The Power of Resilience CIC

The Power of Resilience CIC received a grant to help pay to deliver Living Life To The Full (LLTTF) courses. This case study shares their experience of delivering the sessions. 

Living Life to the Full (LLTTF) is one of the world’s most used wellbeing support packages. It is delivered online or in-person over six 1.5 – 2 hour sessions and helps participants work out why they feel as they do, how to tackle problems, build confidence, get going again, feel happier, stay calm and tackle upsetting thoughts using everyday non-complex language. It’s content is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques.  

GMCVO co-ordinates delivery of 'Train the Trainer' courses to voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations so that they can deliver the LLTTF sessions to the people and communities that they work with across Greater Manchester.    

The Power of Resilience CIC colleagues attended the training in October 2023 and received a grant from GMCVO to help pay to deliver the courses to the people they work with. 

The Power of Resilience CIC is a non-profit Christian Ethos community initiative founded by Executive Director Julie Mallinson. It started in January 2021 as an online support group for those facing hardship in the Covid-19 pandemic. They aim to  increase self-esteem, resilience and confidence through creative and wellbeing workshops, peer-support, nature activities and social events.  

How was the training delivered? 

Julie Mallinson, Executive Director of The Power of Resilience CIC, has delivered four courses of LLTTF.

After completing the LLTTF training in October 2023 they received a small grant to deliver two courses. They then completed the for ‘Enjoy Your Baby’ and ‘Enjoy Your Pregnancy’ training and received a grant to deliver these courses to help parents discover how to enjoy their pregnancy/baby and life as a parent, build a close bond and attachment with their child and maintain links to important people and activities in their life.  

They plan to revisit delivery of these courses later in the year.  

The Power of Resilience CIC deliver their LLTTF training courses in person using creative activities such as designing bookmarks, using bubbles and painting gnomes. They provide food at every session to encourage people to keep attending. Attendee, Maria, said (February 2024):

“Our tutor Julie was attentive and sensitive for each member’s needs. The course was well structured, and our achievements captured in a weekly booklet. I really enjoyed the fidget toys and found them really relaxing and also the creative week where we made a bookmark/ I felt I was back in my childhood and was really engrossed. The course helped us focus on positive ways of managing and finding solutions to barriers individually and as a group. Julie was really involved throughout the sessions and a positive role model for the course.”

How has the training made a difference? 

The LLTTF course enabled some participants to go onto to volunteering or further training. Three of the participants have gone onto to do a mental health first aid training course.  

One participant went onto volunteer with Power of Resilience CIC and supported the next LLTTF course. Before she attended the sessions she struggled with her confidence, the course supported her to think through her emotions. She supported the running of the next LLTTF sessions with the refreshments and has now built up to supporting Julie to run the sessions. 

“Knowing I am not alone, hearing other people's experiences and how they cope. It allowed me the precious peaceful opportunity to sit and reflect about how I have been feeling recently and the things I've stopped doing. It reminded me how important self care and time for yourself is. Julie taught and lead the group in a wonderful, inspiring and comfortable way.” (Mary, Feb 2024) 

Another participant only attended one session and did not come back but made the decision to receive counselling. The Power of Resilience CIC followed up with him when he did not return to the second session. He spoke to them about how LLTTF course was the best thing he had done, it was hard for him to start talking about his emotions in that first session this led to the decision to start going to counselling. This participant is now taking a break from counselling and decided to return to the LLTTF course.  

Doing the LLTTF training has also benefited the organisation. They have gone onto receive funding to develop a wellbeing garden and received funding for Chillax Wellbeing. The Chillax Wellbeing are a continuation of their LLTTF work but will be based on topics such as bereavement, social isolation, connection and building relationships. They also built relationships with Donna Thomas, The Anthony Seddon Fund (read their LLTTF case study), who is visiting them to speak about their zero suicide hotline on the back of the LLTTF programme.  

Find out more 

To find out more about how you can become a community trainer, visit our webpage. 

In addition, there is a free website, GM Lifeskills, where members of the public can access a range of self-help resources in different languages.