A message from Richard, Acting CEO; and all the team at Leeds Survivor-Led Crisis Service

At LSLCS, we’re proud to offer compassionate, non-medical support to people in crisis, including many people who’ve been traumatized by abuse and neglect.  We recognize the links between adverse childhood experience and ‘mental health problems’ in adulthood.  Many people are also re-traumatized in the mental health system, labelled and stigmatized as having a ‘personality disorder’ or ‘psychotic’, when in fact their ‘symptoms’ are understandable human responses to terrible things that’ve happened to them.

Recent events – the murders of George Floyd and many others; the huge upsurge in protests against police brutality; the effects of COVID-19 – have reminded us (and those of us who are white should ask ourselves: why do we need reminding?) that people from BAME groups are disproportionately affected by systemic discrimination and health inequalities.  And poverty and racism can traumatize individuals as surely as sexual abuse and emotional neglect can.  At LSLCS, we fully support the Black Lives Matter movement; and recognize that people from BAME groups are at risk from systemic racism in many ways – complex psychological trauma; increased risk of dying from physical health issues; over-representation in the mental health system; and even outright murder.

We’re proud to offer a BAME-specific service (Dial House@Touchstone), staffed by BAME-workers, offering culturally specific crisis support.  But we know that it’s not enough to offer a service – as an organization, we need to work hard at rooting out our blind spots and prejudices.  This is not a time to be complacent – it’s a time for humility, listening and for actively interrogating ourselves and our actions.  We’re committed to doing this work; and call on others in the mental health world to do likewise.  BLACK LIVES MATTER – let’s all make sure that that phrase actually means something in mental health services.

Covid-19 and Services update

All our services are operating to some degree during the pandemic.

Dial House

Dial House, the Leeds voluntary sector Crisis Service is open 6pm–2am on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

• Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays phone and video support (via Zoom, FaceTime, Skype etc.) is available.
• We are picking up the telephone all night (this is a change from our recent practice of only taking referral calls up to 9:30pm). That means, you can call us much later at night on 0113 260 9328 and a trained crisis support worker will be able to speak to you for up to 1 hour. (Alternatively text us on 07922 249 452).
• Wednesdays and soon Saturdays Dial House itself will be open for visits, with priority given to those who have not been able to access remote support this year. Referrals made as normal.

For more information please contact Barry Cooper, Dial House Manager on 0113 260 9328 (office hours Monday, Tuesday and Thursday), or email barry.cooper@lslcs.org.uk

Dial House@Touchstone

• Phone support is currently available under lockdown, as it has not yet been determined that the normal service can be resumed safely.
• To make an referral, call 0113 249 4675 or text 07763 581 853.

For more information please contact Carol Gatewood, Manager on 0113 260 9328 or via carol.gatewood@lslcs.org.uk.

Connect

The Connect helpline is running every day, 6pm–2am as normal.

• Support is available over the phone or online.
• Call 0808 800 1212 to request a call back and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Let us know a latest time for a call back or if you have any preferences for your support worker, such as gender.
• To talk to someone online, click the button at the top of the screen when it says Online, or go here: https://www.lslcs.org.uk/services/connect-helpline/ We’ll get to you as soon as we can. If there’s no one available when you go online, we may ask for a mobile number to text you when someone is free. As above, let us know your latest time and any preferences and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
• While the team is working from home, we’re using our own mobile phones and withholding numbers.
• Phone supports are up to 30 minutes and online supports up to 45 minutes currently.

Teen Connect

Teen Connect helpline is running every day as normal. Monday to Friday it is open 3.30pm–2.00am, at the weekend 6pm–2am.

• Teen Connect is now available to ages 11-18.
• Support is available over the phone, online, or by text.
• Call 0808 800 1212 for a call back and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Let us know any preferences for your support.
• Text us on 0771 566 1559 and a member of staff will let you know when someone will be available to talk with you.
• To talk to someone online, click the button at the top of the screen when it says Online, or go here: https://www.lslcs.org.uk/support-consent/?teen=1
• Supports can be up to an hour long.

Groups

Some groups have been able to operate remotely over Zoom and some have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. Contact Patrick Gatewood for more information on specific groups on 0113 260 9328 or via patrick.gatewood@lslcs.org.uk.

• The Combating Isolation group has been set up specifically for support during these challenging times. It’s available over Zoom every Thursday, 12.30–2.00pm.

Leeds COVID-19 Volunteers’ Debrief Service

This is a new helpline to help support anyone volunteering on the Covid frontline in Leeds.

• Call 0113 483 0888. You can leave a message and we will call you back.

LSLCS will continue to do our very best but appreciate your understanding in this unprecedented time. We will keep everyone posted with further updates.

Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service (LSLCS) was set up in 1999 by a group of service users, who had campaigned for five years to develop the service (which became “Dial House”). Initially, LSLCS was run in partnership with Social Services, becoming a registered charity in 2001.  Dial House was set up to be a place of sanctuary, as an alternative to hospital admission and statutory services for people in acute mental health crisis. LSLCS was established, and continues to be governed and managed, by people with direct experience of mental health problems. We have our own unique perspectives on what it feels like to be in crisis and what helps and does not help.  We have developed our LSLCS based on this knowledge and experience, while responding to the needs articulated by our visitors and callers.

We are part of a network of mental health services in Leeds.  We liaise with and undertake joint work with other services, while maintaining our identity as an innovative, service user led voluntary sector organisation providing face-to-face crisis services (Dial House, and Dial House @ Touchstone),  telephone and video chat support (Connect Helpline, Teen Connect, Deaf Connect) and Groupwork; along with partner working with other mental health services, we are part of the Leeds Suicide Bereavement Service (in partnership with Leeds Mind) and The Wellbean Cafes (in partnership with Touchstone).