News Archive June 2020

The board of trustees and leadership team of mental health charity, Suffolk Mind, has taken the tough decision to close Quay Place heritage and wellbeing centre, in Ipswich.

The building was opened in November 2016 following an eight-year project with the Churches Conservation Trust to restore St Mary at the Quay church.

The project was funded mainly by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, but has been costly to run since its opening. A challenging location in the middle of the Star Lane one-way system, the building has grown income at more than 20% each year, but not quickly enough to cover the expensive running costs including maintenance of a medieval church, utility bills and staffing.

Once the remainder of the Lottery grant had been spent, Suffolk Mind was about to start subsidising the building out of its own income and reserves. Due to the impact of Coronavirus and the government lockdown, the board felt this was a subsidy the charity could no longer afford.

Jon Neal, chief executive of Suffolk Mind, said: “It’s really sad to have to make a decision like this. Quay Place has been part of Suffolk Mind for many years now, and it holds a special place in the hearts of many staff, volunteers and people who visited.

“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved, but also sad that we haven’t been able to get the costs and income to a place where we can keep Quay Place open.

“Suffolk Mind is, first and foremost, a mental health charity. We have a responsibility to help as many people as we can in a way that is financially viable and sustainable and that makes the biggest difference.”

Author: Jon Neal
Posted on: 15th June 2020

Independent mental health charity, Suffolk Mind have joined forces with other charities, along with the NHS and local councils to encourage the people of Suffolk to say thank you to each other for the small things in life.

The #SuffolkSaysThanks initiative is a community campaign launched as part of a wider project to support the mental health of the Suffolk community.

The new Suffolk Says Thanks website provides some fun, simple ways to enable every Suffolk resident to express their gratitude to other people in their lives. It includes posters, social media graphics and letter templates to recognise the brilliant work that family, friends, neighbours, postal workers, local delivery drivers, teachers and refuse collectors do for the community.

You can access the new website here.

Jon Neal, CEO of Suffolk Mind said: “In our research carried out to rate how well the community of Suffolk is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that 43% of people are not meeting their emotional need for status. This means they don’t feel valued or appreciated for the contribution they are making to the world.

“Status is important for good mental health, and so we wanted to join the #SuffolkSaysThanks campaign to encourage people to recognise the small acts of kindness in their lives – however large or small.

“Why not write a letter to a friend just to check their ok and to thank them for being there for you in the past? Or create a poster for your kids to thank them for not falling out with each other today. Or create a social media post to thank your local school for staying in touch so well during lock down.

“This campaign is all about thanking those who don’t often get thanked.”

Author: Ellie Winch
Posted on: 4th June 2020