Brighton & Hove Recovery College

About the College

Welcome to the Brighton and Hove Recovery College, offering educational courses as a route to recovery from mental health challenges.

The College is provided in partnership with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and as part of the UOK Brighton & Hove network of mental health support.

All courses are free, and are designed and delivered by people with lived experience of mental health challenges (Peer Trainers), together with clinical staff and other professionals. Whether you are hoping to gain a better understanding of mental health challenges or are looking to develop new skills and abilities, the Recovery College provides a range of workshops and courses that may be of interest to you.

We offer courses focusing on recovery and self-management skills in a range in length from one-day workshops to longer courses running over several weeks, on subjects such as ‘Exploring Relaxation’ and ‘Managing Anxiety’.

Courses and workshops are predominantly held face-to-face, with some delivered online using Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Working in partnership

Following a tender by the Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group, Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service launched on September 1st 2020. The service brings together a new partnership of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT), Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, YMCA DownsLink Group and Southdown.

Southdown is working with the Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner Team (PCMHPT) at SPFT, who assess adults with mild to moderate mental health support needs and agree a treatment/support plan. Part of this plan offers access to Adult Wellbeing Courses which are co-produced and co-delivered by one of Southdown’s existing Brighton and Hove Recovery College Peer Trainers, alongside a Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner.

Upcoming Open Days in 2024

We are pleased to announce two Open Day events for 2024 which will be held at The Brighthelm Centre in Brighton between 11am – 3pm on:

• Wednesday 1st May
• Wednesday 4th September

If you are new to the College, please do come along to an Open Day. They offer a great opportunity for you to talk to our trainers and students about the College, find out more and register your interest for the upcoming term.

“I am so pleased I attended the Open Day, everyone was so friendly and it gave me an opportunity to talk to the trainers about the courses I wanted to do. I was also able to arrange support from a buddy. Going along felt like the first step in my recovery journey” – Student

2024 Prospectus and Summer Term

Our Summer Term will run from Monday 20^th May to Friday 26^th July.

We are delighted to be introducing several new courses and workshops this year, with further topics in development with a view to these being delivered during the Autumn Term.

The timetable for Summer Term will be published here when enrolment opens on Wednesday 1st May. The deadline for applications will be end of day on Monday 13th May.

In the meantime, if you would like to get a feel for the types of courses and workshops we offer, please see our interactive 2024 prospectus – click on the cover image below to view. You can also download the prospectus once in view mode by clicking on the cloud icon on the right-hand side of the prospectus viewing window:

Multiple Welcome Sessions will be available at the start of term. These sessions are a great opportunity to visit the College prior to starting a course or attending a workshop with us.

Enrolment Coming Soon

Enrolment will be open from Wednesday 1^st May to Monday 13^th May. The timetable and enrolment form will be available on this page for you to apply during this time period.

IMPORTANT: Please do not contact the College to try and enrol any earlier than Wednesday 1^st May. However, feel free to get in contact with us regarding any other questions you may have about the College or Summer Term using the contact details at the top of this page.

Am I eligible?

The College is available for people aged 18+ living in Brighton and Hove with mental health support needs. Carers and people working within the mental health sector are also welcome.

The Buddy Service

We offer a Buddy Service for students who require extra support. Our trained Buddies support can support students outside of the Zoom sessions, enabling them to overcome barriers and improve their confidence and self-esteem. Buddies can arrange to speak with students pre and post online sessions, to:

• Practice how to access the online sessions via Zoom
• Engage with online activities
• Practice how to engage with fellow students during the online sessions

We do our best to match every student who requests this extra support with a Buddy but it is dependent on demand.

If you are a student applying for the online sessions at the Recovery College and would like to request a Buddy, please complete the relevant section on your enrolment form.

If you would like more information about how the Buddy Service works, please contact us via the details at the bottom of this page.

Our Students’ Union and NUS membership

All students of the Recovery College who are taking part in an online workshop are welcome to join the College’s Students’ Union. Through the Union you can share your experiences and ideas on how we can continually develop the College. As our Union is part of the National Union of Students (NUS) you are entitled to an NUS membership card which offers you a wide range of discounts and offers. To find out more or to gain an NUS discount card visit www.nus.org.uk.

Follow Us:

Twitter: @SHA_RCBrighton

Facebook: @BHRecoveryCollege

If you’re a student of the Recovery College why not also join the College’s online Student Union on Facebook.