The Anchor programme is just one expression of Treasure Seekers core belief that everyone has something valuable to contribute to their community and our aim is to help individuals become ‘the best versions of themselves’. We work with adults (18+) with complex emotional needs on a one to one basis to support the development of life skills. The programme is bespoke to the individual and involves heavily supported training, support and skill development over a period of about a year.

History

The Anchor is built upon the lessons learned and best practices from its pilot predecessor, which successfully and significantly connected individuals into appropriate community support, thus reducing high levels of inappropriate contact with services including the police force, ambulance service and A&E. We believe that the appreciable cost savings made to the services, the taxpayer and the local community were far outweighed by the transformation in the quality and breadth of life experienced by our trainees. [We refer to those on the programme as “Trainees”, rather than service users, as our goal is to act as a training ground for learning essential life skills, which requires an individual’s full participation and involvement].  The Anchor programme which exists now was designed to offer this original enablement model to a greater number of individuals, creating potentially life-changing opportunities for those referred to the programme.  

What does this look like in action?

Our team initially builds honest, professional yet non-clinical relationships with the individuals on the programme, viewing them as unique people whom we get the pleasure of working with. We look ahead with the trainees to the goals they would like to work towards and achieve in life, which can be long or short term goals. We goal set with them using the SMARTER Goal model. This compliments The Recovery Star Model we use, which is the way we formally assess and track progress. We recognise that everybody’s journey is different and we know that life change does not always follow a linear pattern, so we take a flexible and personalised approach to training whilst encouraging and generally expecting our trainees to commit fully to the programme. We work with individuals for approximately 1 year, 5 days a week for much of that time, but phasing that down with them gradually so that they are equipped to manage life without the support of their Anchor Trainers once the programme ends, and instead can rely on themselves or their external support networks. All of our work is shaped and guided by the Vision and Values of the Anchor.

Referrals

Referrals need to be supported by a mental health worker (e.g. the Recovery Team), a social worker or another professional involved in an applicant’s mental health care. Applications will be considered by the Anchor Panel, and the supporting mental health worker may be invited to an Anchor Panel meeting to discuss the suitability of the programme for the applicant.