At the Cart Shed, we believe that being involved in nature has benefits for everyone.
Information for Professionals
Before you refer someone to our service, there are a few things you should take into account.
Level of Support
We are charitable organisation providing a basic Tier 1 mental health service. We endeavour to support as many people as we can, and referrals are considered on an individual basis, however the nature of our environment, our staffing levels, the type of provision we offer, and the fact that our Young Cart Shed provision runs alongside our adult provision, means there are some individuals we are unable to work with.
Please be aware that we cannot work with:
· Individuals that pose a risk to children or young people.
· Individuals with a history of sexual offending.
· Individuals that are aggressive or violent and pose a risk to our team or participants.
Referral for individuals that fall into the above categories will not be accepted.
Please be aware that for anyone that is being supported by Probation services, we require a full risk assessment from Probation at the point of referral so that we can make an informed decision as to the suitability of that individual for our service. We can only consider those that Probation has assessed as low risk to others. Without this risk assessment information, the referral will be rejected as incomplete.
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Individuals in mental health crisis, especially if they are not receiving support elsewhere. We are able to sign post and refer on but have limited capacity to provide ongoing 1:1 mental health support. The interventions we provide are predominantly activity and group-based with a focus on mental health promotion, so primary or specialist mental health support needs to be provided by a statutory or private service.
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Individuals presenting with predominantly behavioural issues. Behaviours of any sort that cause distress to other participants or that are disruptive to service provision and that cannot be moderated effectively following intervention, will result in the placement being withdrawn. We need to ensure that we maintain a welcoming, safe, non-judgemental and therapeutic space for our service users.
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Individuals requiring 1:1 support on site. Individuals need to be able to manage the site, facilities, tools and activities safely and with minimal support. We have a low staff to participant ratio, so our focus is on facilitating engagement in the activities on offer and we have limited capacity to provide individual support beyond this.
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Individuals requiring ongoing support from a support worker or personal assistant on site. Beyond Taster Days and transitions periods where we can accommodate external 1:1 support to help get individuals started and settled with us, we cannot work with those that need this level of external 1:1 support on site on a longer-term basis. We need to manage numbers on site so that sessions are not too busy or overwhelming for participants. Regularly having additional people on site has a detrimental impact on the therapeutic group dynamic we aim to create.
Individuals with complex physical health needs. Managing complex physical health needs in a woodland setting can be challenging due to uneven terrain, unpredictable weather, and limited accessibility including steps to access toilets on all sites. Individuals must be able to take responsibility for and self-administer any medication they require and be able manage personal care tasks, such as feeding themselves and using the toilet, independently. Certain types of specialist medical equipment (such as oxygen tanks) are not suited to being in the woods due to the nature of our environment, which includes open fires. Please be aware that in these circumstances we may not be able to accommodate the request for a place, or to offer a place at certain times of the year because of weather conditions.
Mobility
We are based outdoors in a woodland environment and as such the ground can be uneven, slippery and there can be trip hazards such as tree roots. Our environment may therefore not be suitable for those with poor mobility or poor balance, or those that need certain types of walking aids such as rollator frames. We have open fires on site, so are cautious about accepting referrals for individuals that experience falls or seizures. There is a walk of about 100m from the car park to the woodland site that individuals need to be able to manage.
There are composting toilets on site that are on raised platforms with four 6” steps to access, so individuals need to be able to manage steps independently in order to be able to use our toileting facilities.