The People Focused Group empowers people to take back control and then to make their own life choices.
Author: Glyn Butcher
What sets the People Focused Group (PFG) apart from other groups - in my opinion - these are my words and my experiences. I am so thankful and grateful for being part of such an amazing peer support group, thank you for reading.
The People Focused Group (PFG) does stuff, they get stuff done, they have changed the world of disability and recovery and how peer support is delivered. One of the fundamental principles of PFG is: we are all members first, we are both peer supporters and peer supported. We are both the helper and the helped.
PFG doesn’t have a referral policy, you don’t need to be referred to PFG, you don’t have to meet lots of criteria to attend and jump though loads of hoops.
PFG has an open door policy were you can come in straight away on the same day, no 6 week or 8 week or 6 month waiting list to wait on to access the service.
You don’t have to prove how unwell you are to attend PFG and get a service and receive support. You are not expected to be there at certain times, you are not expected to join groups for fear of being kicked out of PFG because you are not making the numbers up.
Instead at PFG:
PFG is for anyone with or without disability, it’s for everyone in the community because PFG believes recovery happens within the community.
PFG are not frightened to get dirty and get stuck in to do the things other groups don’t want to do or not able to do. Persistency is a critical factor in the viability and success of the organisation and is one of its underlying essential qualities.
The PFG folk are proactive not reactive, they enable people to be empowered to make choices and decisions for their own lives by taking back control. Great value is placed on this principle throughout PFG and it is one of the cornerstones of the Membership.
PFG encourages peer representation in helping to redesign services though the opportunities it provided. PFG staff recognise that PFG members are real people with real stories and real experiences and can talk for themselves about being included and excluded from within a service, and they can help to identify blockages and barriers and best practice that makes a difference in their life’s and in the life’s of countless others accessing those services.
PFG enables people to be creative about how people manage their lives and effectively problem solve their problems though flexibility and building resilience. Hope and kindness are the Key attributes that are shown to all people that enter The Wellness Centre Both Friend and Stranger, Everyone is prized And welcomed with a non-judgemental attitude, compassion and care.
PFG has interesting ideas about doing stuff, they have tons of energy and passion about helping people to help themselves. They are pioneers and entrepreneurs in Peer Support and are changing the landscape within the disability arena breaking the status quo and creating a new culture of thinking and living that is having a explosive and expansive effect throughout Doncaster and beyond.
There is so much more I could say about PFG, but here’s an invitation, come and visit us and find out for yourself.
PFG has saved my life and thousands of other people's too.
Find out more at: https://peoplefocused.org.uk
The publisher is Citizen Network Research. How We ‘Deliver’ Peer Support © Glyn Butcher 2023.
Peer Support, England, Article
