At BHT Sussex, the approach we take to help our clients is a collaborative one, ensuring they have agency in their own lives. This empowers them to change their lives and gain independent skills for living. The story of one of our Shore House clients, Harry, highlights this approach, which allowed him to recover from an intentional overdose, reconnect with his family and carry out lasting change to his lifestyle. This is his story. Following an intentional overdose of over-the-counter medication that could have proved fatal, which resulted in a hospital admission, Harry was referred to Shore House – one … Read more

BHT Sussex is a member of Pathfinder West Sussex – an alliance of organisations working together to enable people with mental health support needs, as well as their carers, to improve their mental health and wellbeing. As part of this offering, Pathfinder has many volunteer peer mentors. Peer Mentors use their lived experiences of mental health challenges to create a supportive environment where their clients can discuss their needs, as well as work towards achieving their goals and aspirations. This is the how one of our peer mentors, Lindsay, became a volunteer at Pathfinder. “I ended up in hospital due … Read more

Having someone you can rely on to help you through difficult situations is essential to a stable environment. This is what we provide in our supported housing service in Mid Sussex. Our clients each have a dedicated support worker who helps them gain independent living skills and improve their overall wellbeing. Such stability and frequent one on one support can effect great change in our clients. This was the case for Josie who came to Mid Sussex Supported Housing following a long-standing history of severe mental health issues. This is Josie’s story. Josie is a young woman with autism who … Read more

Wendy and her adult son, who both live with autism, were facing severe housing challenges. Wendy is the sole carer of her son, who has mobility issues, and they were living in a property that was unfit for habitation. This is Wendy’s story. Wendy’s home was in a state of severe disrepair, with frequent flooding rendering the downstairs of the house uninhabitable. The constant environmental hazards worsened the challenges for Wendy and her son, making it increasingly difficult for both to maintain any sense of stability or comfort in their living conditions. Additionally, both Wendy and her son were agoraphobic … Read more

Maintaining employment whilst being insecurely housed is difficult and can have a negative impact on someone’s mental wellbeing. Our Accommodation for Work project was set up to help people like Zehra, who came to us whilst in emergency accommodation. Zehra was forced to leave her family home due to her mother’s health issues and difficult dynamics in their relationship. Facing homelessness, she was placed into emergency accommodation before coming to the Accommodation for Work’s temporary shared accommodation. Whilst this was happening, she was still working part-time as a support worker in a mental health hospital. Zehra found the job difficult … Read more

BHT Sussex is one of the only Legal Aid providers in the South East, making the work of our Immigration Legal Service incredibly important. This service provides advice and representation for many people trying to claim asylum in the UK. As part of this service, we help and represent many minors who have arrived in the UK unaccompanied. This was the case with Iva. This is her story. Iva was kidnapped as a 15-year-old and brought to the UK by traffickers who intended to exploit her. She managed to escape from her trafficker when she arrived in the UK and … Read more

Living with unsupported mental health needs can make reaching personal goals seem unimaginable and unrealistic. However, through the support offered at Route One, our mental health supported accommodation, we help set our clients on the path to meet their goals and feel more in control of their own lives. This was the case with Eleanor, who gained the tools to move on with her life after coming to Route One. This is her story. Eleanor is a 32 year old woman who was living with undiagnosed bipolar disorder and emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). Eleanor was struggling with alcohol and … Read more

When a person has experienced many setbacks in life, it can be difficult to find a positive way forward. Prior to coming to Route One, our mental health supported accommodation, Alice was finding it hard to cope with mental and physical health needs, a breakdown of familial relationships and substance use issues. We helped Alice gain the support she needed to see a brighter future away from sofa surfing and into independent accommodation. This is her story. When Alice was referred to Route One, she had complex needs inclusive of emotionally unstable personality disorder, and challenges with depression and intrusive … Read more

Many clients who seek help from First Base, our day centre for people who are sleeping rough, have multiple and complex needs. When helping a person move away from rough sleeping and into more secure accommodation, the case workers at First Base consider all the physical and mental health needs a client may have. This approach helped Jim get off the streets. Read his story below. “Before I came to First Base, I had lost my supported accommodation and was rough sleeping on the streets. On my first visit to First Base, one of their case workers asked me if … Read more

At BHT Sussex we are known for our resilience and ability to persevere, despite significant setbacks. This is demonstrated by our Immigration Legal Service, who helped a young man achieve refugee status after a six-year battle. This is Ishaq’s story. Ishaq grew up in Egypt, where he lived until he was a teenager. Ishaq’s father was arrested and imprisoned because of an association with the Muslim Brotherhood – a banned organisation in Egypt. It did not matter to Egyptian law enforcement whether the association was real or just perceived. The prison he was sent to is infamous for housing political … Read more

Living day to day Last year, I was living a hectic life in Brighton and Eastbourne – to escape that I turned up on my mum’s doorstep, and I wasn’t looking well because I’d been on drugs for a long time. After 6 months Khan’s relationship with his mum and his recovery broke down. He had to leave his mum’s house and he returned to Brighton, where he had nowhere to live. He ended up sleeping rough. Khan was initially placed in emergency temporary accommodation, through the local Street Outreach Service, but he needed more supportive and longer-term housing, and … Read more

Mia, a 75-year-old Spanish woman, was living in sheltered accommodation and had been facing significant financial difficulties for approximately five years due to an ongoing issue with her National Insurance (NI) number. This issue caused her benefits to be repeatedly stopped and reinstated, leading to substantial gaps in income. Without consistent benefits, Mia fell behind on her rent, accruing significant arrears, and was at risk of homelessness. This is her story. The Initial Challenge The root cause of the problem was an error made when Mia first registered for benefits: she was assigned the NI number of another individual with … Read more