£300,000 boost received by local charities supporting mental health in Suffolk

Founded in 2008, P.H.O.E.B.E. is a registered charity that helps women and children from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities who suffer because of poverty, mental health, isolation, low self-esteem, financial difficulties, and domestic abuse. This funding will allow them to build up their organisation and get more people involved in their project which aims to address maternal mental health on BAME mothers. They will develop activities with the aim to reduce mother’s isolation by giving them an opportunity to spend time with one another, share experiences and benefit from peer-to-peer support, while also providing the tools needed to support these women improve their mental health and wellbeing. 

Inside Out Community is an Ipswich based charity which has been supporting people with mental & emotional health needs for 18 years. They run a wide range of artistic workshops, which involves visual arts, music, creative writing, dance & movement, and is delivered by professional artists with a sensitivity to mental health issues.  

The Equity in Mind funding has brought an exciting opportunity for Inside Out Community to work closely with NSFT and deliver their community recovery model to other groups, in particular to those with severe mental health & emotional wellbeing needs. The project will support people over 65 in a format of wellbeing artistic workshops run in Ipswich, Felixstowe and Stowmarket (and online if needed). Through active participation in expressive arts, participants will strengthen their identity, sense of worth, build confidence and new relationships. 

The second part of the project aims to create relationships with ethnically & culturally diverse communities in a series of collaborative art workshops, with the aim of learning from the communities, build connections and trust, listen to what members’ needs are and identifying how they can best support their mental & emotional wellbeing. 

‘Inside Out has shown me I have potential. It’s possible for me to do so much more than I thought I could do. Life isn’t what I can’t do. It’s those possibilities and opportunities to find out about myself that Inside Out gives me. It shows me who I am.’  

(Participant in Members’ Focus Group) 

Gatehouse charity has been established for over 30 years and helps all those genuinely in need emotionally, practically, and financially. This project will allow them to offer their Mindfulness for later life groups to older adults with severe mental illness in Suffolk. They are really excited to be able to offer this course to this population in the wake of the Covid pandemic, to support them to move forwards and to improve their mental health and quality of life. 

The pandemic magnified existing inequalities in minority communities. Families often need support through being isolated from family networks, help to navigate our health care and education systems. Ipswich houses a significant proportion of the county’s Eastern European migrants. Home-Start in Suffolk plan to recruit a dedicated member of staff to build relationships with these communities, whilst continuing to recruit and train our volunteers to offer, through discussion and agreement with the family, a bespoke support package, focusing on immediate and longer-term needs of each individual family – these may include helping to, build local connections, accessing local services, offering support as a carer learns to cope with their family dynamic and challenges.  

“Home-start in Suffolk come at different times of the day, flexibly when help is needed and always going out of their way. Thanks for everything, you are all the best, I couldn’t have done it this year without you all!” A beneficiary  

The Supported Advice Team at Citizens Advice in West Suffolk support people with SMIs to solve practical problems related to debt, housing and benefits; problems that have become ongoing sources of distress and obstacles to their recovery. They work closely with community mental health and other support services, local government and housing associations; they have a team of experienced advisers with training in mental health awareness and communication skills that support our clients throughout the advice process; and they are developing a network of partner organisations to which we can refer clients for activities and experiences that develop their sense of confidence, purpose and community. The support from Equity in Mind will allow them to identify and reach out to the ‘seldom heard’ voices in our community and, in particular, to those aged over 65.  

The Supported Advice Team at Citizens Advice in West Suffolk support people with SMIs to solve practical problems related to debt, housing and benefits; problems that have become ongoing sources of distress and obstacles to their recovery. They work closely with community mental health and other support services, local government and housing associations; they have a team of experienced advisers with training in mental health awareness and communication skills that support their clients throughout the advice process; and they are developing a network of partner organisations to which they can refer clients for activities and experiences that develop their sense of confidence, purpose and community. The support from Equity in Mind will allow them to identify and reach out to the ‘seldom heard’ voices in our community and, in particular, to those aged over 65.