Case Study: Alternatives Trust East London

Alternatives Trust East London is a small charity that empowers vulnerable families in the London Borough of Newham to transform their lives. The charity provides a range of services, including advocacy to address the causes of poverty, practical help, one-to-one parenting support, counselling and therapeutic support. 

Alternatives Trust East London participated in Good Thinking’s Small Grants Programme that ran across Newham in 2024. The purpose of the programme was to train organisations to become Good Thinking ‘super users’ to raise awareness of the wide range of resources available to support better mental health and wellbeing within local communities across the borough.

Members of the Alternatives team were trained as Good Thinking ‘super users’ to build confidence in using the wide range of Good Thinking mental health and wellbeing resources with their clients. Activities included; a presentation to the wellbeing group on Good Thinking and the resources available, discussions with mums in the Family Hub (a weekly social event), and support during individual counselling sessions with clients who were struggling with stress, anxiety and sleeplessness.

These sessions introduced Alternatives’ clients to the range of free digital Good Thinking resources available to support and empower them to take charge of their own mental health. This includes free mental wellbeing apps, workbooks, ‘how-to’ guides, podcasts, blogs and toolkits. After showing clients the website and how to navigate it, they were encouraged to look at the resources in their own time too.

The Good Thinking resources enabled Alternatives’ clients to openly discuss any concerns they had about their mental health, encouraging them to look at mental health concerns from a different perspective and remove the stigma often associated with asking for help.

• Clients gained a better understanding of common mental health conditions and symptoms. This helped them to manage their own mental health better because they knew the signs and symptoms to look out for when they felt uneasy within their own body or mind.
• As well as supporting clients of Alternatives Trust East London with their own mental health, the programme empowered them to feel confident in helping others within their own families and wider community. The mums who came to the Family Hub were able to share information with their children and said that talking about what young people go through on a daily basis, such as the pressure of exams, bullying and financial issues, helped them to understand their child’s mental health better.

Overall, the sessions helped to:

•  Boost mental wellbeing

The team introduced clients to the Good Thinking website with clients and encouraged them to look at the resources in more depth in their own time. Participants learned new techniques to deal with common mental health concerns, such as anxiety, stress and low mood.

• Break the stigma around mental health

The sessions helped to address various common misconceptions about mental health and gave Alternatives’ clients the confidence to talk openly about how they feel and to seek additional support.

•   Raise awareness of mental health resources

By introducing Good Thinking in a supported way – for example, by explaining the symptoms of mental health conditions and completing the workbooks provided – clients felt empowered to take proactive steps to improve their own mental wellbeing.

The main challenge was lack of time. As the organisation’s counselling sessions are only 50 minutes once a week and clients had other matters they wanted to discuss, there were limitations on how much time could be devoted to explaining the benefits of Good Thinking. 

1. Language is a barrier: As English is not the primary language of many of the clients that Alternatives Trust East London supports, this posed a significant barrier to effectively understanding the range of resources available through Good Thinking. Whilst some Good Thinking resources *such as the range of faith and belief guides) are translated into a range of community language, this isn’t replicated across the board, which poses limitations to understanding. As one client commented, “It would be useful to have the website fully in my language. Sometimes when I read the English I don’t really understand.”
2.  It’s important to have a range of resources: Having access to practical workbooks and guides was particularly useful for Alternatives’ clients. They also found the faith-based information helpful as a way of reflecting about mental health in their faith. The mindfulness activities, videos and podcasts were also very helpful.’ One client noted, “I like the videos and podcasts. I like listening to others talk and understand things better through this way. It makes me feel like I am not struggling on my own with depression.”
3. There’s a ripple effect: The Alternatives clients who were introduced to Good Thinking said they found the platform very beneficial for the entire family. In the counselling sessions, clients were keen to discuss how Good Thinking resources help to promote good mental health and wellbeing, not only for them but for their children and other family members. As one client said, “I will continue to use the tools in the Good Thinking programme. I like to read through things with my older daughter. I feel like we support each other.”

The Alternatives team will continue to direct clients to the Good Thinking website during counselling sessions so they can explore a particular mental health challenge together and continue using the resources at home.