You can contact UOK by phone, email or online and our friendly and knowledgeable team can help you find local support available. We are a group of organisations who work together to promote good mental health throughout Brighton and Hove and offer a helping hand to those experiencing distress and mental health difficulties.
Sometimes it’s hard to know where to go when we are experiencing mental health challenges.
We will use our extensive knowledge of what’s going on in Brighton and Hove to help you find free support in the community. We are all individuals and we are committed to understanding your unique situation.
When you contact us, you will be greeted by one of our friendly, experienced team who will ask you about your situation and what preferences you have. We will ask you some questions to understand what type of support you are looking for and talk through what might be the next steps. We can share information of local groups or services or if it would be helpful for you, we can make a referral to one of our partner organisations.
When *Petey phoned us, he was overwhelmed and unsure who could help.
Having recently lost both his parents, he was grieving and scared about what the future would bring. Petey had struggled with severe anxiety for many years but this had increased since the death of his parents and a recent break up with his partner.
Petey struggled to speak on the phone for long so the UOK team spoke to him for short periods over a number of days to build up a picture of what support he needed. We started each conversation by checking in with Petey and tailoring the phone call to suit him depending on how he was feeling.
Petey identified that he wanted to speak to someone about the bereavements and agreed for the team to send his details to Cruse in order to access support from them. Petey also decided that he would like to speak to someone regularly on the telephone who he could get to know and who might understand his feelings. The UOK team shared details of MindOut who offer a telephone befriending service to LGBTQ people experiencing loneliness and isolation. The service offers ongoing reassurance, listening and emotional support which aims to reduce the stress of loneliness and isolation and increase confidence through social contact.
Petey was able to access MindOut’s befriending service and bereavement support from Cruse. If you need some help to find out what support is available, we are here for all adults across Brighton and Hove from Monday to Friday 9-5pm (except bank holidays) – phone us on 0808 196 1768 or find out more at uok.org.uk.
* Name changed
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