Julie Marsh, a senior associate - solicitor within Boyes Turner’s medical negligence team, is delighted to have been accepted to offer mentoring to young people through leading meningitis charity, Meningitis Now’s Believe & Achieve programme. What is the Believe and Achieve programme?Believe and Achieve is a new venture which will enable the charity to offer personalised, age-specific and accessible support to 14 to 25-year-olds affected by meningitis. The programme is designed to be flexible so that the charity can respond to varying levels of need for support, depending on the young person’s individual experience following meningitis, their current difficulties, their strengths and their goals for what they want to develop or achieve.Help and support is now on hand from free activities, events and workshops to support young meningitis survivors in their education, work and other areas of life. Believe & Achieve also offers signposting and referrals to other organisations, such as the National Citizenship Service, Young Carers and the Child Brain Injury Trust.How can I get one to one help from Meningitis Now’s Believe & Achieve programme?What is counselling and how can it help?Meningitis Now can now offer counselling to help young meningitis survivors cope with their feelings and worries by talking through their experiences in private with a non-judgemental, professional, fully checked counsellor. Counselling can help the young person come to terms with what they have been through and help develop new ways to cope with situations. Believe & Achieve’s free 50 minute counselling sessions take place somewhere that’s local, friendly and private, once a week for about six weeks. Counsellors can be male or female, as preferred.What is coaching and how can it help?One to one coaching is available for those who want focussed help with a specific goal, such as getting a job or overcoming fears about public speaking in preparation for making a presentation at school. The fully trained coach can help with setting goals and planning how to achieve them, developing skills and improving performance and effectiveness. Where coaching is needed, Believe & Achieve offers coaching once a week for a six-week period, either face to face, by phone or by email.What is mentoring and how can it help?Through Believe & Achieve young people affected by meningitis can also benefit from six weeks of personal mentoring in three one-to-one sessions with a mentor. A mentor uses their own experience, wisdom and resources to support, advise and motivate others to succeed in achieving their own goals.How do I get help if I think I have a claim?At Boyes Turner our brain injury lawyers are skilled in securing compensation for clients who have been disabled or have suffered long-term injury as a result of delayed diagnosis and treatment of meningitis.Where liability is established, we secure interim payments to help provide care, therapies, special educational support, specialist equipment, such as prostheses and vehicles, and adapted accommodation. We recognise the importance of getting rehabilitation underway and restoring mobility and independence as soon as liability is admitted, so that our clients don’t have to put their lives on hold until the claim is finally settled.Our solicitors understand the devastating impact of meningitis on the sufferer’s physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing. We also understand that the suffering caused by this disease extends far beyond those whose circumstances give rise to a claim. We are delighted that Julie is able to offer young people affected by meningitis the benefit of her knowledge, experience and caring support, by providing mentoring through Meningitis Now’s Believe & Achieve programme.If you or someone you care for are disabled as a result of negligent medical treatment for meningitis please contact our specialist team by email mednegclaims@boyesturner.com.
