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John is a Wellbeing Worker for P3’s BeWell Service in Derbyshire. BeWell supports people with their mental health by helping to reduce social isolation through community groups, local trips and tailored one-to-one support. The team is trained to provide help during difficult times, including when people are experiencing what’s known as a ‘mental health crisis’. John brings both professional training and lived experience to his role. Here, he shares his personal journey, what it means to support others and how it feels to work for P3.
When asked why he chose to work in mental health, John explains what motivated the career choice.
“I started this sort of work because of an accident I had when I was younger. At age 17, I was doing music and went on a college exchange trip to Xanten, Germany. After playing in a gig one night, a friend of mine jumped on my back – not that this was his fault at all – and my leg broke.
“I still can’t go into too much detail as I still find it quite harrowing, but to give you an idea, one of the bones that broke in my leg hit an artery. Sadly, the doctors didn’t notice this damage, so I ended up with Compartment Syndrome, meaning I needed a lot of operations.”
Compartment Syndrome is a condition caused by increased pressure within a muscle, which reduces blood flow and damages tissue.
John says, “I had between 30 to 40 operations over a three-month period.” He goes on to explain how during that time, he faced multiple serious complications.
“I had to have a few operations while I was awake because of blood poisoning (septicaemia), which was pretty intense. At this point I was still in Germany; I couldn’t get home because I was too poorly and the insurance didn’t cover that sort of travel. Though we eventually came back to England on my eighteenth birthday.
“At this point they did a lot of investigation into my leg to see how damaged it was. In the end, they gave me a few options, but by this point I had around 99 per cent muscle loss.
“With no muscle at all, they amputated the limb below the knee. So after that, I thought everything was fine. I was rebuilding my life, learning to walk again, but I didn’t realise all the mental health issues that were sort of festering in the background.”
Alongside the physical trauma, John says the emotional impact shaped much of his early adulthood, and he turned to heavy drinking as a way of coping with the stress. He said he finally reached a turning point where he recognised that something had to change.
“Eventually I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), on top of everything else. But after the diagnosis, I was able to start rebuilding my life.
“I met my partner, and years later, I don’t drink anymore and have two children and two grandchildren. So now I’m fine, but for a long-time I was really struggling – especially from the age of 18 to 26 where I struggled to leave the house – so though things are better, they’re not perfect.”
John says supporting his own mental health is something he still actively does today, and that lived experience helps him relate to the people he supports:
Turning to his work with BeWell, John says the connections he builds with people are what matter most.
“It feels great to be able to connect with people. I think helping people and seeing a difference to their lives means everything to me.
“We see a lot of loneliness in the people we support, it’s not that we bring companionship, but a sense of belief that they can make positive changes in their own lives.”
He believes P3’s BeWell team plays a vital role in helping people regain confidence and agency.
“I genuinely feel that [P3’s BeWell team] are instrumental in helping people to build up their self-confidence and independence. That’s what we’re all about: building people’s confidence through support. Obviously it helps them, but personally, it helps me, too, with my own mental health.
“At times, I have struggled with my anxiety and self-confidence since I’ve started in this role, but I’ve never had so much support in a job, ever. The wonderful thing about the BeWell service is that we all come with our own stuff and are all at different [points] of the spectrum.
“We’re all able to support from different angles, and all learning from each other on a constant basis. This service is always changing, but because we’re there to support each other, we can then always be there for the people we support.”
John says the work can be emotionally demanding, but the team’s openness helps them support one another.
“The nature of the job means we come across some very personal issues and people who are really struggling. We wouldn’t be human if that didn’t have some sort of effect on us. We’re all people that wear our hearts on our sleeves, so have naturally become so comfortable with one another.”
That empathy, John says, is what drives the team to go the extra mile: “I think what makes us good at our jobs is that we all go out of our way to make sure that we help; every person on the BeWell service goes above and beyond to support people who are going through crisis. I can’t say exactly what it is, but it’s that sort of feeling we have that ultimately makes us good at our job. I guess what I’m saying is because it does affect us personally, it means we go the extra mile to help people.”
John goes on to say that sometimes, providing support means making difficult decisions: “Sometimes doing the right thing by somebody is the hardest thing to do.”
John recalls supporting an elderly woman with early-onset dementia. Over time, her safety at home became a serious concern. He says, “With no independence, we weren’t really providing support, but care. And that’s what happened: she had to go into a care home. It was sad, but best for her. Something that stuck with me was that despite having dementia, she could recall all of the trips we took her on. It was great to see the positive impact we made on her mental health, even towards the end.”
Seeing that positive impact you have on somebody, it’s just incredible. When people are so lost and so low, and you see that flicker, that smile, that change – that feeling is just incredible.
John describes P3’s BeWell programme as a unique service tackling loneliness and social isolation, particularly in rural communities like Derbyshire. “The trips we do are so popular because they really do break down this barrier of social isolation. The people we support sometimes feel excluded because of their mental health and because of the tight-knit nature of these communities.
“If these people feel like they can’t communicate and connect with their peers or with us, that can become really lonely and directly impacts mental health. That’s why, with guidance, we get people together in the form of trips.”
John goes on to say that like all P3 services, BeWell takes a holistic, person-centred approach, which is the key to its success.
“There’s a lot of emotional support that we give to people”, he says. “There’s a lot of people that need reassurance. With the medical side of things, we have regular contact with local psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists and adult social care to make sure we cover all grounds, even though we ourselves don’t provide direct medical support.
“We support people to attend appointments and help them take care of themselves when their mental health starts to slip – or when they’re doing well. Sometimes, it’s better that people have less support, in a way, especially when it comes to independence.”
For John, accessibility and openness at work are essential. He says, “When I was 18, I didn’t want to be put in a box, so I didn’t like to say I have a disability. But I’m now 45 and I’m pretty open about it. Actually, I think it’s so important to talk about it.
“Personally, I suffer with a lot of infections in my leg…; It means [for a temporary period of time] I can’t [always] walk, but I feel like it hasn’t changed dynamics at work; I have so much support from my seniors and my service co-ordinator. The team have tailored who I support so that I am not doing any walking or anything physical. As a service, [the BeWell team] have been great at adapting my role as far as my disability is concerned and we’re pretty open as a team.”
John believes feeling included at work has a powerful impact on wellbeing and confidence.
He also understands how difficult visibility and change can feel: “When I initially had the accident, that was something I struggled with. I didn’t want to be seen or recognised; a physical change at that age has a monumental impact on your wellbeing. So I get that feeling, and being able to have that connect with people is vital. We don’t always get it right, but it’s all about working with people until we do.”
Listening to John speak so openly about his journey, it’s clear why he’s such an inspiration to the people around him. The challenges he’s faced and the progress he continues to make show what high-quality support can achieve when it’s built on compassion, consistency and resilience.
Stories like John’s show how creating an open, inclusive workplace can make a real difference to people’s confidence and wellbeing. If you’d like to find out more about P3’s BeWell service or work for P3, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch or explore opportunities using the buttons below.
