Support team to swim for Bridport's Chapel in the Garden

Members of the Support, Transition and Recovery Team (START) from the Dorset HealthCare trust will be taking part in a charity swim at the town’s leisure centre on Saturday, April 20 from 10.30am to 3.30pm.

There will be around 11 swimmers who will work to cover 22 miles between them – the equivalent distance of swimming the Channel from England to France at its shortest point.

All money raised from the swim will support the Chapel in the Garden on East Street in Bridport.

START (Support, transition, recovery, team) for Dorset HealthCare (Image: Sarah Jones)

The centre facilitates and organises various different outreach programs that help the local community such as providing a meeting space for the Bridport Community Fridge and the Saturday Café social meeting group.

Sarah Jones, support time recovery worker from START, says the chapel was chosen as its core values of inclusivity and diversity are shared by the support service.  

“The Chapel in Garden is a good community link. We work well together so we thought we’d give something back to them.

“Also, part of what we do is helping people to set goals and being active is a fantastic goal for clients across the ward.  It fits in with what our role is as well like to help people.”

START is an NHS secondary service which works alongside community mental health teams, offering person centred, focussed and time-limited interventions.

 Sarah added: “The service is always led by the client recovering from mental health. We work alongside them to help set goals, encourage interests and aspirations.

“It’s important to be social and have a meaningful structure in life. We all love our jobs and practise what we preach.”

Chapel in the Garden front sign on East Street in Bridport (Image: Sarah Jones)

The team have set up a JustGiving page with a current goal of raising £200.

The START team are also encouraging as many people as possible to come along and highlight the value of the centre as an important social hub.  

Sarah said: “There's so much going on at chapel. It would be the first place I would go to if I was looking for support. There’s a diverse range of groups going on there, it gives a good platform to the community. I think that’s why we want to give something back.”

You can donate to the fundraiser by going to the JustGiving page: https://tinyurl.com/4kxxjyxp