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.

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’.

Prior to the pandemic, all courses were based at community venues across Brighton and Hove including our Learning and Community Hub at Frederick Place and our Wellbeing Hub at Preston Park, however to safely navigate the pandemic and adhere to government guidelines, we had to change our model to delivering our courses online. We are now offering a variety of classroom-based and online sessions.

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.

Autumn Term

Our Autumn term will run from 25th September to 8th December.

We will be offering two new courses this term: ‘Understanding & Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)’ and ‘Living with Long Term Health Conditions’.

Multiple Welcome Sessions will be available daily 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.

For more information, check out the ‘Downloads’ section at the bottom of this page to view or download our new Autumn Term Supplement, Autumn Timetable and Annual Prospectus.

Enrolment has now closed for Autumn term

The enrolment period has now closed and we are in the process of allocating spaces. Students will be notified of the outcome of their enrolment request(s) from  Friday 22^nd September onwards.

On occasion we find that we still have places after requests have been allocated we will advertise any remaining spaces over on our Facebook page.

We look forward to welcoming new and returning students and hope to see some of you in person this term.

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.