This was a great opportunity for Amanda to see the work that voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations are doing across the North East to prevent suicide, support people in crisis, and transform community mental health services.
Along with our VCSE colleagues, we were proud to show Amanda the positive impact that mental health partnerships between VCSEs and the NHS can have when supporting people with their mental health.
Last week I visited the Northumberland Safe Haven, known as ‘The Bothy’, which helps people who are experiencing a mental health crisis or distress.
This service is vital as the region has recorded the highest suicide rate in England for the third year running. pic.twitter.com/VMk7p3VYHA
— Amanda Pritchard (@AmandaPritchard) March 28, 2024
Amanda visited The Bothy, home to Everyturn’s Northumberland Safe Haven, accompanied by Adam Crampsie, our Chief Executive; and Samantha Allen, Chief Executive of North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).
We were really pleased to be joined by colleagues from some of our fellow local VCSEs:
- Durham Community Action
- Escape Family Support
- Growing Well
- Heartbroken to Healed
- Veterans in Crisis
- Foundation of Light
- Carlisle Eden Mind
- Rethink Mental Illness
- Beamish Museum
- Children North East
It was a wonderful opportunity to show the thriving VCSE community that we have across the North East and North Cumbria ICB, and the importance of collaboration when it comes to supporting local communities.
Amanda also met with our colleagues from the Northumberland Recovery College and saw one of the college’s sessions taking place. The college is a great example of community mental health transformation in action, showing the benefits of non-clinical mental health support for people and communities.
It was a privilege to host Amanda at our Safe Haven, which is the first of its kind in the North East, thanks to funding from NHS England. We’re grateful to have been able to showcase some of the impactful work by VCSEs in the North East around suicide prevention and crisis support. We’re really looking forward seeing the positive impact our Safe Haven will have on the local community.
Find out more about our Safe Haven
Our Northumberland Safe Haven offers compassionate, practical, out-of-hours support for people in mental health crisis. It’s housed in The Bothy, a dedicated building on the high street in Ashington, and is available for anyone aged 18+ who needs crisis support. It’s the first of several safe havens we are going to open in the North East. Read more about our Safe Haven.