Two volunteers in Redcar and Cleveland are using their own experiences of psychosis to help other people feel less alone and to show that recovery is possible.

Joe and Carol lead the Friday Club, a weekly peer-support group for people who have experienced psychosis for the first time. Despite its name, the group now meets on Tuesdays at community venues including Guisborough and Saltburn.

The group is supported by the in Psychosis service run by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. It began with NHS staff, patients and families working together, before members gradually took a greater role in shaping and leading the sessions.

Carol and Joe with nurse Stephen Wallace · Photo: Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust · Original source

Experience turned into support

Joe and Carol became natural leaders within the group. After being discharged from the service, both chose to return as volunteers so they could support people facing experiences they understand personally.

Joe said: “It’s important to have support. I’ve been through a lot in my psychosis. It was like living a nightmare. Now I want to do what I can to help other people.”

described psychosis as frightening and isolating, particularly because he did not initially recognise that he was unwell. At the time, experiences that other people could not see felt entirely real to him.

“You could have psychosis and not realise,” he said. “I didn’t realise I was ill.”

Carol also wants people to understand the condition more clearly. She said psychosis can be difficult for others to imagine and that greater education could help challenge misconceptions.

More than just a group

The Friday Club gives members somewhere they can speak honestly about what they have experienced without having to explain every part of it from the beginning.

Carol said one of its strengths is the chance to “safely talk about past experiences” with people who understand. “It’s good to see people and to have genuine support,” she said. “It’s more than just a group.”

Sessions are shaped by the people attending rather than following one fixed programme. Activities have included walks, museum visits, crochet, coffee and cake, shared lunches and time simply talking together. Even tree hugging has made the list.

That mix of conversation, creativity and ordinary social activity helps the group offer something beyond a appointment. It creates routine, company and space for people to rebuild confidence at their own pace.

Painted stones created for the peer-support group · Photo: Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust · Original source

Recovery built around connection and hope

Stephen Wallace, a mental health nurse with the Early Intervention in Psychosis service at Foxrush House in Redcar, said sharing experiences can be especially helpful when another person has lived through something similar.

The team uses the CHIME principles in its approach to recovery: connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment. Stephen said regular social involvement can help people regain confidence and reclaim parts of their identity that may have been overshadowed by illness.

“Psychosis is so scary for people and families. But there is hope. Recovery from psychosis is possible,” he said.

Members have also worked together on an art project displayed at Foxrush House. The idea began as a way to explore what the group meant to people and encourage new members to attend. Conversations about recovery became a collection of words and statements, then developed into a shared artwork and poem.

Friday Club members creating the shared artwork · Photo: Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust · Original source

The completed collaborative artwork about recovery · Image: Friday Club members via Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust · Original source

The finished piece reflects the way the group itself has grown: something first supported by professionals, but increasingly shaped by people whose knowledge comes from living through psychosis and finding a route forward.

For Joe and Carol, volunteering does not erase what happened to them. It gives that experience a new purpose. Each week, they help create a place where somebody else can be heard, understood and reminded that the nightmare does not have to be the end of the story.

Further information: Read the original story from Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust or visit the NHS guide to psychosis.