New mental health café launches in Amesbury
People can drop in at the Evergreen Café for support, advice and company
A charity supporting vulnerable people in Salisbury has launched a Mental Health Café in Amesbury today (Wednesday).
It's been set up by homelessness charity Alabaré, and will offer advice, support and company.
It's free to attend and will be held on a weekly basis at the Evergreen Café in Amesbury, between 11am and 1pm every Wednesday.
Senior peer support worker, Julie White, came up with the idea.
"I've been to the Evergreen Café a few times with clients and it's a very appealing café.
"It's quite big, so we can be at one end and not interfere with other people that are in the café, it's very light and calming place," she said.
She said she hopes it encourages people to do the most difficult part of tackling mental health - walking through the door to find help.
"There's no expectation," Ms White said, "It's baby steps. Getting through the door is the hardest part for anybody.
"Once that's happened, you know, we can take it from there as slowly as anybody wants to go."
Making support easier to access
Helen Brian, service manager for the Access community mental health team in Wiltshire, said it's vital people can access support easily, especially given that waiting lists for mental health intervention are long.
She added that they want to change the way mental health support is delivered.
"It's no longer about sitting in front of a professional, in a really clinical room," she said, adding: "We can do this in a creative way.
"We can do it in a more comfortable environment and also we need to get out and reach people that wouldn't normally be able to easily reach the central services."
The concept of a Café should lead to a more informal environment that encourages people to talk and support each other.
Ms Brian said: "We have a real focus on sort of peer led support and people that we support meeting with each other and forming those relationships and those networks and a café is the perfect environment for us to do that further."