Mental Health Sustainability Programme – Helpline Fund Grants Awarded
Association of Mental Health Providers is very pleased to announce a series of grants from the recently established Helpline Fund, set up to support small-medium sized mental health voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations who offer a helpline provision. The fund has been made possible by a generous £50,000 donation from Bupa Foundation, and provides grants of up to £5000 towards costs contributing to the sustainability of twelve different organisations.
The Helplines Fund was established in November 2021 by the Mental Health Sustainability Programme which is delivered by the Association; to address a notable increase in helpline calls to mental health helpline providers during the Covid pandemic. Indeed, three of those organisations awarded saw increases in call numbers of 140%, 240% and 313% respectively, and assistance was clearly required to keep the desired levels of helpline service and delivery sustainable.
Evidence points to helplines as playing a key role in the mental health services provided by the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. For individuals with mental health needs, research shows that ‘improved choice of delivery can help to promote confidence in accessing services and help to address wider communication barriers and problems that people have in engaging with formal mental health service provision’.
The grants awarded will be used by the twelve organisations to maintain and develop a wide variety of helpline-related services, including:
- multi-lingual translation of websites;
- volunteer and staff training
- external supervision costs;
- costs towards anti-racism work and diverse recruitment practices;
- SEO, marketing and social media promotional work.
Notes to Editors
The organisations awarded a Helpline Fund grant are: Mustaqbill (Future) Foundation (operating the Find-A-Friend service), Reach Out for Mental Health, PANDAS Foundation, Youthline Ltd, Mthwakazi Queens, Anne Robson Trust, Muslim Youth Helpline, Keren, Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service, Rahab Project, London Nightline, and Moodswings.