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Mental health Tenancy Support in Bassetlaw 

I was a forklift driver for 20 years, happily married with children, but that all changed at Easter 2000. My husband slept with a prostitute which I found out about through his mobile phone. It opened up a can of worms about our finances being mismanaged. I started divorce proceedings and then had a breakdown. I was really loopy loo you know, big time. I would get in the car and didn’t know where I was going. I always wanted to be drunk. I needed to be drunk because if I was drunk I knew I would sleep. I never wanted to wake up but I never wanted to be dead, I was never suicidal funnily enough. But that was because my mum died 12 days after she gave birth to me and my twin sister. I didn’t have time to be dead either, my son was on a murder charge for killing his wife and that tragedy was terrible. It was after all this happened in a year that I was diagnosed with depression.

How Framework handled me I don’t know. I had a friend who worked for Framework and she spoke to me about what they do. I actually dished out the leaflets for Framework ‘s Bassetlaw Household service when I was receiving support in hospital. I think I got about 20 clients. I got support from Len, he did everything to turn me around. He helped with the mail and finances, I wouldn’t open letters and I’m frightened of the bank but financially now I’m ok. I had so much kindness, love support and care, I felt I had to give something back. That’s why I became a befriender.

Depression is horrendous that’s why I’m working with mental health charity Mind. I became a volunteer driver for people who can’t ride on public transport. That’s how I got involved and while I was there they asked whether I wanted to do more. I jumped at the chance to become a befriender. It was a six week training course and I’ve never looked back. I think because I have experienced all this it makes me a more efficient befriender because you know exactly where they are coming from. It’s silly to hide things, it makes things easier to have it out in the open and it makes people feel more comfortable when you are ill. I tell them there are all these befrienders and you’ve got the only nutty one. Then they say ‘well we’re keeping you’.

Patricia