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Support for people in Suffolk and North East Essex
Delivered in partnership between Suffolk Mind and Mid and North East Essex Mind.
Losing someone to suicide can feel overwhelming. You might experience a range of emotions—from shock and sadness to anger, guilt, or confusion. However you’re feeling, you’re not alone. We’re here to support you.
The Bereaved by Suicide Support Service is for anyone in Suffolk or North East Essex who has been affected by suicide. This includes family members, friends, colleagues, or anyone else impacted by the loss.
We support both adults and young people. If a referral is made for a child or young person, we’ll carry out an assessment to ensure we can offer the right kind of support for their needs.
We’re here to listen and support you.
This service is free and confidential.
Please note: this is not a crisis service.
For urgent help for you or someone you know, please contact your GP, visit A&E, call 999 or 111, or visit our Help Directory for more options.
Who is this service for?
The service is open to adults and young people living in Suffolk and North East Essex. We also welcome professionals to make referrals on behalf of someone affected by suicide.
To access support, please complete the referral form on the Mid and North East Essex Mind website. Mid and North East Essex Mind are the coordinators of this service across both counties.
If you live outside Suffolk or North East Essex but have lost someone to suicide in one of these areas, we may still be able to offer practical support—please get in touch.
We’re here to help you
We offer one-to-one, practical support to help you navigate the days, weeks and months following a bereavement by suicide.
Our service is:
- Non-judgemental
- Confidential
- Built around your individual needs
We also run peer support groups, giving you the opportunity to connect with others who have experienced a similar loss.
Our team is trained in trauma-informed approaches, and we’ll also signpost you to other services depending on your needs.
What support do we offer?
Things we can support with include:
We can also support people who witnessed a suicide, even if they didn’t know the individual, helping to explore the emotional and psychological impact.
Working in partnership
The Bereaved by Suicide Support Service is funded by Suffolk County Council and delivered in partnership by Suffolk Mind and Mid and North East Essex Mind.
If you’re based in Norfolk or Waveney, our trusted partners at Norfolk and Waveney Mind offer support. Visit their Suicide Bereavement Service for more information.
To access support, please complete the referral form on the Mid and North East Essex Mind website.
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Get in touch
Stuck in a rut?
What is Waves?
Waves is a support service for those who may have a diagnosis or traits of borderline personality disorder (BPD) or emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD).
The service helps to support an understanding of the diagnosis or experience, offers coping strategies and an understanding of where adverse childhood experiences may have contributed to the diagnosis or experience.
Waves gives clients:
- An opportunity to learn new skills to help manage and understand the diagnosis to enable you to lead a fulfilling life
- Help for building confidence and self-esteem
- Help for making positive connections and achieving personal goals
- A supportive, group working environment (not individual therapy, as staff are not trained therapists)
- An integrative programme working from the Human Givens approach, while using elements of DBT & CBT to help you reframe your ways of thinking
Please note that Waves is not open for self-referral. Referrals are only accepted via mental health teams, GPS or health and social care professionals .
About the service
Waves is a 12-week programme of face-to-face group sessions.
What are the traits of BPD/EUPD?
- Being easily overwhelmed by strong emotions such as distress, anxiety, anger or feelings of low self-esteem
- Difficulties with emotional connection to others and struggles with personal relationships
- Seeking control over strong emotions through self-harm, including abusing alcohol, drugs, or overdosing
- Becoming very attached to someone in a short space of time, before ‘pushing’ them away before they can be let down
For more information on borderline personality disorder, take a look at this short film, or visit Mind’s webpage on BPD.
Please note: this is not a crisis service.
For urgent help for you or someone you know, please contact your GP, visit A&E, call 999 or 111, or visit our Help Directory for more options.
What does a session look like?
- 10am – 12.30pm Life skills
- 12.30pm – 1.30pm Lunch
- 1.30pm – 3pm Art-based activities, focused work and 1-2-1s
Session locations
[Waves] really is a fantastic course. It helped me enormously and when I feel “off”, I always go straight to my Emotional Needs to work out what is wrong.
Waves service user
About Frontline Families
Thanks to a grant from The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, we are able to partner with Combat2Coffee to support service people, ex-military personnel, and their families across Suffolk.
Through this grant, Suffolk Mind is also offering free training to people who support military personnel and their families to cope with the effects of trauma and mental ill health.
Frontline Families offers courses on understanding mental health, supporting mental health, and understanding trauma.
We understand that there is less support for the partners, families and friends of those serving or ex-military personnel. This service is here to give you knowledge, practical skills, and the confidence to support yourself and those around you.
Free resources are also available for you to download on this page. The information includes Understanding Nightmares, Quick Tips for mental health, and advice on sleep.
Please note: this is not a crisis service.
For urgent help for you or someone you know, please contact your GP, visit A&E, call 999 or 111, or visit our Help Directory for more options.
Who is Frontline Families for?
This service is available to:
- People currently serving in the armed forces
- Ex-military personnel
- Families, partners and friends of a serviceperson
- People supporting service personnel and families (for example, chaplaincy, peer support, family liaison)
How do I get support?
You can self-refer using our online form. It usually takes about ten minutes to fill in.
When you reach the part of the form about the support you would prefer, please select as many options as you need to. We will then be in touch to talk about what is on offer, for example the next online course dates, or other support you’re able to access.
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Get in touch
Stuck in a rut?
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of stress, panic or fear that can affect your everyday life. How severe the symptoms people experience varies. Some people have only a few symptoms, while others have many more.
Anxiety Management course
Our Anxiety Management course consists of two 4-hour sessions that will assist you in reclaiming control of anxiety.
Our course aims to:
- Help reduce anxiety with breathing exercises
- Help you distract and switch off your brain’s warning system when it gets out of control
- Help you regain good sleep by reducing anxiety
- Question negative beliefs in order to help make you feel safe
This course will be run online. Please be reassured that there is no pressure to disclose, talk or discuss anything that would make you feel uncomfortable. We want you to leave the course feeling more in control and with a better understanding of how to manage anxiety.
Grant-funded sessions
We occasionally acquire grants that allow us to provide free sessions to some clients. To see if you are eligible, check the list below, or get in touch with us.
Please note: this is not a crisis service.
For urgent help for you or someone you know, please contact your GP, visit A&E, call 999 or 111, or visit our Help Directory for more options.
What happens next?
Once we receive your referral, our admin team will contact you within ten working days to notify you of our forthcoming course dates and to reserve your place. Once a place has been reserved, we will send an email with course joining instructions around two weeks before the course begins, and you will receive workbooks in the post that you will need to accompany each session.
About Menopause & Me
Menopause & Me provides support and guidance for people experiencing the menopause and perimenopause.
The menopause and perimenopause affects all of us, both at home and at work. It not only affects people who are menopausal, but also their colleagues, families and friends. According to a 2021 BUPA survey, almost 1,000,000 people left work due to menopausal symptoms in the last year.
Our aim is to support people in Suffolk with lived experience of the menopause, as well as local organisations to increase understanding and awareness of the menopause.
Please note: this is not a crisis service.
For urgent help for you or someone you know, please contact your GP, visit A&E, call 999 or 111, or visit our Help Directory for more options.
Support for those with lived experience
If you have lived experience and would like support, you can sign up to the free Menopause & Me community course. The course offers five online, interactive sessions, and is aimed at anyone experiencing the perimenopause or menopause.
Each session is designed to address and focus on different areas of information and support, to help people better understand their symptoms, and how to support themselves. This will be through teaching, learning activities and opportunities to share within the group.
Blog: Managing the menopause
Deputy Head of Education at The Mental Health Toolkit, Charlie Green, looks at managing the menopause, and how to navigate the changes it can bring in our blog.
This course was one of a kind. There are lots of courses out there on the menopause that focus on the physical elements, and it was so good to attend one that was about menopause and mental health.
JE, Ipswich
I am renewed and empowered with the tools I have been given in this course and I will 100% recommend this to others.
Menopause & Me client
Support for employers
The Mental Health Toolkit’s Menopause in the Workplace focuses on raising awareness of the (peri)menopause, and how the affects and associated symptoms can be supported and managed within the workplace.
A fantastic, informative session. I felt that I really learnt some valuable information and hope to put this into practice by developing a Menopause Policy for our organisation.
AF, HR Administrator
By far the best online training session I have ever attended! It was well organised, with a good balance of teaching, discussion and well-timed breaks.
Menopause in the Workplace client
Additional support for (peri)menopause
Ongoing support groups
You can join one of Suffolk Community Libraries’ M-Powered support groups. These provide dedicated safe spaces to share experiences, meet others, and offer and receive encouragement and understanding. Visit the Suffolk Community Libraries website to find out more.
Blog: Managing the menopause
Senior Trainer of The Mental Health Toolkit Penny Tyndale-Hardy looks at managing the menopause, and how to navigate the changes it can bring in our blog.
Video: Menopause, sleep and mental health
You can also watch our animation below, for information about (peri)menopause, and how it affects sleep and mental health.
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Get in touch
Stuck in a rut?
Our aim is to provide single supported housing to ensure a successful tenancy for those that have suffered mental illness. Our housing services embrace recovery approaches for mental health and wellbeing; a holistic, enabling, person centred approach to mental distress, disadvantage and social exclusion.
Please note that none of our supported housing projects are open for self-referral.
Ipswich
Montrose House
Montrose House is an award-winning residential care home for 10 residents with long term mental health needs. It has been rated as Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission and in 2017 it won Care Service of the Year, Motivational Leadership and was highly commended in food and catering. The Service is registered with CQC and is funded through pooled fund of Health and social care. More details on the CQC website.
The Service
The service is aimed towards residents aged 50+ and provides 24 hour care and support tailored to the needs of the individual. The experienced staff team are able to offer support with personal care (washing/dressing) and medication. Meals are provided with residents encouraged to help themselves to drinks, snacks and light meals to maintain their independence. Staff work closely with the local mental health teams, GP surgery and other health professionals to ensure residents emotional and physical needs are met.
Suffolk Care Awards Winner 2023 – Health & Wellbeing Award
Woodbridge
Eastwood Terrace
The Eastwood Terrace service provides housing and recovery support to individuals who have experienced mental health issues and may have spent time in hospital. The service is run by Suffolk Mind and commissioned and funded by pooled joint commissioning of Suffolk County Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The service
Staff are available between 8am and 12pm and are on-site overnight in case of emergency. They are able to provide high levels of one-to-one support with all aspects of daily living such as cooking, shopping and budgeting as well as providing emotional support. Each tenant is allocated a key-worker who helps them to develop their own person centred support plan. Provision is also available to help tenants to manage their medication, attend appointments and liaise with other mental health professionals.
This service is not intended to provide long-term support. When tenants feel ready, they will be supported to move-on to their own flat or home usually within two years or less. Personal care is not provided by this service.
Woodbridge
Pembroke Avenue
The Pembroke Avenue service provides housing and recovery support to individuals who have experienced mental health issues and may have spent time in hospital. The service is run by Suffolk Mind and commissioned and funded by pooled joint commissioning of Suffolk County Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The service
Staff support is available on appointment basis usually between 4 and 6 hours a week (this can vary depending on the needs of the individual). Out-of-hours support is available through an on-call service based at the nearby Eastwood Terrace project. Staff are able to provide one-to-one support with all aspects of daily living such as cooking, shopping and budgeting as well as providing emotional support. Each tenant is allocated a key-worker who helps them to develop their own person centred support plan. Provision is also available to help tenants to manage their medication, attend appointments and liaise with other mental health professionals.
The service is not intended to provide long-term support and when tenants feel ready they will be supported to move-on to their own flat or home usually within two years or less. Personal care is not provided by this service.
Saxmundham
Old Bell Yard
The Old Bell Yard service provides housing and recovery support to individuals who have experienced mental health issues and may have spent time in hospital. The service is run by Suffolk Mind and commissioned and funded by pooled joint commissioning of Suffolk County Council and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The service
Staff support is available on appointment basis, usually between 4 and 6 hours a week (this can vary depending on the needs of the individual). Out of hours support is available through an on-call service based at the nearby Spinney Close Project. Staff are able to provide one-to-one support with all aspects of daily living such as cooking, shopping and budgeting as well as providing emotional support. Each tenant is allocated a key-worker who helps them to develop their own person centred support plan. Provision is also available to help tenants to manage their medication, attend appointments and liaise with other mental health professionals.
This service is not intended to provide long-term support. When tenants feel ready, they will be supported to move-on to their own flat or home usually within two years. Personal care is not provided by this service.
Spinney Close
The Spinney Close service provides housing and recovery support to individuals who have experienced mental health issues and may have spent time in hospital. The service is run by Suffolk Mind and commissioned and funded by pooled joint commissioning of Suffolk County Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The service
Staff are available between 8am and 12pm and are on-site overnight in case of emergency. They are able to provide high levels of one-to-one support with all aspects of daily living such as cooking, shopping and budgeting as well as providing emotional support. Each tenant is allocated a key-worker who helps them to develop their own person centred support plan. Provision is also available to help tenants manage their medication, attend appointments and liaise with other mental health professionals.
This service is not intended to provide long-term support and when tenants feel ready they will be supported to move-on to their own flat or home usually within two year or less. Personal care is not provided by this service.
Felixstowe
Manwick Road
The Manwick Road service provides housing and recovery support to individuals who have experienced mental health issues and may have spent time in hospital. The service is run by Suffolk Mind and commissioned and funded by pooled joint commissioning of Suffolk County Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The service
Staff support is available on appointment basis usually between 4 and 6 hours per week (this can vary depending on the needs of the individual). Out-of-hours support is available through an on-call service. Staff are able to provide one-to-one support with all aspects of daily living such as cooking, shopping and budgeting as well as providing emotional support. Each tenant is allocated a key-worker who helps them to develop their own person centred support plan. Provision is also available to help tenants manage their medication, attend appointments and liaise with other mental health professionals.
The service is not intended to provide long-term support. When tenants feel ready, they will be supported to move-on to their own flat or home usually within two years or less. Personal care is not provided by this service.
Larkhill Way
The Larkhill Way service provides housing and recovery support to individuals who have experienced mental health issues and may have spent time in hospital. The service is run by Suffolk Mind and commissioned and funded by pooled joint commissioning of Suffolk County Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The service
Staff support is available on appointment basis usually between 4 and 6 hours per week (this can vary depending on the needs of the individual). Out-of-hours support is available through an on-call service. Staff are able to provide one-to-one support with all aspects of daily living such as cooking, shopping and budgeting as well as providing emotional support. Each tenant is allocated a key-worker who helps them to develop their own person centred support plan. Provision is also available to help tenants manage their medication, attend appointments and liaise with other mental health professionals.
The service is not intended to provide long-term support. When tenants feel ready, they will be supported to move-on to their own flat or home usually within two years or less. Personal care is not provided by this service.
Sawston
Green Road
The Green Road service provides housing and support services to individuals with enduring mental health issues. The service is run by Suffolk Mind and commissioned and funded by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Joint ICB (Integrated Care Board) and Cambridgeshire County Council.
The service
Staff are available between 8am and 10pm and are on-site overnight in case of emergency. They are able to provide high levels of one-to-one support with all aspects of daily living such as cooking, shopping and budgeting as well as providing emotional support. Each tenant is allocated a key-worker who helps them to develop their own person centred support plan. Provision is also available to help tenants to manage their medication, attend appointments and liaise with other mental health professionals.
How are you feeling?
Complete our short survey and find out. It’s anonymous and helps us as a charity understand the needs in England and Scotland.
Stuck in a rut?
Feeling terrible can be, well, terrible. If you need urgent help or are experiencing a crisis, click here to find some useful links and helplines we can vouch for.
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Anyone in Suffolk who is 18 or over can easily access our counselling service for one-on-one support from one of our counsellors.
Counselling provides you with the opportunity to talk about issues and any challenging emotions you have in a private, secure setting.
In addition to counselling, we offer other forms of therapy – including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
What is counselling?
Counselling is a type of talking therapy that provides you with a safe and confidential space where you can talk to someone who won’t judge you.
Our counsellors are impartial and understanding, they will help you explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours so you can develop a better understanding of yourself and/or others.
Counselling can help with a variety of issues, including:
- Difficult life events, like a bereavement, a relationship breakdown or work related stress
- Difficult emotions like low-self-esteem or anger
- Past or present issues
- Helping you to make sense of things
- Resolve complicated feelings
- Helping you to finds way to change unhelpful patterns
- Helping you to find better ways to cope with your problems
Sometimes people think we should only seek counselling when things go really wrong in our lives, but that isn’t necessarily the case.
At any time in your life, regardless of your past or present, you may benefit from counselling.
Our trained therapists can help you to reflect on what’s happening in your life and stop things from getting worse.
What is CBT?
CBT seeks to address both the thought process and the resulting behaviour by combining cognitive therapy and behavioural therapy.
CBT is a practical therapy that focuses on the present and aims to break down problems into smaller, more manageable issues.
Because it addresses each emotion separately, this therapy is especially beneficial for those with at least three of the following presentations:
- Depression
- Specific phobias
- Panic disorders
- Anxiety
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
We can offer up to 20 weeks of counselling, or up to 23 weeks of CBT.
The number of sessions is entirely up to you. Once you are booked in, the appointment time/day is yours until you cancel your sessions.
We are a fee-paying service
Weekly session costs can be found below.
If you want to discuss any of the prices, please get in touch via 0300 111 6000 or email info@suffolkmind.org.uk.
Grant-funded counselling
We occasionally acquire grants that allow us to provide free counselling to some clients. To see if you are eligible, check the list below, or get in touch with us.
Suffolk Mind Counselling Service is an Organisational Member of BACP (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy). Our membership number is 00106185.
The Professional Standards Authority accredit the professional organisations, including the BACP, UKCP and HGI, which all of our counsellors and psychotherapists are required to be registered with, to ensure that they are properly trained and qualified to practice safely.
Additionally, we are verified and listed in the Counselling Directory.
About our counsellors
The counsellors are volunteers, and are either on a placement working towards their professional counselling qualification or are fully qualified. The counsellors on placement in the service have been approved by their training institution to practise therapeutic counselling.
If you would like to join us as a volunteer counsellor, or through a counsellor placement, please contact us.
Meet our counselling team
Our Bury St Edmunds counsellors
Our Ipswich counsellors
Our Saxmundham counsellors
Our telephone counsellors
Our online counsellors
Our CBT counsellors
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
About the service
Our Eating Recovery service is for people who are living with an eating disorder or disordered eating. We provide safe, supportive weekly sessions over a 26-week period.
The service is open to those aged 18+ who live in Suffolk (excluding Waveney), and who have a diagnosis – or traits – of an eating disorder. This is a low level, non-clinical service.
Eating Recovery support groups run face-to-face and virtually. Face-to-face meetings are held during the day and in the evening in Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.
There are different groups to cover different eating challenges, such as for anorexia, bulimia (food restriction, food aversion), and binge eating disorders (food addiction, compulsive eating).
These groups help to reduce isolation for participants, and help people gain support from others who are experiencing similar challenges. Your group provides a safe, non-judgemental environment which focuses on different topics each week.
In these groups, we cover:
- Learning about mental health and wellbeing
- Understanding relationships and maladaptive patterns
- Interpersonal CBT techniques to inform coping strategies
Please note: this is not a crisis service.
For urgent help for you or someone you know, please contact your GP, visit A&E, call 999 or 111, or visit our Help Directory for more options.
What are the traits of eating disorders?
Traits of eating disorders are varied, and can include:
- Difficulty concentrating
- Distorted body image
- Extreme exercising
- Fear of gaining weight
- Hiding food
- Hyper-focusing on weight, calories, or nutritional content of food
- Isolation, or decreased socialising when food is involved
- Mood swings
- Patterns, beliefs or choices which focus on weight loss, dieting, eating patterns and rules around food
- Skipping meals
How do I join the Eating Recovery service?
You can self-refer for this service if you are 18+ and live in Suffolk (excluding Waveney).
You do not need a diagnosis, so if you relate to two or more of the traits above, please complete our self-referral form.
Professionals can also refer on behalf of a client or patient with their consent using the same form.
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Get in touch
Stuck in a rut?
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Who can access this service?
The Suffolk Night Owls Telephone Support Line is available to anyone in Suffolk (excluding Waveney) who needs emotional support, including those with complex emotional needs and anyone struggling with loneliness, depression or anxiety.
Who will answer my call?
Support line workers will be there to listen and support you. Please bear in mind, that while our call handlers are experienced listeners, not all of them will be a qualified mental health professional.
They will also have access to your referral form, so please complete the form as thoroughly as you can. They will discuss how you would like to be supported, and what works best for you at these times.
You will be listened to and heard, and have a place to get impartial support and information in a non-judgemental way.
This service is currently funded until 31st March 2026.
Please note: this is not a crisis service.
For urgent help for you or someone you know, please contact your GP, visit A&E, call 999 or 111, or visit our Help Directory for more options.
How do I access the service?
To access our support service, you need to register with us by completing a referral form.
Once you have registered, we will contact you and give you the number to call. You are then free to call the line/text and email the line for support during the times of distress.
When is the service available?
The telephone support line is open seven nights a week, 7pm to 1am.
Once registered, you will be provided with the contact number for Suffolk Night Owls.
While you are waiting to be referred, take a look at our other services which may be suitable for you.
You can also take a look at our page on understanding self-harm and suicide, or find out more about your Emotional Needs and Resources.
For any other queries, please contact our team.
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Stuck in a rut?
Volunteer with us
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
What is Suffolk Work Well?
Suffolk Work Well (SWW) is a service which aims to help individuals retain, regain or gain employment, education or volunteering.
We know that appropriate work, combined with the right support, is good for people’s mental health.
(Pictured: Nicki, Tony and Becks from the SWW team.)
Thanks to funding from the Community Fund, Suffolk Work Well is a free service which aims to support people with mental health challenges to:
- Get work ready
- Be enabled to gain employment or access education services
- Retain employment
Suffolk Work Well aims to provide a complete support programme that can be individually tailored to meet your needs and aspirations, and to help facilitate your transition towards employment or to retain your employment.
Where appropriate, we will meet with your organisation’s HR team to discuss workplace wellbeing and if any reasonable adjustments may be beneficial to both you and the organisation.
The service will also enable you to understand your Emotional Needs in order to stay well, and to achieve and maintain your personal goals.
“It’s given me perspective over what I can try to achieve, and helped me feel more comfortable talking about aspects of my life I struggle with.”
Suffolk Work Well attendee
What will I receive?
Support is for a 13-week period, and comprises:
- A confidential, supportive back-to-work system, including access to The Mental Health Toolkit: The Essentials workshop*, which identifies your physical and emotional needs and hence personal barriers & strengths to build emotional resilience and confidence building
- Tailored one-to-one support sessions with a dedicated Case Worker (CW), who will assist you throughout your engagement with the service and take special interest your progress. CWs will work with you to create a Personal Wellbeing Plan to help you move towards your employment goals
- Better in-work support. Your CW will work with you on a one-to-one basis to build on your Personal Wellbeing Plan, identifying coping strategies for positive mental health at work in order to stay well and retain your employment. Where necessary and agreed, your CW will collaborate with your employer
SWW is also able to provide support to those who may be (peri)menopausal wanting to retain, regain or gain employment.
*You can access The Essentials workshop by becoming a Friend of Suffolk Mind.
How do I refer?
You can refer yourself to Suffolk Work Well through the online referral form.
You can also be referred through your Jobcentre, your HR Team, your GP, support worker, care coordinator or psychiatrist who can refer on your behalf via the online referral form.
If you would like to access Suffolk Work Well you must:
- Be over the age of 18
- Have expressed an interest in seeking employment, or already be in employment
- Be able to attend regular support sessions
- Be ready and able to positively engage in training, volunteering/work experience and work preparation activities
- Reside within Suffolk
Please note: we review a service user’s engagement regularly. If they are not engaging in the service, they may be discharged.
If you have any queries about the Suffolk Work Well service, please email us.
Who our Support Workers have helped
“[Female, 25] came to SWW while unemployed, suffering with intense social anxiety, and unable to read well. We worked together on self-esteem and confidence, job hunting support, and connected her with ReadEasy who continue to support her with reading.
“She is now working full time, learning to drive, and is having regular therapy sessions to work through her past trauma. It’s a total transformation from the individual I initially spoke to, and she is now confident about what she wants to do in her future.”
“After referring to SWW, [male, 63] is like a whole new person. His colleagues have noticed how he is more confident, more talkative and even joins in with a bit of banter too.
“He was in a very dark place when he reached out to us. With our support through this difficult journey, he feels like he is now an even better version of himself than he has ever been, and could not be more grateful.”
“[Female, 21] self-referred to SWW as someone who was working part-time from home, suffering from anxiety, and unable to leave the house alone. She also refused to talk on the phone due to a lack of confidence. I asked if she would like to try a phone call with me – she agreed, and the first call went so well that we continued to communicate by telephone.
“She is now able to leave the house on her own, meeting new people and doing online courses to find out what really interests her, so she can choose what career path to go down. She thanked me for gently pushing her to take a phone call, and is loving life more than she ever thought she would.”
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Welcome to GreenCare
As any gardener will tell you, getting outdoors in the fresh air is great for your physical and mental wellbeing.
Our GreenCare allotment projects help participants to improve their physical and mental health through outdoor activities while working alongside others.
Activities include digging, sowing, planting, weeding and harvesting. And, of course, we can enjoy an all-important cup of tea together.
GreenCare activities also help us to meet many of our Emotional Needs, such as:
- Feelings of Achievement from helping to grow and nurture an allotment
- A sense of Community through being part of a purposeful group
- Opportunities for Movement and Emotional Connection with nature
Participants also report that attending regular sessions adds further Meaning & Purpose to their lives.
“It has given me a positive place to go and be active. It gives me a sense of achievement to have helped with tasks on the allotment.”
GreenCare Allotment Participant
Who can benefit from GreenCare?
This service is for open to those aged 18+ who live in Suffolk (excluding Waveney), including people who:
- Experience mild to moderate depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges
- Want to help build emotional resilience as a preventative measure and meet their Emotional Needs
- Want to help prevent the onset of mental ill-health, such as an episode of depression
” It’s a safe space to talk openly and it feels good to support others by listening too.”
GreenCare Allotment Participant
Can you help us grow?
Our GreenCare volunteers play a key role in the service, attending fortnightly sessions to help participants to improve and maintain their mental and physical wellbeing.
We would love to hear from you if you have a keen interest in gardening, if you enjoy supporting and encouraging others, and if you would like to volunteer your time and skills and help us to deliver our GreenCare sessions.
“At the end of each session we can always see such a difference, as the plot changes so much after three hours of working together. There is also a big difference in how participants feel after some fresh air, some gardening activity, and some time chatting with others over a cup of tea. Come along and experience a session. Be part of the group and see the benefits for yourself.”
GreenCare Allotment Volunteer
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
Face-to-face drop-in groups at various locations across Suffolk.
Open Space are weekly support drop-ins. We provide a friendly and informal environment for discussion and activities to help you better understand and enhance your wellbeing.
There’s no need to register or be referred. You can attend as often or as little as you like, and you can come and go during sessions.
If you’re looking to meet new people and find out about local events and resources to support your wellbeing, find your nearest Open Space drop-in. Everyone is welcome.
How to get involved
This is a drop-in service and there is no need to book. People are welcome to attend as a one-off or on a regular basis and can attend for part of the session if they want to:
| Newmarket Library | Wednesdays, 2pm – 4pm |
| Haverhill Library | Fridays, 1pm – 3pm |
| Bury St Edmunds Library | Mondays, 2pm – 4pm |
| Stowmarket Library | Tuesdays, 11am – 1pm |
| Sudbury Library |
Thursdays, 2.15pm – 4.15pm |
| Ipswich County Library | Wednesdays, 1pm – 3pm |
| Woodbridge Library | Wednesdays, 1.30pm – 3.30pm |
| Felixstowe Library | Thursdays, 2pm – 4pm |
We value your feedback
If you’d like to let us know your experience of using a Suffolk Mind service, including ways we can improve, please complete this form.
Our team regularly reviews feedback to help us improve the support services that we offer.
