Barrow facility hailed as ‘huge step forward’

WHEN Glen Garth House opened as supported living accommodation for adults dealing with mental health problems, some of the neighbours protested.

“It will be a catalyst for disaster,” they said. “They’ll be a risk to our children” and “not appropriate here” were other comments made about the idea of setting up such a facility in their neighbourhood.

Petitions were signed, leaflets were posted through letterboxes and public meetings were held to address their worries.

Now, one year and eight months after service users moved into the facility in Abbey Road, Barrow, Glen Garth has only had one complaint from locals – about leaving the bins out one night.

“I think there’s a lack of understanding about mental health,” says David Knowles, the shift coordinator at Glen Garth who has been part of the staffing team since it opened in February 2014.

“When we very first opened, when (the site) was no longer a hotel, quite a lot of people tried to stop this from happening. People were very hostile but they have gone quiet now.

“I was leaving work one time and one chap who lives nearby said to me: ‘do you work at Glen Garth House?’ I said ‘yes’ and he told me: ‘I just want to say I had more trouble and hassle when it was a hotel’.

“For me that sums it up. We’ve been accepted. People aren’t worried the same.”

Glen Garth House is home to 15 men and women who have been referred to the residential home by a doctor or community psychiatric nurse.

Clients come from a range of backgrounds, ages range from early 20s to late 60s, and some are dealing with conditions such as schizophrenia, personality disorders, depression, and alcohol and drug abuse.

The facility, the first of its kind in Barrow, is often there to support people taking the step between leaving a hospital or mental health institution and living on their own.

That step between near constant supervision and total independence can be overwhelming so Glen Garth is the middle stage that allows residents to adjust to life back in the community, and being responsible for daily duties like cooking, washing and shopping again.

“The emphasis is very much on support on the basis that if we do it for them then they are not going to learn,” explains Mr Knowles.

“The support can be as much or as little as needed. Some residents that come in are good at cooking and then there’s some who aren’t so we teach them how to.

“We try not to be headmaster and pupil. It’s not an ‘us and them’ culture – we all sit round together every Sunday and we have a roast. We like it to feel like a home.”

There are 17 staff employed at Glen Garth, which is run by Northern Health Care, and the staff are there to support residents to gain practical skills and to use coping mechanisms when difficult experiences occur. They offer 24-hour care.

People can come and go as they please, socialise with one another, and are empowered to live an ordinary life.

Stephen Turner, who suffered from many mental health issues including anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and agoraphobia, wishes there was a facility like Glen Garth available when he left Ridge Lea Hospital in Lancaster.

He experienced difficulties in recovering and returning to life back in the community, and has been a firm supporter of Glen Garth ever since it opened.

The Walney resident and Time for Change champion said: “Once you are out of the NHS, they close the book. It can be very lonely. You don’t always know where to go.

“This place is a huge step forward. We never had anything like this here before. This gives people options. You can build confidence and relationships.

“It’s significant to a neighbourhood like this given the high suicide rate in Furness. It’s a sad reflection that people are unable to access the help they need.

“I see this place as a step to preventing entrance to a hospital and perhaps taking the weight of pressure off those places.”

The ultimate aim is for service users to be equipped so they can move back into their family home or into a place of their own.

“It’s generally a two-year pathway but if somebody is not quite there then it might be two-and-a-half years or three years,” says Mr Knowles.

So far one client, a young woman, has taken that step and her thank you card to the staff sits proudly in the group meeting room in Glen Garth.

Workers still visit and keep in contact with this woman to monitor how she is getting on. The relationship is not cut off once the service user is out of the door.

When you think of places to support the mentally ill, it can often conjure up images of bars on windows, white coats and places of despair. But when you step through the doors at Glen Garth, you don’t see that.

Instead, a resident’s hand-painted canvas proclaiming “Home Sweet Home” greets you in the hallway.

It is a relaxing environment, with people going about their ordinary lives. There are lots of social places, dining rooms and a communal kitchen.

Building on the success of the project is the next step for Glen Garth.

Northern Health Care is looking to set up a “step-down facility” elsewhere in Barrow. This will be a smaller unit to the one in Abbey Road and one where residents have less contact with staff.

People from Glen Garth who aren’t quite ready to live alone will go there – but not all will need it.

Mr Turner hopes the work at Glen Garth in helping individuals address mental health issues, reassuring local residents and dispelling some myths continues.

He said: “People are scared of mental health because it’s something that we can’t see.

“They are scared to ask questions. But that’s the first step to starting a conversation.”