Mind welcomes £3.6m funding for Social Prescribing

Vicki Nash, Head of Policy at Mind, has welcomed the announcement of more than £3.6m for Social Prescribing. She said: “We are pleased to hear that the UK Government are committing to funding Social Prescribing projects across the country.

“Mind has been running Social Prescribing in Wales for the past two years and our data shows that it has a really positive impact for people with mild to moderate mental health problems. In the Wales pilot, 95% of people who were helped by Social Prescribing said that they had achieved at least some of the goals they wanted to achieve.

"However, it’s important to note that while Social Prescribing can help people, it must not be seen as a substitute for funding other types of valuable support. There are 1.8 million people on the waiting list for mental health services in England who have no idea when they are going to be able to get help. It’s been a year since the Government announced it would publish a cross-government mental health plan. We must see the plan in the New Year to know how Government plans to tackle the backlog, meet people’s social and mental health needs, and expand mental health services so that everyone has access to the support they need for their mental health.”