Following a Community Grant application from CareTech Plc employee, Jacqueline Lansbury, the CareTech Foundation was delighted to support 
bemix, a social enterprise based in Kent. Through our collaboration with bemix, the Foundation will support the Wellbeing project, which offers peer mental health support and counselling services to those most in need.
The organisation is made up of people with and without learning difficulties and/or autism, working and learning together. People with learning difficulties and/or autism are supported to speak up, make choices, become powerful and influential, gain opportunities and become more independent. Bemix works with local communities to promote positive action and challenge negative attitudes about disability.
CareTech Plc first worked with bemix in the midst of a lockdown when Sean and the team at Palm Care, a CareTech Plc Service, united with bemix to 
produce the song “Isolation Maybe”. Inspired by this collaboration, Jacqueline approached the Foundation to understand how we could support this initiative further.
Supporting and nurturing people’s wellbeing is an important element of the work undertaken by bemix. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted people’s social life, support and therefore their mental health. In response, bemix launched the Wellbeing project to tackle isolation and support people with increased feelings of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Following initial grant funding by the Kent Community Foundation and Social Enterprise Support Fund, bemix appointed a Wellbeing Lead and developed a counselling provision in June 2020. This was designed to facilitate free and adaptive counselling for people with learning difficulties and/or autism. Through the additional support of £2,400 provided by the CareTech Foundation, this has enabled the service to continue delivering much needed support in 2021.
Between July and December 2020, bemix has facilitated counselling for 10 people with 136 sessions provided. Some of the users of the service shared their experiences below:
“Counselling helps me talk about thing that I can’t talk about that home and it helps with my mental health”
“The [counselling] sessions are led by myself and [my counsellor] is very flexible with times and dates which makes me feel valued”
Jonathan Freeman MBE, CEO, said:
“After what has been a difficult year, the Foundation is delighted in being able to support a much needed Wellbeing Programme aimed at overcoming mental health challenges faced by those most in need.”