On the first of August, we celebrated a year of our crisis support service, Haven.

Haven was established in partnership with Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust (BDCT) and Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council and offers a calm, safe space in a non-clinical environment which people can access if their mental health is deteriorating or they feel in emotional distress.

A key feature of Haven is our focus on peer support. This has been met by lots of positive feedback. One person said: “For the first time in years I just talked. I really warmed to Emily who saw me, which made it really easy and a nice environment too; I felt safe and not judged.”

A second wrote: “Was really helpful talking to a professional who actually knows and understands how it feels, for the first time I felt totally understood.”

With almost 2000 support sessions delivered over the year, Haven offers one-to-one, group and telephone support. The service is designed to people to access the support they need, develop their plans to stay well and cope better with distress in the future.

Kim Shutler, Chief Executive, The Cellar Trust said: “We feel very lucky to be able to offer a service like Haven – which recognises that when you are feeling mentally distressed – a clinical approach isn’t always what you need. Being able to create a calm, safe space for people where people feel really understood and listened to has been brilliant and we have been blown away by the feedback we have received. Key to the success has been our close partnership with BDCT and BMDC which has enabled true integrated working.”

Simon Long, Interim Deputy Director of Mental Health Acute and Community Services at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “The reaction to Haven has been really positive and people accessing the service have credited it with helping to give them the coping skills needed to manage crisis more confidently in the future. We would like to thank everyone involved for their continued commitment to the service – and ensuring people in crisis get the help they need. Partnership working has been key to the success of caring for people locally with acute mental health needs.”

People in crisis can access Haven via the First Response Service, Telephone 01274 221181, or community mental health teams.