Recovery and Every Day Skills (REDS) Recovery College 

Our Recovery College takes an educational rather than a clinical or rehabilitation approach to improving mental health. As far as possible the distinction between service users and staff is avoided and there is an emphasis on co-production, co-delivery and co-participation in learning. A person with experience of mental health problems can be engaged in designing and delivering courses and not everyone participating in those courses will have a psychiatric diagnosis.

Meet our Recovery College Lead

"What makes St Andrew's REDS College uniquely different to most educational establishments, particularly in health settings, is that we teach our patients and our staff in the same room at the same time; it's a co-co-co production." Steve Parker

Co-production explained 

REDS co-production means that we work in collaboration with our students, clinicians, staff and patients to design and deliver courses using our collective knowledge and experience. This approach champions each member of the co-production team as an equal partner. Working together in this way is hugely beneficial for all involved; everyone contributes, everyone learns and REDS are able to provide relevant, impactful and meaningful content.

Meet Violet, a Peer Trainer in our REDS Recovery College

In her video, Violet talks about how she lost everything following her mental breakdown and how re-training and working as a Peer Trainer in our Recovery and Every Day Skills (REDS) Recovery College was key to her recovery. 

" I think the benefits of co-production are that patients get to input their views and opinions...because no one knows mental health problems better than the people who have experienced them. Taking a REDS course means that people are in an environment where they are not just a patient, they are another member of that course so that they are as valued as the member of staff  that may be sitting next to them.

At REDS it's really great for patients to be in an environment where they are treated as a person rather than just a condition"

CAMHS College

Learning and gaining skills can be a key element of a person’s recovery whilst they are with us at St Andrew’s - achieving academic qualifications and/or vocational experience is empowering, builds confidence and contributes to a sense of wellbeing.

St Andrew’s College, is the learning environment at the heart of our CAMHS service which employs an approach directly aligned to the therapies and programmes employed across the wards;

‘CAMHS run a trauma informed approach for all of our young people and we have tried really hard in the college to align ourselves to that, so we have a trauma informed school’s approach that works hand in hand with that. This means that if a young person comes in to the service and they are very unwell and really fearful of school, then we just spend time alongside them, getting to know them and building trust so that we can take their learning further when they are ready’ Cheryl Smith, Head Teacher