A Candle will come to you via SMS and E-mail.

The SMS will tell you who is requesting support and share their contact details with you.

The E-mail will contain the essential context made up of tags and free text entered by the person lighting thier Candle.

This information is of course confidential. It’s sole purpose is to enable you to be ready to give support. By recieving a Candle you now have precious time to understand, research and prepare to listen actively.

When someone lights their candle, it may be the first time they’ve ever asked for help.

They may have never verbalised their issue before now. Maybe they have and it didn’t go very well or maybe nobody seemed to care.

Together, we’re going to help this person.

Providing peer support to a colleague can be a valuable and rewarding experience, but it's important to approach it with care and sensitivity. Here are some tips for providing effective peer support:

1. Listen actively: When your colleague approaches you for support, make sure to actively listen to what they have to say. This means giving them your full attention, refraining from interrupting, and asking questions to clarify any confusion.

2. Validate their feelings: Let your colleague know that their feelings are valid and understandable. Acknowledge the difficulties they are facing and the impact it is having on them.

3. Offer empathy: Show empathy by putting yourself in their shoes and imagining what they might be feeling. Use statements like "I can understand how that must feel" or "I'm sorry you're going through this."

4. Be non-judgmental: Avoid making judgments or offering unsolicited advice. Instead, focus on creating a safe space for your colleague to share their experiences and feelings.

5. Respect their boundaries: Everyone has different boundaries when it comes to discussing personal issues. Respect your colleague's boundaries and only offer support in the way they are comfortable with.

6. Offer resources: If your colleague needs additional support, offer to connect them with appropriate resources, such as counseling services or employee assistance programs.

7. Maintain confidentiality: It's important to maintain confidentiality and respect your colleague's privacy. Only share information with others if your colleague has given you permission to do so.

Remember that providing peer support can be emotionally challenging, so it's important to take care of yourself as well. Set boundaries, practice self-care, and seek support from others if needed.

As a technology startup founder, there are several ways you can give peer support to fellow startup founders who have reached out to you for help. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Share your experiences: Share your experiences with fellow startup founders. Let them know about the challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Share any insights you have gained through your journey as a startup founder.

2. Offer advice: Offer advice based on your experiences. Be specific in your advice and provide actionable steps. Give your fellow founder a plan they can follow to help them address their challenges.

3. Listen: Listen to their concerns and challenges. Show empathy and understanding. Sometimes, all a fellow startup founder needs is someone to listen to them.

4. Make introductions: Introduce them to people in your network who might be able to help them. Whether it's a potential customer, investor, or partner, making introductions can go a long way in helping a fellow startup founder.

5. Attend events: Attend startup events and invite your fellow founder to come along with you. This can help them expand their network and potentially meet people who can help them with their challenges.

6. Create a support group: Consider creating a support group for startup founders in your area. This can be a great way to share knowledge, experiences, and provide support to fellow founders.

Remember that giving peer support is not only beneficial to the founder you are helping, but it can also help you grow as a founder by expanding your network and gaining new perspectives.

Peer supporters are not trained therapists or counsellors, and cannot give a clinical diagnosis as to what mental health issue a person is suffering from.

You are not here to fix anyone.

You are not here to save anyone.

You are not here to be anything other than you.

You are not a replacement for proper treatment of mental health issues.

Be practical before being profound.

Research shows that progress is found in action.

When suffering emotionally and mentally, simple tasks become really hard to accomplish.

So listen to your peer and offer support in simple things.

You might suggest things like:

- Maybe we could catchup over lunchtime and go for a walk?
- Let’s grab a coffee sometime this week after work?
- Maybe I could drive you to your next appointment or go grocery shopping with you?
- Maybe you could come over this weekend and help me with a garden project?

Being specific with time and the activity makes it real and much easier to say yes too.

Listen.

Validate.

Support.

You’ve got this and we are here for you.

Seriously, at Candle we have in house counsellors ready support those giving peer support. You will have one of them in your organisation support circle.

So if you need a chat, light your Candle and we will be right with you.