The Anchor programme is just one expression of Treasure Seekers core belief that everyone has something valuable to contribute and our aim is to help individuals become ‘the best versions of themselves’. We work with adults (18+) with complex emotional needs on a one to one basis to support the development of life skills. The programme is bespoke to the individual and involves heavily supported training, support and skill development over a period of about a year.

Our History 

The Anchor is built upon the lessons learned and best practices from its pilot predecessor, which successfully and significantly connected individuals into appropriate community support, thus reducing high levels of inappropriate contact with services including the police force, ambulance service and A&E. We believe that the appreciable cost savings made to the services, the taxpayer and the local community were far outweighed by the transformation in the quality and breadth of life experienced by our trainees. [We refer to those on the programme as “Trainees”, rather than service users, as our goal is to act as a training ground for learning essential life skills, which requires an individual’s full participation and involvement].  The Anchor programme which exists now was designed to offer this original enablement model to a greater number of individuals, creating potentially life-changing opportunities for those referred to the programme.

 

What We Do

The Anchor team works intensively with individuals living with complex emotional needs. We help them identify and work towards their own goals, guided by our Anchor values, which are:

• Community
• Identity
• Independence
• Motivation
• Relationships

Working intensively means: 6-10 contact hours per week in 2 hour slots, Monday to Friday, to be built up at a speed appropriate for the individual. Hours decrease towards the end of the year, as they become more independent and discover new support networks.

Who can we help?

The Anchor programme is a person centred service for individuals with complex emotional needs, who benefit from a practical approach to overcoming the barriers they face in life. We work with people who are already under secondary mental health care, those who have exhausted other support pathways, and those who are frequent users of emergency services. The people accepted onto The Anchor programme experience a combination of challenges, including, but not limited to:

• EUPD/BPD
• OCD
• Agoraphobia
• Eating disorders (non clinical)
• Anxiety
• Neurodiversity
• Emotional dysregulation
• Addictive behaviours
• PTSD/C-PTSD

Referrals

Referrals need to be supported by a mental health worker (e.g. the Recovery Team), a social worker or another professional involved in an applicant’s mental health care. Applications will be considered by the Anchor Panel, and the supporting mental health worker may be invited to an Anchor Panel meeting to discuss the suitability of the programme for the applicant. Applicants should have long term mental health needs that have a moderate to severe impact on functioning.