Angela Lawson

I am humbled to have been recently offered the position of ADHD Programme Manager within CNTW. This newly established role reflects the success of the lived experience programme I created and led on during my time as a supervisor, which addressed the gap in ADHD services in Cumbria and the limited support beyond medication. Motivated by my personal experiences with ADHD and the challenges of accessing support, I drew upon the experiences of others to develop this programme to better serve our community. I eagerly anticipate commencing this role and contributing to the continued advancement of ADHD services within the Trust.

As a Lived Experience Supervisor, I facilitate the integration of lived experience support across Cumbria, enhancing traditional medical models with empathetic, holistic approaches to recovery. My role involves promoting the value of lived experience by collaborating with various teams within the trust, embedding new positions, managing caseloads, and overseeing the recruitment and supervision of these roles before progressing to subsequent teams

• Supporting and contributing to the development and growth of Peer Support within Community and access services
• Developing and maintaining effective working relationships with Peer Supporters, managers, teams, and the Involvement Service
• Recruiting, inducting, developing, and appraising Peer Supporters while coordinating their mentorship and training
• Providing high-quality individual supervision and mentoring to Peer Supporters and Senior Peer Supporters
• Facilitating group supervision sessions and working alongside newly recruited Peer Supporters in their roles
• Coordinating and delivering Trust-wide learning and development activities related to peer support, including WRAP, Formulation, and the Service User and Carer Leadership and Development Programme
• Supporting services in preparing for new Peer Supporters by engaging directly with teams and promoting the role
• Shadowing professionals, attending service development meetings, and managing small short-term caseloads across different services across the trust
• Collaborating with internal services such as Human Resources, Occupational Health, and the Involvement Service
• Building effective relationships with multi-disciplinary teams to enhance the integration of Peer Support within services
• Supporting Peer Supporters in achieving competence requirements through supervision, mentoring, and training
• Delivering Peer Supporter Team Preparation sessions to ensure readiness for new roles
• Assisting Peer Supporters in facilitating courses and groups within Recovery College settings
• Managing complex and highly sensitive conversations with professionalism and sensitivity
• Ensuring timely reporting of concerns and risks while adhering to confidentiality policies and regulations
• Utilizing de-escalation techniques in challenging or emotionally charged situations
• Maintaining accurate supervision records and providing timely written and verbal reports

• Providing peer support through mutual relationships based on lived experience
• Supporting service users in identifying meaningful aspects of life that give hope, value, and purpose
• Facilitating individual and group discussions around mental health recovery
• Assisting service users in creating and engaging with care plans, Wellness Recovery Action Plans (WRAPs), and decision-making processes
• Working closely with clinical teams to improve service user involvement in their care
• Promoting recovery-based values and assisting staff in adopting alternative working methods
• Helping service users and/or carers establish greater control over their lives
• Contributing to the development and awareness of the Peer Supporter role
• Supporting service users in accessing Recovery Colleges and involvement teams
• Maintaining professional boundaries while sharing lived experiences to benefit others
• Providing emotional support and guidance while working with individuals experiencing mental health challenges
• Participating in training activities and contributing to staff education on recovery-focused care
• Maintaining accurate records and reports as required
• Following confidentiality guidelines and safeguarding sensitive information
• Working within a multidisciplinary team to ensure holistic care for service users

• Emotionally and practically supporting women with a varying degree of needs using 1:1 support with a person centred approach
• Supporting women through recovery with honesty and empathy by sharing lived experience appropriately, whilst managing boundaries
• Supporting women experiencing domestic abuse by facilitating a domestic abuse programme 'freedom' and with 1:1 support
• Comforting and supporting women in distress and/or crisis
• Empowering and enabling women practically by supporting them with forms, budgeting, attending appointments and accessing other services where needed
• Writing and facilitating multiple self-development courses covering topics such as self-esteem, healthy relationships, personal safety and self-empowerment
• Preparing, planning and facilitating social groups such as arts & crafts or activity sessions
• Signposting and/or referring women to other services where appropriate
• Administration tasks, such as booking women onto courses, record keeping, registrations, taking phone calls, editing/updating website using WordPress, creating resources and materials for course/group content and centre/event advertising
• Welcoming new women into the centre, making them feel comfortable and showing them around
• Forming short and long term wellbeing action plans with clients, that are achievable and realistic
• Managing my own diary, workload and appointments
• Listening to and recording client feedback in order to ensure a person centred approach
• Adapting and managing frequent change in order to meet the evolving needs of the women who use the centre
• Volunteer September 2017 – February 2018

I relocated from Kendal to Carlisle due to my husband's promotion. I decided to take that opportunity to do a degree in Science at the Open university. I successfully completed 2 years of university before having my son in early 2016.