The first Isle of Wight Community Safe Haven service has been launched in Newport this week.
The service, which will initially run as a 1-year pilot, has been developed in response to community feedback as part of the work to look at redesigning health and care services last year under the My Life a Full Life new care model.
People currently accessing services and members of the public had said they wanted a facility, for people approaching a mental health crisis, to go to outside of usual office hours; in the evenings and weekends. Somewhere they could come and seek support, advice and information from both professionals and people who had been through similar experiences.
In response, the Community Safe Haven has been established at Quay House in Newport having been designed together with people who use mental health services. It will be run by national mental health charity, Richmond Fellowship, and supported initially by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust.
Derek Caren, Chief Executive of Richmond Fellowship, said:
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Isle of Wight NHS Trust to provide this vital community mental health service on the Isle of Wight.
“Richmond Fellowship has a long and proud history of providing mental health services within communities and we are delighted to be involved in running the new Community Safe Haven – a service that the Isle of Wight community has specifically told us they want.
“Our vision at Richmond Fellowship is to work together with the people we support to make mental health recovery a reality and we believe the Community Safe Haven is an important first step in meeting that vision for the people on the Isle of Wight.”
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Kevin Bond, Executive Director of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, said:
“We’ve listened carefully to what people on the Island told us they needed in terms of additional mental health support. I’m delighted that, together with Richmond Fellowship, the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group and the people we support, we have been able to put this service in place. It is a model that has worked successfully elsewhere in the UK and I believe it will make a genuine difference for people on the Island.”
The service will be open from 17:00-22:00 Monday to Friday, and from 10:00-22:00 on weekends and bank holidays.
An open day, for members of the public to drop in and visit the service, will take place on Thursday 26th October from 12:00-16:00 at Quay House in Newport (behind the Riverside Centre).
For further information on the Community Safe Haven service, visit: www.richmondfellowship.org.uk/isle-of-wight.
