Charity reaches out to families

Thanks to three-year funding from the Southern HSC Trust, the families of local people with illnesses such as severe depression, bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia now have a new source of help and information.

CAUSE - a local charity supporting carers and families of people with mental illness - recently appointed Cherie Davidson as the Charity’s Carer Advocate for the Craigavon and Banbridge area.

Through the charity’s innovative ‘Relative Reach’ programme, CAUSE is delighted to be in a position to offer dedicated support to carers and families of people with a mental illness in the Craigavon & Banbridge area for the first time.

To date, only a small percentage of the Charity’s ‘carer contacts’ (contact with a local carer through ‘Relative Reach’), which have exceeded 5,000 during each of the last couple of financial years, have been provided to carers and families in the Craigavon and Banbridge area.

However, after several months in post, Cherie is confident that, due to a real need in the community, this percentage will increase in the weeks and months ahead:

“CAUSE’s experience in other areas shows that those caring for a family member with a mental illness often suffer high levels of stress, which can be accompanied by a deterioration in carers’ health. By providing emotional and practical support to carers and families, I hope to be able to improve the lives of carers living in the Craigavon and Banbridge area and those they care for.”

Prior to joining CAUSE Cherie worked as Community Support Manager with The HIV Support Centre and, before that, was awarded The British Psychological Society Award 2006 on completing a Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology at the University of Ulster.

Like all CAUSE Carer Advocates, Cherie has personal experience of caring for a family member with a mental illness.

Further information on CAUSE’s work in the area, is available by contacting Cherie on 07738 210 628 at REACT, 30a Arderys Lane, Banbridge, BT32 3RE (Thursdays and Fridays), or from the Charity’s website, www.cause.org.uk.