Katherine has always loved animals. When she first came to Change Mental Health in 2023, working with them felt out of reach. She was living with low mood and anxiety, and getting on a bus somewhere new was hard. Three years later, she volunteers at a local donkey sanctuary and she’s ready to move on with her life. 

Katherine was referred to the Employability Support Project in Dumfries and Galloway by a Community Link Worker in August 2023. She was already getting support from the Primary Care Mental Health Team. 

At her first meeting she described feeling overwhelmed by anxiety around people and new places. She said her long-term goal was to go back to college, work with animals or do some voluntary work, but she believed that would take a very long time. 

She chose the art group first. 

“I initially started in the art group as I was interested in art and wanted to learn, build my self-esteem and a sense of routine.”

The wider picture in Scotland 

At the time of referral, Katherine felt she might be autistic but hadn’t been able to get a diagnosis due to long waiting times for an adult assessment. Getting an autism assessment as an adult in Scotland can take years. In a 2025 survey by Scottish Autism, half said it was hard to get referred at all. The average wait from referral to diagnosis was 23 months. In Dumfries and Galloway, the health board confirmed in July 2026 that it has no adult autism assessment service. 

Without a diagnosis, people spend years not knowing why everyday things feel so much harder for them than for others. Masking, hiding how they feel so they can fit in, takes a great deal of energy. That effort can wear them down and over time it takes a toll on their mental health. Many autistic individuals live with anxiety and depression too. People may be offered support for anxiety or low mood alone or given a diagnosis that doesn’t fit. 

For Katherine, that meant finding out for herself what helped. 

Support from the Employability Support Project 

The Employability Support Project helps people across Dumfries and Galloway build the skills and confidence for work, volunteering or education. It combines group activities with one-to-one support. 

Kerry, a Senior Project Worker, saw early on which art materials Katherine struggled with. The team adapted the activities so she could keep taking part. 

When Katherine started to doubt her own ability and found changes to the activities hard, Kerry talked with her about why learning to cope with change mattered and why the group was a safe place to practise it. Other group members helped too, showing her it was okay to be at her own level and that her progress didn’t need to be measured against anyone else’s. 

A few months later, Katherine asked if she could join another group to give her week more structure. Kerry supported her into the film review group, where each member reviews a film and reads it out to the others. 

“I joined the film review group as I wanted to challenge myself to do something new and different that was outside my comfort zone.” 

She was nervous the first time she read hers aloud, but she did it. She said the group felt non-judgmental and that she felt “relaxed for the first time in ages”.

“During my time in both groups, I made friendships that I keep in touch with outside of Change Mental Health and have been able to build my confidence and develop my social skills.”

“I received a lot of support and encouragement from staff members who helped me to learn and grow as a person.”

What changed 

Over the next year, Katherine left the art group and joined two other groups run by the Employability Support Project: Dungeons and Dragons and British Sign Language. She kept making friends and began arranging to meet them outside the project. 

Progress wasn’t a straight line. In 2025, dips in her mental and physical health affected her attendance. She began working with an Occupational Therapist (OT) and Kerry put volunteering plans on hold until she felt ready. 

Katherine’s OT introduced her to SWAN Places, a monthly meet-up for autistic women and non-binary people at The Usual Place café in Dumfries. The group welcomes people whether or not they have a formal diagnosis. She went with her OT at first and now goes on her own.