‘I’m thinking of going to college in January,’ says Harbinder Sind, who’s 40 and from Bradford. ‘There’s a catering course I really want to do.’

There’s been a sharp turnaround in recent years for Harbinder to reach this stage. Diagnosed with a personality disorder and paranoid schizophrenia when he was 25, he has self-harmed and suffered from paranoia, depression and suicidal thoughts for the last 15 years and has been sectioned, and subsequently hospitalised, several times.

Harbinder first noticed a deterioration in his mental health after he’d suffered serious physical injuries when escaping from a fire in his neighbour’s flat. Following a failed suicide attempt, he went to his GP to ask for help.

Over the years, Harbinder has been assessed and treated by a wide range of frontline mental health workers, from social workers and consultant psychiatrists to community psychiatric nurses and voluntary sector organisations.

It’s through the voluntary sector that Harbinder has seen the greatest improvement in his wellbeing in recent months. A major barrier to his improvement was his feeling of complete isolation – both within his community, where mental health problems were not discussed, and within the services he was accessing, where he encountered few Asian patients. ‘I used to go to a day centre,’ Harbinder explains, ‘and I was the only Asian person there. I felt neglected and paranoid because of my race. Most of the time I would just sit in my flat stewing.’

Then, six months ago, the manager at Harbinder’s housing accommodation suggested he go to Sharing Voices, an organisation supporting those with mental health conditions in black and minority ethnic communities in the inner city areas of Bradford. With one of DRE’s Community Development Workers, appointed to raise awareness of mental health conditions in BME communities across the country, as a leading member, Sharing Voices offers one-to-one support and activities, responds to queries from local BME communities and refers people to external services and agencies for further advice.

For Harbinder, this support has been invaluable. ‘I look forward to going into Sharing Voices. The people there are like my brothers and sisters – they’ve welcomed me with open arms. I can’t work so it gives me something to do every day. I’ll go for a drive with my key worker, play pool, have a tea and a chat with the other members. It’s just good to be able to share experiences with people who understand.’

Harbinder’s experiences at Sharing Voices are complemented by the help he receives from the statutory sector. He currently sees his social worker every other week and his consultant psychiatrist every 3-4 months. Harbinder has a particularly close relationship with the latter, who he was first referred to in 2005. ‘He makes me feel really welcome, tells me not to keep things bundled up in my mind.’ And if his mental health does deteriorate rapidly, there are routes that he can go down to get help quickly. The local psychiatric hospital can put him in touch with his social worker almost immediately.

Harbinder is now looking to the future. There are bigger steps, such as the catering course, but the smaller ones are just as significant. ‘I always spend Christmas with my family. My nephew said to me the other day ‘before you used to sit there all quiet and shaking, now you’ll be able to talk to us’.’