About us

The Buckinghamshire Recovery College is a place where people can take part in social, creative, leisure, and educational activities.

It helps people learn about mental health and recovery. The goal is to give them tools to live a happy and fulfilling life.

How do our courses help?

We offer different courses that focus on improving wellbeing and recovery.

These courses:

  • Help people recognise their own strengths, talents, and skills.
  • Encourage them to become experts in looking after themselves.

Our courses are not therapy or medical treatment. Instead, they inspire people to care for themselves and others better by building confidence and skills.

What makes our courses unique?

Each course is created and delivered by two types of tutors:

  • Lived Experience Tutors: People who have personal experience with mental health challenges.
  • Professional Tutors: Mental health care professionals with formal training.

By combining real-life experience and professional knowledge, our courses are truly special and effective.

What is recovery?

Recovery is different for everyone. It means building a meaningful and happy life, no matter what challenges or conditions you face.

Recovery is about:

  • Using your skills and talents to achieve your goals.
  • Doing the things you want to do and becoming the person you want to be.

Therapy and medication may play a part, but recovery is much bigger than that.

Non-urgent advice: Your recovery journey

Everyone’s journey to recovery is personal and unique, but three things are especially important:

Hope

Recovery needs hope.

  • Having people around you who believe in you can make a big difference.
  • It’s hard to believe in yourself if others think you won’t succeed.
  • When you feel unsure, others can hold on to hope for you until you’re ready to believe in yourself.

Choice

Recovery means making choices about your life.

  • Decide what’s important to you and set milestones to work toward.
  • Take back control of your life, find new dreams, and create a sense of purpose.
  • Learn how to manage challenges so they don’t stop you from reaching your goals.
  • Choose the kind of support you need to achieve your ambitions.

Opportunity

Recovery is about opening up opportunities for a full and meaningful life.

  • Find activities, work, or hobbies that give your life value.
  • Take part in community life and enjoy leisure activities.

What is a Lived Experience Tutor?

A Lived Experience Tutor is someone who has experienced mental health challenges and has learned how to manage them well using recovery tools.

They are trained to teach and have support to handle any challenges that may come up during teaching. This helps ensure that they can offer the best possible help to others.

Page last reviewed: 20 January, 2025