Bothy trip is real boost for Esteem team

 By Lucy Ashton

A mental health service team have headed out to the wilds on a skills-building adventure therapy trip for service users.

Esteem works with people who have experienced psychosis, offering different types of support in a community-based setting.

Last year saw a team of Esteem staff and service users crew a sailing yacht from Oban to Peterhead, but this year they are staying on dry land with a trip to a remote bothy in picturesque Glen Etive.

Occupational Therapist Sarah Stewart and Community Psychiatric Nurse Chloe Davers

The trip was in conjunction with Venture Scotland, a charity which offers progressive outdoor-based personal development to young adults.

Activities such as weaselling – getting through the smallest possible gasp in rock formations – and skills training took up the group’s time while they were effectively cut-off with no phone signal, meaning everyone could focus on the tasks laid out in the trip’s schedule.

Community Psychiatric Nurse Chloe Davers was part the Esteem team on this trip, having been part of the sailing crew last year.

She said: “Last year’s trip was great and we had excellent positive feedback from our service users, but I was looking forward to the bothy being a bit more comfortable than the yacht.”

While the bothy was comfortable but basic, the kind of washout we’re sadly all too used to in Scottish summers didn’t come along, meaning that outdoors was the place to be.

Chloe added: “The weather was brilliant – dry and warm, with no rain. All the patients enjoyed the experience and say they now want to do more outdoor activity in the future.

“I’m not sure we would have survived without the midgie nets though!”

Specialist Occupational Therapist Sarah Stewart, who was also on the trip, said: “It was a great trip with real benefits.”

The group take in the scenery surrounding the isolated bothy

James Bell, Esteem Team Leader, said: “Our experience of working with Venture Scotland in the past to provide trips such as this has shown these activities are a great opportunity for our service users to not only get the health benefits of nature, but also learn new life skills and build their confidence.

“There is always a lot of hard work before the trips, not only for our service users but also our staff, and we’re extremely grateful to Chloe and Sarah for their preparation and also giving their personal time to ensure this bothy trip is a useful experience for our service users.”