'I love my job and I just want to be paid fairly'

Staff working for a mental health charity say they are struggling to make ends meet as they go on strike again.

Second Step workers on the picket line in Bristol said the below-inflation pay rise on offer was not enough to live on. Worker Daniel King said: "It's stressful at times but I love my job and I just want to be paid fairly for it."

The charity, which delivers local authority and NHS-funded mental health services across the West of England, said any further pay rises would put its services at risk and not be sustainable.

A spokesperson added it respected the right of union members to take lawful industrial action and had offered to set up a union recognition agreement.

Second Step staff began a new round of strikes on Thursday, which will continue on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

A total of 100 workers from across Bristol, Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire are taking industrial action.

King, a recovery navigator working in north Bristol, said his 2.5% pay rise was dwarfed by his rent going up 5.8% last year.

"Everything is going up, the strain on me and my colleagues who are the lowest paid staff in our sector is just too much - we can't just keep bearing the brunt of that," he said.

King said his circumstances had been made harder by his partner becoming so ill she was unable to work.

"Now we've lost our independence and I genuinely worry about the future and homelessness could be an issue.

"This city is so expensive to live in, the pay offer we've been given just isn't enough," he said.

Jemma Stovell has worked on a zero-hours contract as a bank worker for the charity for two years.

"Not getting sick pay is quite a big challenge, because if I'm ill on a shift, I have to cancel it and not get paid," she said.

"Not knowing if work is coming in is challenging in itself," she added. "I'm often not quite making enough."

Although Leslie Fleming has moved into a senior practitioner role now, she said she used to struggle to fill up her car with petrol or afford clothes from charity shops.

"I've never done the job for the money, it's a vocation," she said, adding she believed society did not value the sector enough.

UNISON's south-west regional secretary, Tim Roberts, said Second Step had not come forward with a fair pay offer.

"These workers provide vital mental health support in communities across the south west. They should not be worrying about how to pay their bills," he added.

Second Step said it remained committed to working with the union to resolve the dispute and was trying to minimise disruption to services.

The charity said its focus remained on "maintaining safe, continuous support for the people who rely on our services every day".

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.