The night Tamara first walked through the doors of Hope Haven, a new community mental health hub in the heart of Whitehaven, she was afraid. \u201cTerrified, actually,\u201d she says. \u201cLike, my life was falling apart. I didn\u2019t know how to stop it from hurting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old, who works in children\u2019s transport, had been in and out of therapy and counselling since she was 14, after being abused by an acquaintance as a child. After a lengthy legal process her abuser was sentenced, but the \u201cmental challenge\u201d of dealing with what had happened to her was not over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was having a really hard time at home, and my best friend told me that I could go and stay with her for a bit, but I needed to ask for help first, so she dropped me off here at like 11 o\u2019clock at night,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
That night was a turning point: Tamara was seen immediately by a member of staff and offered an appointment for the next day. She believes that if she hadn\u2019t been offered help at Hope Haven, she would still be at \u201crock bottom\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tamara said being seen immediately, late at night, at Hope Haven and getting a next-day appointment had been a turning point for her. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
Hope Haven is part of a pilot scheme of six hubs across England<\/a>. It offers preventive, open-access care 24\/7, meaning people do not need a diagnosis or referral to access its services. Its alternative approach reflects concerns that more traditional NHS services have struggled to improve local wellbeing.<\/p>\n In its first five months from March to July, about 3,000 people accessed support either digitally or in person. Nearly half of them had never been in contact with NHS<\/a> mental health services before. Admissions to inpatient mental health wards in the area fell by 24% between January and September compared with the same period last year.<\/p>\n The five other pilot centres, which are part of NHS England\u2019s 10-year health plan, are in Lewisham and Tower Hamlets in London, Birmingham, York and Sheffield. After Andy Burnham\u2019s announcement<\/a> of \u00a3343m towards \u201cthe biggest redesign of mental health services in a generation\u201d this summer, 100 more are due to open gradually, starting this autumn, with an evaluation of the pilot centres later this year.<\/p>\n The hubs build on the Trieste model<\/a> of mental health care, a 24-hour holistic approach which started in 1980s Italy. They offer more than just mental health support, hosting several local services under one roof, from exercise classes to financial advice and housing support. They also house several short-stay beds, allowing teams to offer overnight support.<\/p>\n Whitehaven is a pretty but quiet and isolated town in the far north-west of England. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Hope Haven is in the centre of coastal Whitehaven, a pretty but quiet and isolated town in the far north-west of England. Nearby, several shops have closed down and sit empty; the market opposite the hub boasts a single stall. The town\u2019s main employer is Sellafield Ltd, a nuclear decommissioning site and the largest environmental restoration project<\/a> in Europe.<\/p>\n The area has one of the highest suicide rates in England, with 20 people per 100,000 dying by suicide, according to NHS Alliance<\/a> \u2013 almost double the national rate. Since 2017, referrals to local mental health services have trebled.<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s been very little by way of input into Whitehaven,\u2019 says Vikki Ford-Powell, a clinical lead allied health professional specialist at Hope Haven. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cOver the years, with the closure of all the factories and the big employers, there\u2019s been very little by way of input into Whitehaven, and I think people have lost hope,\u201d says Vikki Ford-Powell, 53, a staff member at Hope Haven.<\/p>\n Sue Papworth, 49, another member of staff, says there are areas of deprivation in and around the town: \u201cA lot of people think, oh, you\u2019re in the Lake District, people have got lots of money. We haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Sue Papworth, a project lead at Hope Haven, says there are areas of deprivation in and around the town. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Josh MacAlister, the Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, praised the work of the centre. \u201cWest Cumbria<\/a> is a really special place. Our community is really strong and filled with groups, volunteers and connections. We should be so proud of that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it can be hard to ask for help in such a tight community and when mental health services are far away.<\/p>\n \u201cOur high rates of suicides are extremely concerning and a source of deep pain for so many friends and families who\u2019ve lost people. That\u2019s why Hope Haven has been so warmly welcomed and the early signs are positive. Having a walk-in, low-stigma service that offers a range of help could prove to be a big part of the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018You\u2019re not a barcode here,\u2019 says Gordy. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Hope Haven offers support for people regardless of their mental health history. Gordy, 47, originally from Scotland, has struggled with alcohol addiction and was on antidepressants for four and a half years. Since engaging with services at Hope Haven, he has been able to come off them. He says the one-to-one, non-judgmental support has meant he is now able to walk in public without being terrified.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not a barcode here,\u201d he says. \u201cSuicide\u2019s massive around here, and this is direct, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I just love the company,\u2019 says Mary Bragg, 91, who has made friends at Hope Haven activities. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Another regular at Hope Haven is Mary Bragg, 91, who lost her husband seven years ago and lives alone. She attends a weekly chair-based exercise class at Hope Haven and has made friends through the hub.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a lot happier now in myself,\u201d she says. \u201cI just love the company.\u201d<\/p>\n In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans<\/a> can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline<\/a> at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org<\/a>. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline<\/a> is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The night Tamara first walked through the doors of Hope Haven, a new community mental health hub in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[103,61,60,410,411],"class_list":["post-673532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}