Shropshire team recovering from psychosis sails Welsh coast

The group of six worked as a team with four members of staff from the Early Intervention in Psychosis Service

A team of six young people recovering from psychosis have crewed a sailing boat around the Welsh coast.

The trip was organised by Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin's Early Intervention in Psychosis Service (EIPS).

It works with people who have experienced a first episode of psychosis.

"It was a nice little community where everyone helped each other out," said Laura Owen, who has been supported by EIPS for about two years.

"I always struggle with trust so it was a new experience for me, but you have to trust each other to get you through it."

The 25-year-old from Telford added that being out on the open sea was "very peaceful."

The team, which did fundraising to pay for the eight-day trip, set sail from Cardiff for Holyhead on 7 May.

A form of adventure therapy,"Voyage to Recovery" trips encourage service-users to overcome challenges away from their normal environment, said the NHS.

It is a UK-wide project run in partnership with Cirdan Sailing Trust.

The Shropshire group was supported by four staff members from Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs EIPS.

Senior early intervention practitioner Christine Pybus said working as a team to plan routes and navigate sailing conditions got them through "some incredibly challenging times".

"When we reflected on the trip, everyone commented on how much more resilient they felt," she said.

"They believed anything was achievable with a bit of perseverance and compassion shown to one another along the way."

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