I just wanted to thank you for all the work you have been a part of with East Suffolk Council. Your contribution, honesty and sharing of your experience regarding your mental health journey has been incredible. I know that your frank discussions with the young people have helped them enormously, by giving them advise, support, strategies and above all hope. I very much look forward to working with you again and delivering the invaluable project of Crucial Crew Plus

Zoe Botton (Communities Officer)

The Restoration Trust has been collaborating with John Durrant for several years now, and he is a member of our Expert Board. John is an incredibly gifted communicator who can connect with all kinds of people. He helps to break down barriers that stop people from enjoying life and experiencing good mental health.

Laura Drysdale (Restoration Trust Director)

To have experienced what he has and be so passionate and determined to use these experiences to help others makes John one of those people you really want to know. I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside John a number of times, and witnessed him first hand commit too stepping outside of his comfort zone, developing his skills and confidence and using his expertise in his experience to help, support and educate others.

Beth Stephens (Access Community Trust)

John has supported Access for many years with a variety of projects ranging from delivering Crucial Crew training to young people, sitting on interview panels and guest speaking at large events. John is an amazing advocate for lived experience and provides honest and genuine reflections that educate us all. Proud to include John as part of Access #wearefamily.

Emma Ratzer (Access Community Trust)

Hi John,
Thank you for your talk today.  I haven’t often had the opportunity to see you and talk to you,  it was good hearing your story this morning. A better way to know more about you.
I don’t generally listen to podcasts (am shamefully useless with technology- also have concentration problems).

Tess (From a restoration trust group I lead)

“John came to support our Heritage for Wellbeing Groups during a visit with Rethink Mental Illness. John’s honesty in discussing his own experiences created an atmosphere of openness, and encouraged our participants to share their stories in a safe and respectful environment. Similarly, his knowledge of local mental health and wellbeing services helped people to contextualise their experiences and provided excellent information about how to access help when it is needed.”

Sophie Couling (Heritage Link worker Restoration Trust)

That’s great
And you were brilliant- I’m not saying that as an empty statement . You are a very charismatic person and your humour and kindness are infectious. You speak from both personal experience but with a huge amount of knowledge about mental health and mental illness , you know where and how to sign post and most of all you have the humanity you told us has been the ingredient you most seek in someone you turn to for your own care .

Dr Susanna Alyce (Lecturer, School of Health and Social Care. Lived Experience Lead DClinPsy.
PhD)

Dear John,
Thank you so much for coming to speak to us today. I used to be a peer worker- so know how hard it can be sharing your story with others not knowing how they’re going to respond. You are very brave and I really learnt a lot from you.

Dylan

Hi john,
Id just like to say how amazing your talk was today and it was fantastic to see just how humanising it was in addressing stigma towards individuals who have mental health difficulties, i would absolutely recommend it to all healthcare professionals to break down preconceptions further.
Kind regards,
Tom

Tom

Hello John,
I hope you are doing well☺️
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your lived experience of mental health and mental ill-health with us today. Hearing your story was so powerful and something no textbook can fully replicate. I learned a lot from you, particularly how you cope with your difficult experiences and how you define what “normal” is.

Poppy