Welcome from our Chair

This review provides a welcome opportunity to reflect on and review the work programmes delivered to support members and raise the profile of VCSE mental health provider sector, as well as preview the work planned for the coming year. It also provides an opportunity for me to thank our members for their continuing hard work in delivering services to people with mental health needs and for their support of our organisation; Kathy and her team for their hard work, skill, and commitment; and my fellow Trustees for their advice and support.

By any criteria this last year has been tough and challenging but it has also demonstrated the critical contribution our members have made in supporting individuals and communities through the pandemic and underlined how important the VCSE sector will be on the path to recovery. However many of our members, whilst facing significantly increased demand for the services they provide, are also facing financial challenges - if our sector is going to continue to support people and communities, it must be helped to weather the economic consequences of the pandemic and over the last year, I'm proud to say, The Association has continued to strongly advocate on the sector's behalf.

The Association has made the case for financial support for the sector at a national level with Government and system leaders. and with partners, has developed the Mental Health Sustainability Programme to respond to the challenges and needs of the sector.

The Mental Health Sustainability Programme is an innovative programme which brings together the VCSE mental health sector and private sector partners to provide volunteering and funding support to provider organisations, particularly those working with communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, such as ethnic minorities.

The last year has also further demonstrated The Association’s ability to respond quickly and creatively to members' needs with the organisation offering a range of support to help them respond to the pandemic.

Furthermore, the disproportionate effect of the pandemic on some communities and the Black Lives Matter movement has challenged us all to stand up and speak out to confront racism in its many forms. Racism’s corrosive effect is particularly damaging for those experiencing mental illness and so, challenging and supporting our members to combat racism in the sector will be a major theme for The Association over the coming years.

The next year will undoubtedly present significant challenges for the VCSE mental health sector but The Association is committed to continuing to work on behalf of its members to evidence the contribution they make, represent their interests, and support their endeavours - we are stronger together.

Steve Shrubb, Independent Chair

Message from our CEO

In 2020, two momentous events not only changed the way we live and work but, hopefully, the way we think and act too. In March, the nation went into its first lockdown as Covid-19 spread across the country and in May, the killing of George Floyd led to global anti-racism protests and to people and organisations self-reflecting, questioning and trying to change their own racist and exclusionary behaviours, and dismantling structural racism.

Both events have shone an even brighter light on mental health with all of us living through differing challenges that are impacting our own and others' mental health and wellbeing - the full extent of which we are yet to understand and realise but know that we must respond to and tackle. And whilst the way we work may have changed, our commitment to the work has not.

We know the VCSE mental health sector continues to face many challenges in delivering services during Covid-19 and it is vital that service providers working in the community are supported to enable them to continue delivering essential services to vulnerable people who need it most. The sector must continue to be effective and sustainable and remain in a position to support people with mental health needs, the local communities, and the NHS during and after Covid-19.

The Association’s role in supporting the sector in the continued response and recovery phases is and will be essential.

Covid-19 brought to the fore the inequalities that have always existed in society, health and beyond, and it's crucial we address these now to prevent them worsening. A person's mental health and wellbeing are impacted due to several reasons including employment, poverty, housing, and education, but the last year has made us question the extent to which we consider racism as a factor - not just its role separately but also within the wider determinants of health. We need to focus on the inequalities that exist and our role, as a sector, within this.

Last year, we began to engage with our members weekly to learn the challenges being faced and inform policy and practice. We continued to focus on the sustainability of the sector by launching two programmes to support provider organisations working in the community to continue delivering services. We were invited to Chair the Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group for the DHSC Social Care Taskforce, with our report and recommendations accepted in full. We worked with sector leaders to develop a Social Contract for Mental Health. We began working with members on anti-racism and are developing an organisational statement outlining our intentions and how we will hold ourselves to account.

Yet, there is still so much more for us to do and with our membership and our partners, we will continue to support the VCSE mental health sector to not just survive, but to thrive.

Kathy Roberts, Chief Executive

Rethink Mental Illness

Association of Mental Health Providers is unique in that it provides a collective voice at the top table for voluntary sector providers, really understands mental health and is a fantastic resource for all its members. Large and small providers alike benefit from its influence and reach in these difficult economic times when there is such a gap between rhetoric and reality. Membership has proven beneficial for charities and never more so over the last 12 months. It has been vital during the pandemic for CEOs to share experience and learning; helping each other. This has been supported by The Association who provide both information and influence. Through the facilitation of The Association we have been able to work with fellow providers to challenge commissioners making unreasonable demands and to campaign for proper funding for social care. Kathy, the Association's CEO, is at many of the most important tables, sometimes as Chair, representing the members’ experience and influencing so many aspects of Covid, commissioning and community development.

Mark Winstanley, CEO

Year in Numbers

2020 – 21

• **2** work programmes launched
• **200** membership milestone reached!
• **3** new member-led workstreams
• **£375k** grant support allocated
• **100+** member meetings
• **5** themed webinars
• **8** reports published
• **43** organisations supported in MHSP · **27** organisations supported in EDP
• **~40** new member organisations

Our Impact

As the national representative organisation for VCSE providers of mental health and wellbeing services, we have been engaging with our membership to inform the work of Government since March 2020 and ensuring the experiences and lessons are being shared and learnt.

With the start of lockdown in March 2020, we began biweekly meetings to engage with our members, and following just 7 sessions, published a briefing paper outlining the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on the VCSE mental health sector. The paper received a positive response from Government departments and was used to advise Ministers in briefings - early in the pandemic and lockdown when a clear picture of the effect on people's mental health and services in the community was lacking.

Since then we have continued to meet weekly, offering members an opportunity to share their experiences, whilst also providing a space for peer support. Issues from providers have informed our meetings with, and the work of, Government and Shadow Ministers, as well as bodies such as CQC, LGA, and ADASS over the course of the year.

The direct engagement with members has been beneficial and ensured that national policy reflects the experiences of providers working in the community.

Our conversations with our members have supported our work as part of the Mental Health Leaders Group, where we have worked collaboratively with sector partners to form a strategic response to the pandemic.

The impact of this partnership working has been vast and as the only national representative organisation for the VCSE mental health provider sector, we were able to advise on the financial support needed by the sector in response to the Chancellor’s announcement of funding early on, providing an overview of the key areas and services that were continuing to be delivered and where need was greatest.

Our representation allowed the VCSE sector to be supported through the £5m grant fund in the Spring, as well as funding specifically for helplines later in the year.

Through the Covid Mental Health Response Fund, we have supported providers working locally, regionally, and nationally, and in particular, the organisations supporting communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic such as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic - those who needed the support the most.

The collaboration with sector leaders has also led to the development of a Mental Health Renewal Plan, which recognises the valuable role of the

VCSE provider sector. We also recommended and later welcomed the recognition of a clearer cross-government mental health strategy, with the establishment of a group to consider and respond to the long-term impacts of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing more broadly.

Over the year, through our two new programmes to support the sustainability of the VCSE mental health sector, we have supported more than 70 small and medium-sized organisations to develop enterprising models, diversify their income streams, and build capacity internally by sharing skills and expertise in areas such as marketing, branding, legal, fundraising, and more, to ensure they can continue delivering services through Covid and beyond.

The support provided to the participating organisations has enabled them to respond to the pandemic by adapting services and ensuring they can continue to deliver services at a time when demand for services continues to increase.

Through our membership of the CPA and Kathy's role as its Chair from September 2020, we have been at the forefront of activity to recognise and support the social care sector and the importance of the VCSE and social care workforce. Kathy provided oral evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee highlighting the lack of

parity between the NHS and social care and shared the experiences and lessons from the sector on testing. infection control, and staff welfare, and advocated for additional funding and a People Plan specifically for the social care sector.

Our work through the DHSC Social Care Taskforce Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group extensively informed the Government’s Winter Plan for Mental Health and Wellbeing and we welcomed the recognition, in the Plan, of the crucial role the voluntary sector has played in supporting communities during the pandemic.

As the co-Chair of the Mental Health Advisory Group to the DHSC Social Care Sector Covid-19 Taskforce, we were pleased to see the advice and recommendations made in our report over the summer were being reviewed and considered. Significantly, our report ensured the importance of the voice of people with lived experience of mental health needs and the need to address inequalities in access to mental health support.

The Association has been involved in key pieces of work over the last year to support the VCSE and social care mental health sector and will continue to work with our membership to ensure they inform all mental health plans and policies going forward.

Making Space

Representing small, medium and large VCSE providers, Association of Mental Health Providers is a respected and reliable mental health system partner at the best of times. During the global Covid-19 pandemic the team at The Association, led by their forward-thinking CEO, have supported members to maintain our resilience and drive to be the leading voice of the mental health voluntary and community sector.

Rachel Peacock, CEO

Strategic Priorities

In light of the pandemic, its disproportionate impact, and the Black Lives Matter movement, The Association, like many organisations, has had to adapt and be more responsive in our work. Although our priorities may have shifted to respond to the situation and the emerging corresponding issues, the work we continue to do to support the sector aligns with the essence of our values, mission, and our existing strategic priorities.

The Association is dedicated to supporting the development of the mental health voluntary and community sector to effectively meet the needs of individuals, their mental health and well-being. We do this through three key areas of work: sustainability - ensuring the continuation and growth of the sector; whole-system approaches - encouraging coordinated planning to provide joined-up care; and prevention - promoting wellness and good mental health with a consideration of the wider determinants to prevent mental ill-health. The Association continues to promote the impact and value of service provision that takes into account whole-person care and support. Central to approach is our ability to connect and engage with members and non-members in the VCSE provider sector as well as system partners at local, regional, and national levels to influence and drive change in policy and practice.

• Connectivity and Engagement
• Sustainability
• Whole-System Approaches
• Prevention
• Policy Influence and Representation

Programmes

• Care Provider Alliance – The CPA brings together the ten main national associations which represent voluntary and independent adult social care providers in England. As an alliance, we represent the whole sector and ensure a coordinated response to the major issues that affect it such as Covid-19 and EU Exit. Kathy is the current Chair of the CPA until September 2021.
• Enterprise Development Programme – The EDP seeks to support the development of enterprise models in charities and social enterprises. The EDP provides a broad range of support, helping organisations to establish new enterprise models, or grow existing ones. It offers a combination of cohort based peer learning opportunities, training, direct advice and support, as well as grants to research or test out new ideas, to launch new enterprises or grow existing ones.
• Mental Health Sustainability Programme – To respond to the challenges being faced by the VCSE mental health sector as a result of the pandemic, we established the Mental Health Sustainability Programme that allows private sector partners to offer skills, knowledge, expertise, and/or funding to VCSE providers of mental health services to not only help them continue supporting communities who need it most but also to help their organisations grow and become sustainable.
• VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance – Jointly managed by DHSC, PHE, and NHSE&I, the HWA is an alliance of 20 organisations and consortiums that represent communities who share protected characteristics or that experience health inequalities. The Association leads the Mental Health Consortium, undertaking projects to benefit the strategic development of the mental health voluntary sector.

Publications

• Covid-19 and the VCSE Mental Health Provider Sector
• Social Care Sector: Covid-19 Support Taskforce – Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group report
• A New Social Contract for a mentally healthier society
• Digital inclusion in mental health
• Peer Support: working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector
• Supporting mental health in communities during the coronavirus crisis
• More than a number
• A time to quit

Oakleaf Enterprise

Association of Mental Health Providers undertakes an enormous volume and breadth of work giving total credence to the saying “punching above their weight”. They have an extremely dedicated team led by a fair, dynamic and resourceful Chief Executive who has ensured they are involved with, and leading on, a vast array of initiatives and policy directives.

Clive Stone, CEO

In the Press

• The Big Interview: Kathy Roberts, chair of the CPA and CEO of the Association of Mental Health Providers
• A step forward: mental health reform
• Let’s heal together
• Keeping pace with digital
• Times letters: Funding social care in the age of Covid-19
• What keeps me awake at night… Kathy Roberts, Care Provider Alliance
• Young London SOS: Invest in prevention rather than cure, say mental health charity leaders
• What has gone wrong with England’s Covid test-and-trace system?

Joint Statements

As the only national representative organisation for the VCSE mental health provider sector,

we have signified our support on behalf of the sector in several joint statements and letters.

• Joint open letter expressing solidarity with all those working in health, care and education through Covid-19.
• An open letter led by The Association on social security benefits and health and wellbeing calling for the Government to secure the provision of, and access to, welfare rights, money and debt advice.
• An open letter to Government on young people's mental health during lockdown, led by Young Minds.
• Joint letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care calling for mental health to be at the heart of future public health strategy and action in England.
• Joint statement calling for an extension on work-related conditionality and sanctions, led by Rethink Mental Illness.
• Joint letter to the Prime Minister seeking clarification on issues affecting people with mental health needs and measures to support people and services.
• An open letter to the Prime Minister on the temporary Universal Credit uplift and calling for the increase to be standard allowance
• A joint open letter to the Chancellor calling for children to be at the heart of the March 2021 Budget and putting an end to child poverty.
• An open letter, as members of the Care Provider Alliance, to supermarkets calling for the social care workforce to be treated with the same level of recognition as NHS staff in gaining priority access to food and groceries.
• Joint letter to the Chancellor ahead of the March 2021 Budget calling for a focus on mental health social care and urging the Government to accept The Association's recommendation in the DHSC Social Care Taskforce Report for further Local Authority funding.

Centre for Mental Health

The Association has provided a critical service during the course of the pandemic, many organisations needed support, guidance and sometimes a listening ear and The Association stepped into that role. The team is small but their impact is mighty, supporting 200+ organisations during the worst health crisis of a century meant long hours to ensure a rapid turn around of the information organisations needed. I have had the privilege of working with Kathy in the Mental Health Leaders Group and I know first hand how deeply she has advocated for the sector, when all eyes were on the NHS Kathy made sure the voices of our people were heard. The team is extraordinary and I know that through all their work streams that they will continue to be there when we need them over the coming year.

Sarah Hughes, CEO

Looking Back

Social Contract for Mental Health

The Association worked with mental health sector leaders to produce A New Social Contract in June 2020, urging the Government to create a Mental Health Renewal Plan for a mentally healthier society as we look to emerge from the pandemic. Supported by over 50 organisations in the voluntary sector, we called for the nation’s mental health and wellbeing to be prioritised by the Prime Minister and all his Ministers both in the immediate Covid-19 response and, critically, as an integral part of plans to help the country recover from the crisis. We believe the government has an opportunity to work in true partnership with the mental health voluntary sector and its partners to shape a mentally healthier society that prevents harm, reduces health inequalities and enables the UK to rebound positively from this crisis.

We were encouraged by the response from the PM in February 2021 outlining the Government's commitment to supporting everyone's mental wellbeing.

Covid Mental Health Response Fund

To help VCSE organisations, based in England, continue to provide mental health services in the community, the Government made a £5m fund available to the Mental Health Consortium via the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance. The fund was administered by Mind, and as the leads of the Consortium, The Association were invited to chair the governance group. As part of this, we also supported our Consortium partner NSUN to administer a small fund to support user-led organisations and smaller, unconstituted community organisations, who might not otherwise be eligible for a grant. We were inundated with applications for the fund, showing just how much the support is needed but we were pleased to swiftly promote, assess and award much-needed funds to charities providing frontline mental health support during the crisis.

Recipients of the grants are doing essential work to support those who need them most, both on a national scale and in the community.

DHSC Social Care Taskforce

Kathy was invited to co-chair the Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group, reporting to the Social Care Taskforce chaired by David Pearson, Director of Social Care at DHSC. The Advisory group submitted a report with their advice and recommendations to the Social Care Taskforce/DHSC, which was published in full by the Government in September 2020. The themes included the impact of Covid-19 on people with mental health needs and on VCSE mental health service providers and commissioners; and the capacity and wellbeing of the workforce and volunteers. Membership of the Advisory Group consisted of VCSE mental health service providers, ADASS, LGA, NHSE&I, PHE, DHSC, people with lived experience, and other key stakeholders.

The Social Care Taskforce has now been reconstituted as the Social Care Stakeholders Group and The Association continues to inform its work through the reformed Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy and Implementation Group.

Achieving Racial Equity in the Sector

Although we saw quite early on in the pandemic that the impact on people from BME communities was hugely different to white counterparts, it was really the George Floyd killing in the early summer which sparked a conversation on racism in the UK. For us, the resulting conversation wasn't about equality, diversity, or inclusion – it was about equity, about justice, about anti-racism – it’s about learning as a first step so we can effect change and hold organisations, institutions, and ourselves accountable. Specifically for us as a sector we need to look at racism in mental health – in its delivery and policy – and also the impact of racism on a person’s mental health. We wanted to go beyond the virtue signalling so we didn't release a statement to say how anti-racist our organisation was without showing how but we are in the process of developing our statement of intentions and an anti-racist plan. We have started delivering workshops for our members and we have created a fully-resourced workplan for the next year to support the sector to become anti-racist.

Looking Ahead

Reflecting on our achievements and our impact through this challenging time has highlighted the importance of our work and the work of our members, and has further emphasised the need to support the VCSE mental health sector. Looking to the future and outlining our priorities in the midst of a global pandemic may pose a challenge, especially considering the need to adapt swiftly in the last year. but at the time of penning these words, as we witness the success of the national vaccination programme delivered by the NHS and local community partners, there are signs of hope and so we know that we can, and must, continue to respond and rise to the challenges ahead.

We know that Covid-19 and its lasting effects will continue to be at the forefront of our work in the short and long-term and, as always, our workstreams will continue to respond to and be led by the needs of our members. Supporting our members is our main purpose and we will continue to do this through all our work programmes, by providing a platform on which the vital work of the VCSE mental health provider sector can be seen and heard, and ensuring that it is understood and that it continues to develop. We will continue to work in partnership with the sector - to engage and learn so we can influence and effect change.

All our work programmes reflect our overarching strategic priority: Sector Sustainability - to ensure the continuation and growth of services - making sure the VCSE mental health sector exists to continue providing essential support in the community. As part of this, we will continue to work with members in key areas such as: contracts, commissioning, and funding; workforce - recruitment, retention, and resilience; and essentially, supporting the continuity and adaptation of the VCSE and social care sector.

Within our priorities of sustainability and whole-system approaches we will work with members and key stakeholders to implement the recommendations we made in our

report to the Government as part of the Social Care Taskforce calling for social care reform, and government support and a sufficiently resourced Social Care People Plan.

The last year has brought to the fore the inequalities that have always existed in society and going forward, we will ensure that we approach every workstream through an anti-racism and equalities/inequalities lens. As we develop our anti-racism statement, it is critical that we support our words with action and, significantly, that we also hold ourselves and our sector accountable.

We have already developed the MHSP to support communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, with a focus on minoritised communities, and we will also ensure the EDP expands to support BME-led/supporting organisations. At both national policy and local practice levels, our response to, and influencing of, the Mental Health Act White Paper, the Health and Social Care Bill, changes to Integrated Care Systems, and the implementation of the Community Mental Health Framework, on behalf of our members, will have inequalities embedded throughout and ensure the need to address inequalities in access to mental health support and outcomes in mental health for people and communities is recognised.

As the only national representative organisation for VCSE providers of mental health and wellbeing services, our work is more important than ever to ensure the value and capabilities of the sector are recognised and utilised. 2020 also marked 15 years since our organisation was established but our mission and values have not changed since, and our commitment to supporting the sector and to supporting better mental health for all has never been stronger. The last year has been challenging for us all, personally and professionally, so we would like to thank our members, partners, and, supporters for their support and we look forward to continuing working with you and for you.

Our Growing Community

The Association represents 200+ VCSE providers of mental health and wellbeing services across England and Wales, from locally focused to regional and national organisations.

All of our members are united in their aim of improving the quality of care for people with mental health conditions and the outcomes of the services provided.

172 member organisations – see Explore our members.