Change Mental Health’s Advice and Support Service provides critical support to those dealing with various emotional and financial challenges, including substance use, difficult family situations and poor mental health. It connects people with essential resources and extends care to their families, guiding them through recovery and overall wellbeing.

When Grace reached out to our Advice and Support Service, she searched for support for her sister, who lives in a rural area outside Inverness. Grace was concerned about her sister’s wellbeing and shared that her sister had experienced abusive relationships, struggled with alcohol and substance dependency, and was dealing with ongoing mental health issues, including paranoia. Her sister was isolated and in desperate need of support and community but could not reach out for help.

Grace and her parents, also living outside Inverness, felt lost and unsure about available resources. They were worried and didn’t know where to turn. This sense of helplessness was taking a toll on the entire family, as they could not provide the support her sister needed.

Our team put together a comprehensive list of local and national support services to fit Grace’s sister’s needs. This included contacts for Befriending Highlands and Nature for Health walks, after learning about her sister’s love for the outdoors and her dog. We also provided details on counselling, domestic abuse survivor support and substance use services. Our goal was to ensure she had access to various resources to support her recovery and improve her quality of life.

Grace was incredibly grateful. She wrote to us:

“I just wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to source and send me the information last night. I really appreciate the effort you put into our behalf. It was so comprehensively laid out that I could forward it to my mum.” 

Knowing that her sister would have access to the right support services was a massive relief for Grace and her family.