Celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the South London and Maudsley Recovery College
A grant from Maudsley Charity helped start the Recovery College in 2014, one of the first to be established in the UK. The Recovery College offers an extensive programme of free co-produced mental health courses, workshops and webinars.
We are proud today to be celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the South London and Maudsley Recovery College. A grant from Maudsley Charity helped start the Recovery College in 2014 and we have continued to provide stable, long-term funding in the years since including over £1.3m for the years 2022-2025.
The college is jointly funded by Maudsley Charity and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and was one of the first to be established in the UK. Over the years, they have consulted with and helped to set up colleges around the country.
The Recovery College offers an extensive programme of free mental health courses, workshops and webinars for service users, carers, supports and South London and Maudsley’s staff. These courses support people in their recovery and general wellbeing and over 6,000 people have taken part over the last 10 years.
All the sessions are co-produced and delivered by trainers with lived experience, working alongside health professionals. This approach means that experts by experience feel that their knowledge is valued, and health professionals gain new insight and perspective.
Gabrielle Richards, Head of Inclusion, Recovery, Professional Head of Occupational Therapy and Allied Health Professionals said,
“I first learned about recovery colleges at a nursing conference in the US. For the first time I really saw the power of the voice of the peer trainer in the room. And that was enough for my spark. That was it. I came back with an enthusiasm and determination for the Trust to develop its own recovery college.
I want to stress how deeply proud I am of all that they do. I spend a lot of time with service users and carers and so many talk about their positive experience of having attended a recovery college course – how good it was, how it helped and supports them with learning new skills. So it comes back to that motto – hope control and opportunity – and how wonderful we’re all here today celebrating.”
Rebecca Gray, Chief Executive of Maudsley Charity said, “We are delighted to be marking 10 years of the Recovery College. The Recovery College is a great example of the power of co-production in mental health services, bringing staff and people with lived experience together at every point. This is an approach which is reflected right across our grant making programmes.”