Caroline Roe and Amy Harris
Caroline and Amy, both from
Nottingham, had been out of work for a number of years
and had both suffered with mental health difficulties.
With support and funding from The Prince's Trust, they
have now set up their own social enterprise to help those affected
by self harm.
Caroline often felt suicidal, whilst Amy had
social anxiety disorder limiting her ability to access the
world.
Both women had experience of self-harm and were frustrated with
the lack of support and understanding available. With the help of
The Prince's Trust they set up Harmless, a social
enterprise that provides a range of professional services, products
and help to those affected by self harm.
They were provided with funding from The
Prince’s Trust to help get their innovative idea up and
running.
They received financial and business support
from The Prince’s Trust from the very beginning which has helped to
boost their own confidence. Harmless CIC is now incredibly
successful. Caroline and Amy now employ six staff, have supported
over 700 people and receive approximately 65,000 hits on their
website every month.
Harmless offers psychotherapy to
clients who are affected by self harm helping to promote recovery
amongst a hard to reach group as well as offering sessions of
training support and information products for social services,
schools and health authorities. Harmless has also
published a workbook and a poetry book, filmed a DVD and an
animation as well as providing a range of information products to
enhance skills and understanding in the public and professional
arena.
They have not only developed a service much
needed in the Nottinghamshire area, but one which now serves the
whole of the UK
Caroline regularly speaks at Prince's Trust
events to raise awareness of The Trust and the work of
Harmless.
The Prince’s Trust provided us with help that
we couldn’t find elsewhere; they saw potential in us and our
concept for Harmless and enabled us to develop a service that meets
the need of vulnerable people who otherwise would be
ignored,
she says.
Champions
We would like to acknowledge the individuals or organisations
who have played a key role in helping this young person achieve
success through their Prince’s Trust programme.
- David Hogg, Programme Manager, The
Prince’s Trust
- Jenny Britten, Mentor, The Prince’s
Trust
- Michelle Targett, European Regional
Development Fund,