Recipients of government coronavirus mental health funding announced

The government has announced the first recipients of its £5million funding pot for mental health organisations to cope with the impact of coronavirus.

The funds have been administered by Mind as part of the Mental Health Consortia, made up of Mind, the Association of Mental Health Providers, Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Foundation, the National Survivor User Network and Rethink Mental Illness.

Chief Executive of Mind Paul Farmer said:

“It’s important that Mind, working closely with our colleagues in the Mental Health Consortia, have been able to quickly promote, assess and award much-needed funds to charities providing frontline mental health support in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. We were inundated with applications for the fund, showing just how much the support is needed.

“The coronavirus pandemic is impacting all of us, but is especially hard on those of us living with a mental health problem. The recipients of this much-needed fund are doing incredible work to support those who need them most, both on a national scale and in the community, and the money granted will help them continue to work in innovative ways.

“There’s still far more to be done, and we look forward to continuing to work together to help combat the mental health emergency we find ourselves in as we fund more organisations across England.”

The full list of organisations selected in the first round of funding are:

• Bath Mind

• Changing Faces

• Islington Mind

• Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)

• Tower Hamlets Friends and Neighbours

• YoungMinds

• Take Off

• Shama Women’s Centre

• Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham

• Support After Rape and Sexual Violence (SARSVL)

• The What? Centre

• Daisy Chain Project Teesside

• Suffolk Rape Crisis

• Rugby League Cares

• Bluebell Care Trust

• Ambitious about Autism

• Illuminate Charity

• Oakleaf Enterprise

• Cambridge Acorn Project

• London Friend

• North Kent Mind

• African Health Policy Network (AHPN)

• MindOut LGBTQ Mental Health Service

• Eating Matters

• Speakup Self Advocacy Limited

• Maidstone and Mid Kent Mind

• Solace Surviving Exile and Persecution

• Dementia Forward

• LGBT Foundation

• The Hugs Foundation

• St Helen’s Mind

• Shine A Light Support Service

• The Counselling Centre

• One Place East

• The CLD Trust

The grant is currently paused for new applications due to overwhelming demand.