Testimonials About The Centre
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January 2008 Dear Joe I would like to say a big thank you for bringing into being, such a wonderful place as the ‘Arbours’. I have never felt such acceptance, security and safety over the Christmas period and it has been thanks to the Arbours and the people within it. It was a pleasure to spend some time with you and your wife on Christmas day and get to know you a bit. I have to say I felt a great spiritual presence around you and felt very aware of god for the first time in ages. Thank you for the hard work you do at the Arbours and for making it possible for people like me to get the support in what’s usually a very difficult time for me. I hope one day to return this Safe Haven and meet you again. Kindest Regards, ‘Shalom’ Jac xxxx ‘The world is full of suffering (Name and address supplied) |
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| - Former Guest | |
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We write to express our great appreciation of the work done by the Arbours Association, and in doing so try to give some hope to desperate young adults and their parents and friends. Our son suffered a number of psychotic episodes and got in trouble with the police. Things were looking very bleak, and the local psychiatric/health/social services seemed unable to help him (or us). We heard of Arbours Crisis Centre through an acquaintance, and made enquiries. Our son was eventually offered a place, and the Local Health/Social services gave him the financial support to make it possible for him to take it up. After the Crisis Centre he subsequently spent time in a related Arbours community house. Our son’s life is now unrecognisable from what it was when he first went to the Crisis Centre. If he is not as self-confident and hopeful as he was before he became ill, he is nevertheless in remarkably good shape, and gives every sign of being able to live independently – something that once seemed impossible. He is also able to cope with talking about his situation in a remarkably frank and mature fashion. We all owe Arbours a great deal of thanks for this transformation – while also recognising the immense effort and courage it has taken, and still does – on the part of our son. Although as parents we had to face the difficult move of stepping back when he entered the Crisis Centre, we always felt he was in good hands, and we had confidence that those dealing with him were to be trusted. Over the previous years, we had often been scared out of our wits about what was going on, and what might happen. We were all living a nightmare – and most of all our son himself. Our son is now in a position to begin a new stage of life with some hope. Neither he nor we think the future will necessarily be rosy, but we do think there are grounds for being hopeful. It is not easy to find suitable accommodation, nor is finding work without problems, especially given the stigma attaching to mental illness. Nor will the task of developing a network of friends and supporters beyond the Arbours community be plain sailing. Our son needs a good dose of luck in his life, like all of us, but at least these are relatively normal problems, not those of nightmares. Not long ago we could not imagine ever being able to contemplate that life would begin to offer him such possibilities again. We want all the staff, permanent and volunteers, at Arbours to know that their (very difficult) work is greatly appreciated, and that they have not only changed the life-prospects of one young man, but have also helped his wider family to have a life again, when everything once looked utterly bleak. We wouldn’t be in the position even to write this if you yourself had not had the foresight and energy to set up Arbours all those years ago. If only such centres were available in all regions of the UK! We send you and your staff many heartfelt thanks, and we wish you all good luck and success with your excellent work. Yours sincerely (Name and address supplied) |
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| - Parents of Former Guest |
