A fierce three-headed dog, Greek mythology, mental health and Basingstoke are not things you would often come across in the same sentence. But visit Vyne Road - a progressive mental health day service in Basingstoke, Hampshire - and anything's possible.

"When I arrived in the mid-1990s the service was in a period of transition," says unit manager James Pearce, who now manages a learning difficulties day service unit. "We wanted to look at what was needed in the area and what we could provide within our remit: structured social support for people but recognising that everybody would have different needs. The service we now have evolved from that."

The evolved service has certainly benefited Mervyn Nolan, 59: "I was taken ill with depression in 1993. I didn't want to come to the day centre as I'd had a 30-year career as a business systems consultant and didn't think it was for me. But it's been a life-saver in lots of ways."

Central to Vyne Road's ethos is, says Pearce, "working from a sense of self-advocacy and a belief that coping strategies can enhance quality of life and developing partnerships with organisations around that".
Indeed, it is one such partnership that has brought the service to the very gates of hell. Well, sort of. A carer and service user training project, managed by Mark Miller, has attained "emerging social firm status". And it has marked the occasion with a new name: Cerberus Associates.

In Greek mythology, Cerberus was a three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades, the underworld where spirits (shades) went after death. "The name was a group decision," says Miller. "There was a consensus that we didn't want anything to do with fruit or flowers that often come up in the world of mental health."

The project's courses include confidence-building which covers self-esteem, assertiveness and anxiety management. This is an eight-week, one session a week course. "But there's also an opportunity to take part in a Training Skills for Trainers course," says Miller. This is one session a week over four months. It's a big commitment and about halfway through we get people to start thinking about the 45-minute presentation they need to give on the final day of the course."

Over two-and-a-half years 32 service users and carers have completed the various training courses. As well as being commissioned by the council to deliver basic mental health awareness courses to social and health care staff, Cerberus has trained library staff and is negotiating similar training for benefits staff and police.
Eight people (out of 10) have so far graduated from the training skills course. One of the first was Adam Logan who has been using services at Vyne Road since it opened. "I was nervous about the presentation at the end because you have to give a spiel for 45 minutes. But it went really well and I was chuffed. Beforehand I wouldn't even dream of doing that sort of thing. It was quite an eye-opener."

Miller has been knocked out by the quality of the trainers. He agrees they are no longer service users who train but are rather trainers who happen to be service users. Logan also agrees, although he adds: "Mental health services cost taxpayers a lot of money and you want value for that money. So, to be able to offer back and give help and support is a very altruistic and positive move. It works both ways as it also gives workers a sense of joy because they know they have participated in your recovery."

Lessons Learned

• It is more powerful to have training coming from service users than professionals. Says Miller: "One of our trainers likes to say at the start of the course that they are a service user. However, this might taint expectations. Another waits until the end to say, 'Oh by the way, I use services myself'. Perhaps, this is a little more powerful because it really seems to have a punch and effect."
• According to Pearce, "it also provides a recognised and informed voice for service users in planning and delivering mental health services." Logan is a case in point: "I have since gained the confidence to get more involved. Among other things, I'm chairman of the local mental health forum and on the local implementation group."
• Cerberus pays its trainers the same rate social services pays its trainers.