An initial meeting to gauge interest in setting up a jobs cooperative for people with mental health difficulties has been hailed a success.
Around 15 people, including mental health professionals and those living with mental illness, got together to discuss the idea proposed by Dundee man Alex Sandison.
Alex hopes the initiative will allow individuals who can’t work full time to complete tasks on good days and hand over work during bad patches.
He explained that now there is enough interest in the idea, he can start sorting out the practicalities to make the scheme a reality.
Alex said: “The meeting was a success — there was a consensus that there is a genuine need for something different in Dundee to help those with mental health difficulties.
“In total, there were around 15 people at the meeting. There were a couple of professionals who work in mental health, and they gave me some useful information and expressed interest in helping to make the initiative happen.
“There were also people there who said they would be interested in using such a service.
“The next step would be getting ourselves organised. We need to start communicating and getting to know each other, as well as coming up with a prototype for the service.
“We need to work out what’s involved in setting up an organisation from the practical and legal point of view, then we would need to talk to employers who would be interested in being involved, and reach out to more and more people who would want to use the service.”
Alex explained that it is often a challenge for people with mental health problems to fit into the conventional mould that is needed for working a regular job.
It is envisaged that a job co-operative would ultimately work as an organisation that provides services to clients, just like any other business.
