, and community. Peer workers will work with and in community mental health teams to advance personal recovery.