Recovery College plan for former Argos store in Eastgate Centre in Inverness.

A major mental health charity wants to convert a vacant shop in the Eastgate Centre, Inverness, into a Recovery College for community based learning.

The function of the facility is to provide learning and support to people with mental health difficulty.

The Discovery College is an initiative of the registered charity, centred, which has a base in Tomnahurich Street, Inverness.

The Recovery College offers free courses on different aspects of mental ill-health to help people manage their own condition and become an expert in their own mental wellbeing.

Donna Booth, on behalf of centred has applied to Highland Council for change of use of the former city centre Argos shop to create the learning facility which will involve altering or installing internal partitioning and internal services and fittings.

centred believes that care and support for people with mental ill-health should always be moving forward, so they don’t want to just follow a recovery-focussed approach, but be leading the way in developing it.

Their online information states: "Our years of experience have taught us that everyone’s situation is unique and this steers our person-centric approach across all the services we offer.

"We inspire our staff at every level to help improve the lives of the people we work with. And we’re big believers in empowering people with mental ill-health to learn to help themselves too. Working together, our approach means people really can start living more independent, fulfilling and rewarding lives."

It adds: "Recovery can mean different things to different people. For some, it will mean no longer having symptoms of mental ill-health and for others it can be learning to live with and manage their symptoms, regaining control of their lives and their futures."

Key to recovery are good relationships, satisfying work, personal growth, and the right living environment, says centred.

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