Support group is still smiling after 10 years
AGROUP set up to support people dealing with parenthood or post-natal depression celebrates its 10th anniversary on Mother’s Day.
Perinatal charity Smile Group, based on Hulley Road, Macclesfield, was founded by Natalie Nuttall and Ruth Elgin in 2011.
Both had experience of postnatal depression and saw a gap in the community support available for themselves and others.
It has been filling that gap ever since, becoming a well-established and respected service and in 2020 helped more than 200 people.
Ruth said: “We are thrilled to be celebrating a decade of Smile Group. We’ve come so far since Natalie and I first set the wheels in motion in 2011.
“We’re proud to be featured in the Royal College of GPs’ Perinatal Mental Health Toolkit and to be rooted in our local communities.
“I know that if a charity like Smile had been around when I had my daughter in 2010 I probably wouldn’t have felt as lonely and unwell as I was.
“It’s so important to create trusted spaces for honest conversations.”
The charity offers peer support, talk therapy, one-to-one services and family sessions in Macclesfield, as well as in Congleton and Sandbach, in Cheshire.
This year services will be expanded further into Nantwich after grant funding from Cheadle Royal Hospital Charitable Trust.
Last year also saw Smile become part of The Hearts and Minds Partnership, supported by The National Lottery Community Fund.
This three-year programme is aiming to support and connect grassroots perinatal mental health services across England.
Chair of Smile Group Tania Stanway, a former perinatal psychiatrist, said: “Smile has grown from very small beginnings into a well-established, respected charity.”
She continued: “We have an incredible team and an appetite for sustainable growth.
“This year has been so challenging for new parents and we have worked really hard to adapt and respond to ensure continued support has been available.”
Smile will be hosting a series of virtual and face-to-face events (Covid restrictions permitted) in celebration of its anniversary this year and is set to launch its new website later this month.
For more information contact hello@thesmilegroup.org.