REST Hub, Ipswich

Mental wellbeing support when you need it

The REST Hub is a welcoming, non-clinical space where adults can access free mental wellbeing support from Suffolk Mind.

Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, struggling with your mental health, finding it difficult to cope with everyday life, or simply don’t know where to turn, our experienced team are here to help.

We offer focused, person-centred support to help you understand what’s happening for you, identify your next steps and work towards improved wellbeing.

How to access the REST Hub

There are three ways to access support:

• Drop in during our opening hours.
• Refer yourself using our online referral form to book an appointment (from 1st Sept).
• Be referred by a healthcare professional or another organisation, such as NHS 111 or your GP.

Our team will work with you to identify the most appropriate support based on your needs.

What to Expect:

When you first access the Hub, a member of our team will spend time understanding what has brought you to us and what support may be helpful.

Support may include one or more structured one-to-one sessions, helping you to:

• explore your current challenges
• develop practical coping strategies
• build confidence and resilience
• identify goals and next steps
• connect with other services and community support where appropriate
• connect with other service users, in a shared, safe, community space, encouraging peer support

The REST Hub is designed to help people move towards improved wellbeing in a supportive, welcoming environment.

About REST Hubs

REST Hubs provide a welcoming and supportive space for people who may be struggling with their emotional wellbeing or feeling overwhelmed. We offer same-day mental health support, a listening ear, help to feel calmer and safer, practical support, safety planning and connections to other services where needed. We also offer brief, structured support designed to help people better understand their emotional needs, build helpful coping strategies and prevent things from reaching crisis point.

Our current offer includes:

‘REST and Recover’ – 1:1 Support

REST and Recover offers up to six individual support sessions, tailored around you and what you need. Your first session gives you time to talk about what is happening, explore your emotional needs and work together with us to identify what you would like to change or work towards. Following sessions are shaped around your individual goals, using different tools, resources and approaches that may be helpful to you. Your final session provides an opportunity to recognise your progress, reflect on what you have learned and make a plan for continuing to move forward.

‘REST to Connect’ – Six-Week Group Psychoeducation Programme

REST to Connect is a supportive, facilitated six-week programme designed to help you understand yourself and your emotional wellbeing. Together, we explore self-esteem; understanding and managing emotions; anxiety, anger and our natural survival responses; helpful coping skills; and goal setting and motivation. The programme finishes with a session focused on empowerment, reflection, celebrating progress and learning from one another. REST to Connect is a closed group with a set start and finish, and you can join the waiting list for the next available programme.

‘REST, Support, Talk’ – Community Groups

Our informal community groups offer a relaxed and welcoming place to connect with others, enjoy meaningful activities and support your wellbeing. They have a flexible, drop-in feel, so there’s no pressure to attend every week. Activities and themes will change from time to time and may include things such as crafting, creative writing, mindful colouring and other activities that support connection and wellbeing.

These groups will be running with immediate effect:

• Tuesdays – 1pm–3pm
• Fridays – 10am–12pm

Workshops

We will also offer occasional one-off workshops exploring different aspects of emotional wellbeing, useful skills and activities. These may be run by our REST team, feature guest speakers or be delivered in partnership with other local organisations. Upcoming workshops and information about how to take part will be advertised in advance.

Alongside these services, REST can offer practical support, safety planning and help connecting you with other services and organisations, depending on what you need.

Visiting the Hub:

Importantly, people don’t necessarily need to know which element of REST is right for them before approaching us. Individuals can walk in, self-refer or be referred by a professional, and an initial conversation and assessment will help us understand what is happening for them and collaboratively identify the most appropriate support.

Everyone is different, and not every REST intervention will be the right fit for everyone. When you first come to us, we’ll complete a thorough assessment with you to understand your individual needs, circumstances and goals. Together, we’ll use this to identify the support that is most appropriate and likely to be helpful for you.

Most importantly, you don’t need to know what kind of support you need before coming to REST. You can walk in, contact us yourself or be referred by a professional. We’ll start with a conversation about what is happening for you, what you need and what you would like to change. From there, we’ll work with you to identify the REST support that feels most appropriate, or help you connect with another service if that would better meet your needs.

You don’t need to be in crisis to access the REST Hub.  We encourage you to self refer to our REST Hub to get the most out of your visit.

If you choose to drop in, we’ll always do our best to see you on the day. However, there may be times when the Hub is supporting other people and we’re at full capacity.

If this happens, we’ll work with you to arrange the next available opportunity or help you access other appropriate support if needed.