Mental Health Awareness Week: Community Mental Health Support
Community is vital for our mental health and wellbeing, and is this year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Week.
Mental Health Awareness Week encourages us to think about our mental wellbeing, increase awareness of mental health conditions and reduce the stigma surrounding mental ill-health.
We’re highlighting some of the important community mental health initiatives that are available to those who are struggling:
The Hangout
The Hangout is a wellbeing hub for 11–17-year-olds, based in both Cardiff and Barry.
The service is run by mental health and social justice charity Platfform and is funded by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. Young people can access mental health support through 1-1 sessions, engage in wellbeing or creative groups to boost wellbeing or simply use the space to socialise and make friends.
12-year-old Ruby visits the Hangout in Cardiff every week, she said: “I come to the Hangout because I’ve really struggled with my mental health over the past five years and coming to the Hangout every week has started to make me feel better.
“I’ve had someone that will hear me and I’ve got some support that I’ve needed.”
The Hangout has also had a positive impact on 14-year-old Evan, he said: “It’s just a place you can go to make new friends and like get away from everything.
“I started coming here because I didn’t have the best mental health, but now because I’ve been coming here and having 1-to-1s and just like talking to people and stuff, it’s definitely helped a lot.”
The Hangout is open 3pm – 9pm Monday to Friday, and 12pm – 6pm at the weekends and bank holidays. The service is walk-in, and you don’t need a referral or appointment to visit.
The Cardiff hub can be found at 26-28 Churchill Way, CF10 2DY and the Vale of Glamorgan hub can be found at 3A Tynewydd Road, Barry, CF62 8HB. You can find out more about the Hangout here: The Hangout, Cardiff - Platfform.
The Seibiant Sanctuary
The Seibiant Sanctuary service offers a safe, calming environment for individuals who are struggling with their mental health.
The facility is run by Platfform and funded by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. It offers a safe alternative space in the community for those experiencing crisis or requiring urgent mental health support, and runs between 5pm and 1am. It is a non-clinical, trauma informed space, which acts as an appropriate alternative to the Emergency Unit for those in mental health crisis.
The service runs 365 days a year, 7 days a week and offers telephone support or a face-to-face appointment the same evening.
The space is therapeutic, calming and less intimidating than a hospital setting.
One individual who used the service, fed back: “I feel 10 times younger and much better in spirit than I was when I came in.”
Others spoke of their experiences with the Sanctuary team: “I wouldn't be here without them.”
“I felt able to open up."
The service can be accessed by dialling NHS 111 and pressing option 2. If appropriate, the call handler will refer the patient to the Platfform Seibiant Sanctuary team, who will aim to call them back within 30 minutes.
The team will also offer additional support in the form of essential food, drink, clothing and toiletries, a care package to take away, as well as housing and financial advice and guidance. You can find out more about the Seibiant Sanctuary here: Seibiant Sanctuary: a welcoming place in a crisis - Platfform
NHS 111 Press 2
Supported by NHS mental health professionals, the NHS 111 Press 2 service runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is suitable for anyone requiring urgent mental health support.
The service is simply accessed by dialling 111 and selecting option 2, and is free to call from a landline or mobile.
It aims to signpost individuals to the most appropriate support for their needs – this may be self-help advice, tips and guidance, a mental health referral, a partner organisation or a suitably trained professional. You can find out more about the NHS 111 Press 2 service here: NHS 111 Press 2 - Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
Mental health struggles can feel overwhelming, but help is always within reach. The 111 Press 2 and Seibiant Sanctuary services are there for urgent times of need and mental health crisis, but there are lots of other services which operate in Cardiff and Vale for lower-level struggles.