Mental health 'safe haven' opens in Newcastle city centre as Ashington facility sees rise in demand for help
by Sam Volpe · ChronicleLiveA new "safe haven" for people experiencing mental health crisis has opened in Newcastle, the second of its kind in the North East.
The facility - at George Street Social in Newcastle - is run by charity Everyturn Mental Health and partners the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Road to Recovery Trust. Its opening comes as figures released by Everyturn suggest demand for the existing Ashington haven has ramped up in the months since it opened.
The data shows that more than 500 people have made use of the mental health support available at the Ashington centre - known as the Bothy - since it opened in April. It has now seen 528 people referred to the service, and the number of referrals has ramped up between the April opening and October by 182%.
The new Newcastle location is not a "drop-in" centre like the Bothy in Ashington is - instead people need to be referred by a professional. That could be a GP, NHS crisis team staff or, if they have been "street triaged", by outreach workers.
Pasha Tanriverdi, head of development at Everyturn, said: "We are delighted to be launching our second safe haven, offering more space for people needing mental health support, in the heart of Newcastle. The safe haven in Ashington has already proven to be a great addition to the community and is helping to ease pressures on other NHS services.
"We hope that our continued work with our NHS partners, and now The Road to Recovery Trust, in creating this new safe haven will help ensure that nobody struggles alone."
The charity believes the surge in referrals to the Ashington centre can be put down to a range of factors, but that its own data shows 39% of those accessing the safe haven have experienced issues with housing, food, finance, employment or benefits.
Tracy Bruce, the charity's head of community and crisis added: "It is incredible to see the positive impact that the Safe Haven has had so far for people across all of Northumberland and the physical presence in Ashington, has been welcomed as a place for local people to get support.
"We’re expecting that demand for the Safe Haven will increase as we head into a winter of unknowns – so it’s vital that people who are in mental health distress know that there is support available to them and nobody has to struggle alone."
Levi Buckley, chief delivery officer at the ICB, added: "Mental health distress can happen to any of us, and we're working to improve the range of services so people can get the right support at the right time.
"The Bothy offers something different – not just help in a crisis, but help with the problem that caused the crisis, like housing, money, alcohol or drugs. The team can also put you in touch with various services depending on what kind of support you need."
The Newcastle opening comes after an investment of more than £300,000 to transform the site. Find out more about the safe havens at everyturn.org/safe-havens.
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