## **PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT** **Annual Report For the Year ended 31 March 2021** ## PESONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT ## **CHARITY INFORMATION** ## **Trustees:** Simon Brown Pav Patel Lesley Probert Mary Ward ## **Registered Charity Number:** 1156578 ## **Principal Office:** Boroughbury Medical Centre Craig Street Peterborough PE1 2EJ Tel: 01733 391537 Email: admin@pedsupport.co.uk Website: www.pedsupport.co.uk **Bankers:** HCBC Cathedral Square Peterborough Cambridgeshire PE1 1XL ## **Independent Examiner:** Robin Borgognoni BA FCCA Mason & Co. 6 The Old Quarry Nene Valley Business Park Oundle Peterborough PE8 4HN PESONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **CONTENTS** ||Page| |---|---| |TRUSTEES’ REPORT|1-5| |INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS’ PEPORT|6| |RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT|7| |STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES|8| |ACCOUNTING POLICIES|9| |TESTIMONIALS|10-13| # PESONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT ## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021** The trustees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts which comply with the Charity’s trust deed and the Charities Act 2011. The Charity number, Trustees, principal address and details of the professional advisors are included in the Charity Information sheet at the front of these accounts. ## **Constitution** Personalised Eating Disorder Support (PEDS) is a charitable incorporated organisation which was registered on 8 April 2014. The governing document was adopted on 8 April 2014. Prior to this, since 2013 we provided services as an affiliate of the established Luton / Bedford eating disorder charity CARALINE. ## **Objectives and activities of the Charity** The service objectives of the charity are “to relieve the sickness and distress of persons with or affected by eating disorders, to preserve and protect good health and to advance education for the public benefit by:- 1. Providing education, support and early intervention to those experiencing an eating disorder and their families / carers to provide a service that is accessible to all regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability; 2. To increase awareness and understanding of eating disorders amongst both the public and professionals and provide an early intervention service that can be accessed via self referrals, gp's, third sector organisations, community mental health teams, child & adolescent mental health services and inpatient hospitals; 3. To enable multi agency working between services, signposting, enabling joint working and collaboration to facilitate a seamless service across all teams; 4. To help individuals manage their physical and psychological symptoms to enable them to achieve maximum quality of life.” The objects are: - To promote health, providing education, support and early intervention to those experiencing an eating disorder and their families / carers - To provide a service that is accessible to all regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability - To increase awareness and understanding of eating disorders amongst both the public and professionals and provide an early intervention service that can be accessed via self referrals, GP's, third sector organisations, Community Mental Health Teams, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services and inpatient hospitals - To enable multi agency working between services, signposting, enabling joint working and collaboration to facilitate a seamless service across all teams - To help individuals manage their physical and psychological symptoms to enable them to achieve maximum quality of life ## **Public benefit** In setting the objectives and planning the activities of the charity the Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. 1 ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020** The charity provides assessments, advice, signposting and a liaison service and has provided individual and family sessions. PEDS has also increased its outreach and home visit service and has supported service users and their families with eating out via the meal exposure work. The charity has worked with a number of professionals (GPs, paediatric wards, schools, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT’S), CPFT’s PRISM, IAPT and ARC primary care services. PEDS also works with Specialist Eating Disorder Inpatient Units and other Voluntary Sector Organisation. PEDS has provided training to a number of schools and GPs across the county and the service has been recognised by Pride of Peterborough Awards, with one of the Founders being shortlisted as a finalist since its inception. Testimonials and service user feedback has been detailed on page 11. The charity provides help and support to adults across Cambridgeshire. Over the last year PEDS has provided virtual support to individuals outside of the UK Via our university contracts. ## **Trustees and organisation** The Trustees are detailed in the Charity Information sheet at the front of these accounts. The Trustees are appointed and serve in accordance with the Trust Deed. Training is given to new Trustees as necessary. Although there are regular Committee meetings the day-to-day administration of the Charity is delegated Mandy Scott (Service Director) and Sue Rattle (Treasurer). ## **Risk management** The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Charity is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the Charity, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate their exposure to the major risks. The Trustees will continue to monitor and review the risks as they deem appropriate. ## **Reserves policy** The reserves after the first period of operations are considered adequate for the current requirements of the Charity. However, the Charity is looking at ways to increase reserves and in the longer term aims to maintain reserves equal to 3-6 months operating expenditure. ## **Provision of services** Individual work is based upon assessment of need and is client focused, delivered by trained nurses (Mental Health and Paediatric) who have over 20 years experience working with eating disorders both in the community and inpatient units. Supervision is delivered by eating disorder colleagues who provide regular input and advice. Professionals delivering individual / family work on behalf of the charity have been DBS checked. ## **Report from the Service Director, Achievements & Performance** We are delighted to report on the significant developments and expansions of PEDS over the past year. Whilst we have had to adapt to the challenges of COVID 19 and a huge surge in referrals, we have remained passionate and dedicated to our pledge to improve services for those suffering from eating disorders and their loved ones. We have updated our Mission Statement with our Values and Ethos and made these more accessible on our website www.pedsupport.co.uk . ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **TRUSTEES’ REPORT** 2 **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020** The PEDS team has seen an increase in it’s staffing with the following new roles which have been invaluable as we have journeyed through the pandemic and supported an increasing caseload of sufferers of eating disorders: - Charity Co-ordinator - Wellbeing Officer / Administrator - Eating Disorder Nutritionist - Eating Disorder Nurse Therapist **Prior to COVID, PEDS received on average 12-15 referrals each month** . **We are now receiving around 50-60 referrals each month** , with an increase in males accessing support. **Over the past year, we have triaged 591 referrals.** In response to the increasing need, we have set up a weekly Support Group for sufferers which is chaired by our staff and volunteers with lived experience. This has been well utilised each week and we have seen a high number of University students in particular access this group for peer support. It has been a challenging year for PEDS in terms of capacity and resources and in August this year, we had to take the decision to close to new referrals for a month to enable us to ensure safety of our current caseload. We have also had to prioritise referrals within Cambridgeshire due to limitations on resources and high numbers of referrals coming from all across the UK. In terms of changes to our operations, PEDS had been providing a service to children since 2014 with no current funding or contract in place and so we have had to take the decision to close to individuals under the age of 18 until we have a contract in place and the appropriate funding to manage these referrals. In terms of additional online resources, we have developed podcasts for the website aimed at strategies for sufferers and carers, we have written a pack for Carers and Loved ones and an Educational Toolkit for Secondary Schools, Colleges and Universities. Our online referral form has been updated to reflect our collaborative working relationships and we have updated the automatic response to share local resources and helplines. We are now operating a mixture of online and face to face support at our base Boroughbury Medical Centre, Peterborough. Our staff have embarked on training in the following areas: - MANTRA , - Mandatory CPR, GDPR, Safeguarding, - Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) - Body Image. We have seen the following Trustees step down this year but look forward to them remaining involved in PEDS and are extremely grateful for their input into our charity: - Diane Lamb through ill health (but welcome her an as Ambassador of PEDS) - Nadine Williamson - Sarah Patterson ## **Launch of the New Collaborative Pathway with CPFT AEDS** After 7years of working to build relationships with the local community, in particular, the NHS, we were pleased to launch the new Collaborative Pathway with CPFT AEDS, the local secondary care eating disorder team this October. This joint working relationship will enable speedier access to services, enhanced communication between the teams and an opportunity to share good practice and build on resources. This new pathway also enables a single point of access whereby if a service user is referred by their GP and the referral is more appropriate for PEDS, the referral can be passed directly to us to prevent delay to the sufferer. Likewise if PEDS receives a referral which is more appropriate for the secondary care NHS eating disorder team, we can pass this referral directly to them. As well as our early intervention / prevention role, PEDS has also been working on the Severe and Enduring (NHS –“Stability and Support” and PEDS “Steps to Stabilise”) Pathway whereby support is offered to sufferers with a severe eating disorder whereby they have previously tried two psychological therapies with the NHS and are seeking an alternative approach. This model (Steps to Stabilise) is offered in close collaboration with the individuals GP and the person will be medically stable. ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **TRUSTEES’ REPORT** 3 **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021** ## **Launch of The University Contracts** We were pleased to announce the launch of our contract with the **University of Cambridge** in October 2020 which in the middle of the COVID pandemic, enabled us to reach high numbers of students by adapting to virtual methods of communication, Teams and Zoom. This contract is initially for 3 years and after 6 months in, the hours delivered needed to be doubled (from ½ day a week to a full day a week – delivered by 2 Nurses) to meet the demands of the increasing number of students and staff reaching out. This contract offers assessment, 1:1 support and a weekly support group for the students as well as advice and training to staff. The contract has seen us deliver zoom and face to face training over the past year to staff including the wellbeing team (Nurses and Counsellors), Directors of Studies, Sports teachers and the porters. We have also been able to be present at Freshers this term and were pleased to be chosen as one of the Universities nominated charities of the year to fundraise for. Following our contract with the University of Cambridge, we have been able to roll this out to **Anglia Ruskin University** and were pleased to launch this in October 2021, providing ½ a day a week delivered by 2 Nurses. The focus is to provide early intervention support to those at risk of developing an eating disorder as well as those in the early stages of one. Training and support to staff is also an important part of this contract. ## **Support for Carers** ## **Cambridgeshire** Support for Carers and Loved Ones remain at the heart of PEDS as we recognise the impact the illness can have on family and loved ones and how help is vital. We have continued to operate a monthly Carers support group which moved to Zoom during lockdown and this has continued virtually following feedback from carers that this method is preference and enables more people to attend. We have also offered individual sessions to parents, husbands, wife’s, partners and siblings with the aim of supporting the loved one with understanding and how to help their person suffering. ## **Essex** During the COVID Pandemic, our Essex Volunteers moved the carers monthly group online however attendance at this was minimal and is was felt it was more beneficial to offer a weekly telephone helpline to loved ones and carers which has been operating on a Monday evening. This has not been well utilised and we have discussed how to better promote this and also respond to the needs of the local community who are now requesting that the carers meeting in Essex goes back to face to face at our base, Coombewood Community Mental Health Resource Centre in Rayleigh. The plan is for this to recommence from January. At its peak, the Essex carers group was being attended by 8-10 families and we hope to reach out to more families as the new year approaches and we establish further relationships with the local NHS eating disorder teams in Essex. ## **Training** We have been able to reach a number of organisations to deliver training over the past year including: - Centre 33 charity - GP trainees - University of Cambridge – Trinity Hall - University of Cambridge – Counsellors and Nurses ## **Social Media** Over the past year we have been focusing on improving our presence on social media to support PEDS reaching people in a positive way. Our activity has increased on Instagram and Facebook and our peer support worker regularly shares strategies, tips and positive quotes which inspire hope. ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **TRUSTEES’ REPORT** 4 **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021** ## **Patron Support** We were privileged to have had significant input and support from Michelle Collins over the past year with her working closely with PEDS to raise awareness of eating disorders. Michelle spent time at Boroughbury with us filming service users and their families and we have made a short film for our website with the aim being to increase understanding and highlight that there are many people living with eating disorders from all walks of life including mothers, daughters, husbands, son’s, doctors, teachers, to name a few. Eating disorders do not discriminate and can affect anybody. ## **With Special Thanks to:** - Simon Brown and Pav Patel our Trustees for their hard work and dedication this year and a warm welcome to our new trustee’s Lesley Probert and Mary Ward. - Our support group volunteers who give up their time each week to support sufferers. - Liam, Katie, Becca for their amazing fundraising contributions and Jack, Arun and Gail for their hours given to PEDS volunteering to raise awareness. We are also very grateful to the following for their grants / donations to PEDS: - National Lottery Awards For All - John Lewis - Philip Gooch We are also excited to announce our partnership with Co-op with PEDS being a chosen charity, running from October to October next year. We hope to raise funds for PEDS by promoting the charity within out local Co-ops and sharing the work of PEDS, raising further awareness and helping to increase understanding of eating disorders. ## **Strategy / Year Ahead** - We continue to receive funding each year from the local Clinical Commissioning Group however we are keen to not become fully reliant on this and source funding from other areas also. - We have been fortunate to secure Project Management from The Cranfield Trust who will oversee PEDS for guidance and support over the coming year and provide advice in areas such as HR, IT and fundraising, helping us to develop our future plans and operations. - We are also looking to bring on board new Trustees in 2022 to help develop the cherty further and build on the impact made by the outgoing trustees. - We look forward to our Service Manager being on board as we start a new year and we are also excited to announce that we will be joined by a Fundraiser for PEDS from 2022. The online portal is due to launch at the beginning of 2022 which will link to our website and we plan to Improve our presence on Twitter and link this to the website, portal and other social media outlets – facebook and Instagram. We also will be working on a business plan / pathway for children including ARFID provision and the launch of our structured peer support worker pack. Our continued plan is to remain committed to improving services nationally and we will continue our input at the monthly Regional Alliance Third Sector Regional Meeting Nationally for Eating Disorder Charities as well as being a member of the HQUIPP steering group and the NHS England Regional Third Sector Eating Disorders. We look forward to both an exciting and productive year ahead. ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT 5 ## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021** ## **Trustees’ responsibilities** The Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of its results for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to select suitable accounting standards and then apply them consistently, make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent and prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the objectives of the Trust Deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **Statement of disclosure to independent examiner** In the case of each of the persons who are Trustees at the time when this report is approved, the following applies:- - (a) so far as the Trustees are aware, there is no relevant information of which the Charity’s independent examiner is unaware, and - (b) they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as in order to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the Charity’s independent examiner is aware of that information. By order of the Board of Trustees **Mandy Scott** Service Director 31 January 2022 6 ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS’ REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 4 to 6. ## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner** The Charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider than an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: - examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, - to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act), and - To state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of independent examination** My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. ## **Independent examiners statement** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: - (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements: - to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; - to prepare accounting records in accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or - (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. **Robin Borgognoni BA FCCA** 6 The Old Quarry Nene Valley Business Park Oundle Peterborough PE8 4HN 31 January 2022 7 ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021** ||Unrestricted|Restricted|**Total**|Total| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Fund|Funds|**2021**|
2020| ||£|£|**£**|£| |**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS**||||| |**Raising Funds**||||| |Donations and legacies|6,530|-|**6,530**|4,330| |Grants|-|110,911|110,911|40,795| |**Charitable Activities**||||| |Consultation fees|-|-|**-**|-| |**Investment Income**||||| |Bank interest|-|-|**-**|-| ||________|________|________|________| |**TOTAL RECEIPTS**|**6,530**|**110,911**|**117,441**|45,989| ||________|________|________|________| |**PAYMENTS**||||| |**Raising Funds**||||| |Cost of raising funds|-|-|**-**|180| |**Charitable Activities**||||| |Advertising and publicity|658|-|**658**|634| |Meeting expenses|-|7,495|**7,495**|7,150| |Nurse costs|-|66,495|**66,495**|28,643| |Postage and stationery|304|-|**304**|271| |Repairs and renewals|1,457|-|**1,457**|48| |Subscriptions and training|3,800|-|**3,800**|3499| |Travel and subsistence|-|-|-|-| |Accountancy fees|240|377|**617**|240| ||________|________|________|________| |**TOTAL PAYMENTS**|**6,461**|**74,367**|**80,828**|40,665| ||________|________|________|________| |**NET RECEIPTS/(PAYMENTS)**||||| |**- General Fund**|**71**|**36,544**|**36,615**|4,460| |Cash funds brought forward||||| |at 1 April 2020|16,735|15,650|**32,385**|27,925| ||________|________|________|________| |**Cash funds carried forward**||||| |**at 31 March 2021**|**16,806**|**52,194**|**69,000**|32,385| ||________|________|________|________| 8 ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AS AT 31 MARCH 2021** ||**2021**|2020| |---|---|---| ||**£**|£| |**FIXED ASSETS**||| |Tangible assets|**-**|-| ||________|________| ||**-**|-| ||________|________| |**CURRENT ASSETS**||| |Debtors & Prepayments|**-**|-| |Current account|**69,445**|32,625| ||________|________| ||**69,445**|32,625| ||________|________| |**CURRENT LIABILITIES**||| |Creditors and accruals|**445**|240| ||________|________| ||445|240| ||________|________| |**NET ASSETS**|**69,000**|32,385| ||________|________| The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees and were signed on its behalf on . **Mandy Scott** Service Director **Sue Rattle** Treasurer 9 ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021** ## **1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES** ## **Basis of Accounting** The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and the Charities Act 2011. ## **Incoming Resources** Grant income is recognised according to the terms of each individual agreement. No amounts are included in the financial statements for services donated by volunteers. Charitable activities includes income associated with the objects of the Charity. ## **Resources Expended** Expenditure is accounted for under the heading that aggregated all costs relating to the category. Charitable activities includes expenditure associated with the objects of the Charity. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with the governance arrangements of the Charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements. ## **Funds** General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements. Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements. 10 ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021** ## **Thank you** PEDS would like to thank all our members and volunteers who have helped us both practical and financially over the past twelve months. Whilst it remains a challenge to operate without any form of regular funding, the commitment and passion of the Trustees and deliverers of services ensures access to services and treatment is not compromised and this drives the charity to continue to operate successfully. The current Trustee Board seek applicants from any aspect of the community and new Trustees can be elected at any time. If you feel you can make a contribution to PEDS Objectives, please do get in touch. We particularly need the time, experience and skills of newly-retired clinical, medical or business professionals. ## **Patient, Carer, Professional Feedback** "Thank you for all of your help, support and care. I very much appreciate it. You've shown me a new way of life. " "I am well, now working full time, and leading a busy life. I will never be able to thank you enough for putting your faith in me, any many times your phrases go around my head in moments of struggle. I still do my menu plan daily but it works for me. Last month I went on holiday and managed really well not thinking about calories too much." "I will always remember telling my family after they commented on my low weight: “don’t worry, I am in control, I know exactly what I am doing. I know my limits”. “…Control…… this is the single word that proved that I was sick. The difficulty in my eating disorder was that I thought that I was in “control” and that I could go back to “normal” at any point. Actually, I wasn’t… I am realising this now after a year of work with PEDS. “Looking back now, I realise how flat and sad my life was at the time: each day’s rhythm was dictated by sport sessions (I couldn’t sit or relax somewhere because I felt guilty and lazy not doing anything) and obsession with food (I had to plan in advance what I was going to eat, in which amount and in which order… for some reason, my brain set up some silly really strict rules).” “I was underweight (and I started to become worried because my body wasn’t functioning properly anymore, for the third year in a row) and my GP referred me to PEDS. I was completely lost.” “I didn’t know what to do, what eating normally was, or what was a healthy life-style. PEDS offered me sessions with a highly competent, understanding specialised nurse in dealing with eating disorders, to support me on psychological aspects and a qualified nutritionist, to help me to put in place a more balanced diet. In the past year, they have both helped me to understand and to realise what was happening, to recognise when the “anorexic voice” was talking, and to manage situations that were problematic for me” “Today, I am glad to say that thanks to PEDS, their help and advice, I have put on some weight (back to a more normal and healthy one!), and my body is starting to work normally again. I feel much better psychologically, less obsessed by food and exercise and… enjoying social events around a meal without being too anxious! All of this was thanks to the help of the wonderful team at PEDS and their support! The support team has a lot of experience in dealing with the different kind of eating disorders. They are professional, listen to your personal experience and are able to give you specific and practical advises to feel better, to find solutions. When you talk with any members of team, you feel supported and understood. I would recommend PEDS to anyone with an eating disorders or anybody who knows somebody with one. " "I want say a huge thank you for your patience and support as I know I would not have made it this far without you. Thank you for all that you have done for me. I will never have the words to express what a difference you have made just by hearing me, supporting me, showing kindness and compassion and being firm when I was difficult! " 11 ## PERSONALISED EATING DISORDER SUPPORT "I did not think peer support would be for me at all. I've had various therapeutic interventions over the years, and they've all been 1:1; never with anyone else. I simply couldn't imagine how talking about your challenges and feelings with a bunch of strangers could be anything other than awkward, humiliating and cringey. So imagine my surprise, a few months on, that I now look forward to Thursday evenings to catch up with people who are no longer strangers, but people whose time and support and feedback I find so immensely valuable and a major part of keeping myself on track, and accountable. Despite us having different eating disorders, we all experience similar behaviours, feelings and thoughts. There is a shared understanding, and empathy. Something I thought may be negative and self-pitying, is in fact so positive and uplifting. I have been in tears in front of these people, who have held me, safely and sensitively, and allowed me time and space to just "be". Being publicly vulnerable is hard, but not here. The fact the group is run and facilitated by people who have been there, and in fact are still there, is reassuring and comforting. And every week it is overseen by the PEDS Nurses, keeping their expert eyes on us, there to step in if needed, with advice and words of wisdom. Peer support is a vital part of my recovery and management." 12