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...providing accessible mental health services across the county
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About West Suffolk Mind
West Suffolk Mind work to improve the lives of people with mental ill health. We have been a registered charity since 1962 and affiliated to Mind National since 1986.
| What we offer | Welcome from our CEO | History & Present | Document downloads |
We offer
- Advice and information, supported housing and respite care for carers.
- Programmes and courses such as Anxiety Management, Anger Management, Cannabis Cessation, Nourishment and Mental health and Think Smart, Drink Smart.
- Support groups and self-help groups such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Post Natal Depression.
- Recovery activities such as Women's groups and walking groups.
- Creative groups such as music, art and creative writing.
- Counselling and a PC-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy programme to help alleviate anxiety and depression.
Our services, apart from some counselling services, are FREE to access.
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Welcome from our CEO
Welcome to West Suffolk Mind, I am Sue Jay, Area Manager.
I have been in this role since 2000 but have worked within West Suffolk Mind for some 14 years. My responsibility is to ensure that the charity complies with the aims and objectives as set out by our constitution and that the services we offer fit within our mission statement below. I also ensure on behalf of the trustees, who have the ultimate responsibility for West Suffolk Mind, that we comply with all the necessary legislation such as health and safety and employment law.
I have a very open management style that enables me to be approached by any staff member, Service User or person wanting direct contact with me. I think this is an important part of my work as I am able to feed back on all levels of the organisation to our Trustees, who in turn set the charities future strategy. I see the Suffolk Mind Partnership strengthening and growing year on year. Both being linked by a common cause, the ethos of Mind.
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History & Present
The Start
1962, what a year! The Beatles released their first single "Love Me Do"; Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, was launched; Sean Connery became James Bond; Marilyn Monroe was found dead; the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war; John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth and the West Suffolk Association for Mental Health was set up! Back then we were staffed by volunteers and had only a small housing project (well, one maisonette actually with two men in residence). All minutes were handwritten until March 1973 when it was decided to buy a typewriter, (on sale for £15.00!)
Early Days
During 1980 -1981 we opened 4 group homes in Bury St Edmunds and made huge efforts to press for more facilities for the mentally ill in the area, including a day centre. We got our Day Centre in July 1982, held in the coffee lounge of the Trinity Methodist Church two afternoons a week and run by 4 volunteers. In February 1983, we advertised for a paid worker to run the Day Centre and by now we had 5 group homes in operation. By November 1985, the Day Centre was operating two days a week and we were looking for bigger premises.
Affiliation to Mind National
In October 1986, in response to a number of affiliation packages proposed by central Mind, WSAMH elected to affiliate to Mind fully. This had a number of advantages and meant the association could be represented on regional representative groups and so in February 1987 we held the first Management Committee Meeting as West Suffolk Mind.
Further growth
In July 1987 we found a new home for our Day Centre, in the Duke of Wellington pub on Prospect Row, Bury St Edmunds and a new Day Centre organiser was appointed. In May 1989 a manager for West Suffolk Mind was appointed. In December 1995 we were awarded £261,000 by the National Lottery Charities Board to purchase a centrally located building in Bury St Edmunds to house our day services and offices under one roof. We held our opening ceremony for 50 Long Brackland on 18th June 1998.
The Healthy Mind Centre
In 2002 we were awarded almost £900k over 3 years from the Lottery for our Healthy Mind Centre (which is a Healthy Living Centre - one of the few in the country to concentrate on mental health). The purpose of the Healthy Mind project was to move more towards offering services to people before whilst they were still well - but aware that they needed some support. GPs in the area now regularly 'prescribe' a visit to the Healthy Mind Centre to patients - often before medication or a sick note. We like to think of ourselves as a mental gym or health centre! Now we work closely with East Suffolk Mind we can offering the services of the Healthy Mind centre to people across Suffolk. Click here to view current programmes.
Then and now
Between 1986 when West Suffolk Mind affiliated to Mind National and 2007 we have grown remarkably and can offer help and support to thousands of people in West Suffolk (2,700 people contact us last year).
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Then
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And Now
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Our supported housing had 5 flats
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We now have 26 Services > Supported Housing
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We had one day centre
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We now run three centres covering recovery activities and individual recovery plans Services> Day Recovery
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We had 2 full time and 2 part time employees
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We now have 17 full time and 13 part time employees plus 20 paid courses facilitators, 3 paid counsellors, 14 volunteer counsellors and 8 other volunteers. Support Us > Volunteer opportunities
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We rented accommodation
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We now own our main building and the adjacent Coach house. Services > Room rental
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We ran 1 support group
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In 1986 we could only open 26 hours a week
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We now open to the public between 9- 1 and 2-5 for advice and information and our building is open to aligned groups and for counselling during evenings (and by special arrangement at weekends). Services > Room Rental
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Summary
As part of the Suffolk Mind Partnership we now work closely with East Suffolk Mind to ensure the services we both offer are available across the entire county. As an organisation our profile is now sufficiently high that we are considered a vital voice on many strategic planning groups including government initiatives such as the Local Strategic Partnership. This helps us campaign for the rights of people with mental health difficulties and be involved in making changes to ensure services are available to them.
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West Suffolk Mind documents
We have a range of documents which you can download, including Annual Reports and Newsletters. Click here to access the Document Library.
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