- Written by Dan O'Brien
- BBC West, Wiltshire Political Reporter
“This place is special because it's my safe haven,” said Simon Mundy, who works at the Olive Tree Cafe.
A mental health charity is helping dozens of people return to work through a community cafe.
Recovery Tree Charity, which operates a cafe and garden at Cheney House in Swindon, helps people rebuild their lives after a mental health crisis.
Many of the cafe's 80 volunteers and 23 paid part-time staff live with mental health issues.
Simon Mundy said it provided him with a “safe haven”.
He experienced a breakdown in his 20s.
“It would be impossible for me to get a full-time job because of my mental health issues,” he said.
Café manager Phyllida Richards said the cafe strives to help people lead “meaningful and fulfilling lives, including work and social life”.
He said the cafe and Twiggs Community Garden had “made a big difference. It's a place I actually feel safe and a place I want to come to.”
Recovery Tree not only helps people recovering from mental illness, but also adults with a variety of mental health issues.
Nick, a new employee with Down syndrome, said, “I used to work at a bank, but I lost my job there.''
“My favorite thing here is being at the register.”
Café manager Phyllida Richards said the cafe strives to help people live “meaningful and fulfilling lives, including their work and social lives”, without letting mental health issues become “all-consuming”.
“Mental health is something that never goes away,” she says.
“Many people live with a lifelong mental health condition.
“Some people started doing laundry and are now working shifts, but others may get jobs elsewhere.”
She said neither Twiggs Garden nor the Olive Tree Cafe would have worked without the long-standing charity support of Swindon's employer Zurich.
The cafe not only supports people recovering from mental illness, but also adults with a range of mental difficulties.
The company's Community Trust, under its previous names Allied Dunbar and Hambro Life, pioneered the concept of large companies supporting local communities.
Although this idea is common in today's corporate world, Swindon's example was one of the first in this country. The Zurich Community Trust will celebrate its 50th anniversary on New Year's Eve.
Steve Grimmett, director of the trust, said: “The creation of a charitable foundation to give back to the local community was the brainchild of a truly extraordinary man, Baron Joel Joffe.
The late Labor MP Baron Joffe moved to Swindon from his native South Africa, where he was Nelson Mandela's lawyer and was a founding member of the insurance company that later became Zurich.
“What's really important to us is working with small grassroots organizations that make a big difference by investing their time, skills and money,” Grimmett said.
