Mental Health Sustainability Programme

A coalition of leading mental health charities have collaborated to develop a model which allows private sector partners to offer expertise, knowledge, skills, and funds, to VCSE provider organisations. The Mental Health Sustainability Programme aims to enhance the way that the VCSE sector works in partnership with the private sector to improve people’s mental health and wellbeing. Private sector companies are being invited to donate skills, resources, and funding, to VCSE mental health service providers enabling them to sustain services during and after the pandemic.

The coalition, including The Association, Rethink Mental Illness, Samaritans, Young Minds, Mental Health Foundation, and the City Mental Health Alliance, has set itself a target of raising £5 million and securing one million minutes of volunteering. This “money and minutes” fund will help sustain and grow the most effective mental health services that small and medium sized voluntary and community organisations offer to the UK population. The launch comes as the UN warns of a global mental health pandemic because of COVID-19.

Goldman Sachs is our business launch partner, and we are grateful to them for kick starting our fund by donating over £400,000, through its COVID-19 Relief Fund. Deloitte, PWC, BUPA, and Saleforce are our volunteering launch partners and will be supporting VCSE providers of mental health services through their offer of skills and expertise.

Coalition partner City Mental Health Alliance and Association of Mental Health Providers have been working closely with both the private and voluntary sectors to develop and launch the programme. The Programme, which includes money and the minutes, will be delivered and administered by Association of Mental Health Providers, as the leading independent national representative organisation for VCSE mental health service providers.