Peer Advice Service

The Peer Advice Service (formerly known as the Peer Support Service) provides a dedicated Peer Adviser in each of the Spinal Injuries Centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The presence of a peer during the early stages of injury and rehabilitation has been shown to have a significant impact on the ability of a newly injured person to come to terms with their new situation.  Many SIA members can substantiate this finding from their own experience:

'Meeting someone who had been there, done that, made a world of difference to me.  It changed my outlook completely and I realised that there was life after spinal cord injury'.

SIA's Peer Adviser will be able to support you by sharing their lived experience of SCI, suggesting options for daily living and offering reassurrance.  On a practical level, they will research and find information for you on a wide range of topics and, working closely with our Advice Line Team, have access to expert information and advice.

There are SIA Peer Advisers at all of the Spinal Injuries Centres except for Rookwood (where we hope to have someone in post shortly).   Here are some of our Peer Advisers:

Roy Hawkins Salisbury SCIC	Deborah Cornwall Southport SCIC	Paul Woolley Oswestry SCIC
Ian Hosking Stoke Mandeville SCIC	Peter Hanley Pinderfields SCIC	Shaun Lacey Middlesbrough SCIC
Matt King Stanmore SCIC	Sam Malcolmson Belfast SCIC	Richard Nuttman Sheffield SCIC
Paul Leefson Rookwood SCIC