New mental health service launched in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire

The new Good Life service will be delivered by local charity CPSL Mind and will deliver online support, a new community-based Personality Disorder Service in Peterborough and ‘Good Mood Cafes’.

The announcement comes shortly after the Government separately committed almost £3.5 million to expand community mental health services in Peterborough and the surrounding area.

Today’s announcement follows Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire Mind being awarded a £1 million a year contract by Cambridgeshire County Council to run new services alongside a range of partners.

Its work will compliment existing mental health provision in the county.

Among the services it will provide are Good Mood Cafes with weekly wellbeing sessions and Open Door calm spaces for those feeling overwhelmed.

Weekly sessions will be held in Peterborough at Paston Farm in Freston and WestRaven Community Café in Hampton Court, Westwood, as well as other venues across the county.

Sessions to manage financial concerns will also be held in partnership with Cambridge Housing, while one-to-one Good Life sessions for individuals who currently receive specialist mental health support will continue and availability will increase over time.

New initiatives which will develop over coming months include:

. A new county-wide online support service called ‘Qwell’ - offering one-to-one support, peer support and self-help resources delivered by XenZone

. The launch within 18 months of a new community-based Personality Disorder Service in Peterborough in association with Suffolk Mind

. A Good Life Innovation Fund, which will provide small grants to support individuals who want to deliver wellbeing-related initiatives within their communities.

CPSL Mind deputy CEO Emily Gray said: “We believe everyone has a part to play in community life, and the fact that someone has a health problem - be that mental or physical - should not exclude them from doing so.

“We recognise that, whoever we are, we all have strengths, talents, passions and skills - and seek to provide the space to let those flourish.”

In 2016, it was estimated that more than 88,000 adults aged 18 to 64 years in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough had a common mental health disorder – by 2021 this figure is predicted to be 95,200, and by 2026 97,500.

People with severe mental illnesses are more likely to have a lower life expectancy - 15 to 20 years lower than the population average.

The new government funding of £3.5 million will be used to pilot a new model of mental health support in the community which brings together additional specialist mental health care alongside extra support services from the local authorities and third sector and physical health support for patients who have more serious mental health illnesses./