Donald’s blog: My journey so far

Donald is a resident at Sanctuary Supported Living’s Cavendish Lodge in Ipswich, which provides specialise support for people who have faced or experienced homelessness.

In this blog post Donald shares his journey so far with managing his mental health and coping during the lockdown as the country responds to the Covid-19 pandemic.

My name is Donald and I have been a resident of Cavendish Lodge since early January 2020 where I have also been supported by staff at Cavendish Lodge.

I was signposted there by the Chapman Centre which also helped me to get involved in BBC Radio Suffolk, where I did a recording for the project about mental health in society and the lack of support for people with mental health issues in the workplace.

Following the first recording, the idea was that we were going to do some more. This was before the lockdown commenced, but unfortunately, because of Covid-19 this never happened, so I decided to use this time to do a mental health online course.

It has been difficult to cope and to manage my mental health because there has been a lack of resources and services to help especially during this global crisis.

I have managed to cope during the lockdown because I have had support from staff at Cavendish Lodge and I have been keeping busy by completing my course work on mental health, going for walks and receiving telephone support from my Key Worker, Vicky.

To find a homelessness service in your area, see our find a service page.

Download a printable PDF version (PDF 117KB) of this story.