To mark Link Worker Day 2021, we chat to one of our social prescribing clients, Charles, to find out more about his personal experience of social prescribing (sometimes called link work) and the impact on his quality of life.

When Charles’s husband, Martin, was diagnosed with life limiting cancer ten years ago, the couple found themselves in a different world, full of medical appointments and difficult decisions. Having given up his career to look after Martin, Charles reached out to Together Co Social Prescribing to help him find the support he needed to cope.

“When you have been living with a cancer diagnosis for ten years, you run out of coping mechanisms. By the time I spoke to [my Together Co link worker] Mary, I had tried everything. I have been managing this for years. You reach a breaking point. The world is very frightening, and you have no sense of what to do. Mary helped bring some order. 

“She was very clear that we would do whatever is right for me. She was somebody who just listened, she instilled a sense of hope and strength. She got the balance right on being therapeutic but also helped with some practical stuff and I needed that balance.

“I am getting towards what services will help me longer term. I am volunteering in a community garden and I have an Albion in the Community Walking Support Buddy. It’s like the jigsaw puzzles being put together. It gives me structure.”

About Together Co Social Prescribing

Social connections are key to our wellbeing. Together Co Social Prescribing help people find the people and places they need to be happier and healthier. This might be having someone you can chat to when you need to, or someone who helps you navigate local services that could benefit you. We connect and we care. If you are feeling alone and live in Brighton and Hove, drop us a line to find out how we could help. The service is for people aged 18+.