Bury Involvement Group (BIG in Mental Health) is a charity run by, and for, people with personal experiences of mental and emotional distress which seeks to empower adults experiencing mental health issues towards their recovery and improved quality of life by providing mutual support and hope. We aim to achieve this by building a healing and compassionate community for those experiencing mental health issues.

Since forming as a community action group in 2007 BIG has remained focused on ensuring we continue to be responsive to the needs of our community, working within and with our community to ensure BIG develops organically, to ensure we are best placed to respond to the needs of people experiencing mental and emotional distress. With this comes an understanding that we must work continuously to ensure everything within the organisation from the governance to our volunteer team are not only aligned to our values, but are robust enough and well supported to ensure they provide a solid basis for the service we deliver in the community which is a lifeline for so many.

Over the years BIG has built a strong reputation in Bury for providing people with a quality service providing mutual peer support to individuals facing significant mental and emotional distress. The impact we have evidenced paints a clear picture of the strength, necessity and vitality of what BIG provides to the people of Bury. We have a clear understanding of our strengths and what makes BIG so valuable to those who use our services. From the sense of community we have built and the support network we have weaved around those who experience broad marginalisation from society to the mutual peer support we provide to each other which offers a radically different type of supportive relationship from what is offered by other services. What BIG offer to the people in our community is valued uniquely.