External Support Agencies
Clergy Support Trust
Wellbeing grants are for clergy and their whole household and are designed to help promote your work/life balance. Households can apply once every 12 months for financial support grants and up to three times a year for an emergency grant when unexpected costs occur (examples include appliances, bereavement, car-related costs, clothing, energy, furniture, gardening and much more). You can also apply for health grants, wellbeing grants, debt support and independent school fee support where there is a special educational need. To be eligible you may own your own house but must have less than £16,000 of savings.
- Click here for more details.
Good Mental Health
Guide by Chris Cook ‘supporting good mental health’ attached. The effects of mental health problems are huge. Nearly nine out of ten people with mental health problems have been affected by stigma and discrimination. Given the challenging times we are living in with coronavirus, the reflections in this booklet were updated and new resources written in March 2020. They seek to provide hope, reassurance and comfort. If you want to speak to someone, please visit the Mental Health Foundation website, which has lots of helpful resources and contacts. Visit www.mentalhealth.org.uk
Living Ministry
Living Ministry work has been to produce the THRIVE model for how clergy can grow their wellbeing. The THRIVE model is based on the six points of:
- Tune your life to healthy rhythms
- Handle expectations
- Recognise times of vulnerability
- Identify safe spaces to be heard
- Value and affirm
- Establish healthy boundaries
With a particular emphasis on how clergy can think about their wellbeing during this time of Covid-19, Liz Graveling has written a short paper to provide some practical pointers for clergy, the report is available on the national CofE website.
ReSource
ReSource offers an Alongside Scheme which supports church leaders both in ministry and personal life of prayer. A trained ReSource Companion undertakes to meet with a church leader on a mutually agreed pattern, online and/or in person, and also commits to pray for the church leader in between their meetings. As a prophetic voice and critical friend, the ReSource Companion offers: a commitment to pray regularly for the church leader, objectivity from an outside context, the wisdom of their own ministry experience and the courage to ask searching questions.
- Click here for further details.
St Luke’s
St Luke’s are changing their provision and from June 1 2022, they are focussing their resources on improving the mental health and wellbeing of clergy and their families.
- Click here for further details.
Thrive Worldwide
We work with Thrive Worldwide who support us with clergy who may need additional support. This might be an occupational health referral or use of their psychological services team. Click here for more information about Thrive.