Impact Report: Mental Health

Over the last two years, the impact of the pandemic has heightened the need for support – from someone to talk to, to somewhere to live where support is on hand 24 hours a day.

For all of us, life has become more complicated and at times more difficult. Two years of living in lockdown has exacerbated people’s mental health and we have experienced more demand for our mental health support than ever before.

Our support is focused on enabling the right support at the right time, with an understanding that at different points in life, people need differing levels of support to stay well. We are committed to enabling people to recover and live well within their own local communities.

By providing alternatives to hospital admissions, not only are we delivering better outcomes for the person living in a less restrictive setting, we are also delivering financial and other efficiencies to the system as a whole.

A fundamental part of our mental health support is the power of people designing, leading, and delivering on what good support looks and feels like. Solidarity in a Crisis has led the way in demonstrating the impact of peer-led support and we have expanded this approach to where we provide accommodation-based support.

At a system level, our work as equal partners with the NHS, other providers and people themselves through the Lambeth Living Well Alliance has again shown the power of collaboration.

I am proud of the support detailed in this Impact Report. With each of the support offers, what is evidenced time and time again is the importance of looking beyond labels to see the individual – and focusing on not what is wrong, but what is possible.

Aisling Duffy, Chief Executive, Certitude