Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults: year 2 - monitoring and reporting summary

Annex B: Project Examples – by region

Aberdeen City:

Third Level Foundation Community Interest company CIC - The project will support adults struggling with the effects of trauma and suffering loneliness and isolation in Cornhill, Fersands, Middlefields and St Machars. Weekly workshops will provide an opportunity for group/s to build connections and support each other, while learning about the effects of trauma and coping skills. They will also learn practical tools and understanding the relationships around them. These benefits will strengthen mental health, self-esteem and proved a sense of inclusiveness rather than isolation and loneliness.

Aberdeenshire:

The Seed Box - The Seed Box provides horticultural training and outdoor therapy to adults with additional support needs (both physical and mental), They are outgrowing their current site and are planning to set up a new site near Banchory to allow them to increase the number of co-workers they work with. They currently provide around 2,000 sessions a year and are planning to steadily increase this over the next 2-3 years. The site includes a shop which will allow them to expand the training they provide and allow more people to buy their produce and jams etc, reducing their carbon footprint.

Angus:

Nash - The Neurological & Stroke Hub (NASH) will bring wrap around service to people, carers & their families that can respond timely and appropriately to their changing needs. NASH is a unique and innovative support network to people who have a neurological condition, is proactive and appealing and aims to reduce deterioration whilst maximising levels of physical and mental health.

Argyll & Bute:

Crossroads North Argyll - To provide free respite for unpaid carers in Oban, Lorn and the Isles. This enables them to have a much-needed break each week to meet up with friends, go for hair appointments, etc. anything that helps their own mental health and wellbeing which has been affected by their caring role and coping during the pandemic. Some carers have been struggling as there have been no groups running to support the cared-for person, leaving the carer to support/care for them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

City of Edinburgh:

Saheliya - We will provide trauma-aware counselling in first languages and art, music, and dance therapy for marginalised women from racialised communities with lived experience of gendered abuses including harmful cultural practises who are unable to access other appropriate services due to barriers of language, stigma and taboo towards mental illness. Counsellors will be fully qualified and registered with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and / or COSCA (Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland) and wishing to gain experience of using their first languages to provide counselling.

Clackmannanshire and Stirling TSI:

Dollar Community Development Trust - To recruit a project officer to drive forward our Caring, Connected Dollar activities. To develop services within the Hive to support those most vulnerable within our community. Services envisaged being – those aimed at people with dementia, unpaid carers, those bereaved and those needing a warm space/social opportunities. Engage volunteers and organisations from across Dollar to work together for the benefit of the community.

Dumfries & Galloway:

All Roads Lead to Whithorn - To increase the use of the Hall by groups at either end of the age spectrum - the elderly and vulnerable and also young people at risk. For the older community, we target those who may be disproportionately affected by the Cost of Living crisis and may also have lost confidence to socialise, as a result of shielding or caution due to the pandemic. New engagement with the public will kickstart the use of our Hall after an 18 month closure for extensive construction works. We want to deliver a project that is accessible to everyone in our community but particularly those who have health and socio-economic challenges.

Dundee City:

Ardler Village Trust - Funding will be used to extend the opening hours of the Ardler Community Café, to fund additional subsidised meals, to extend the flexibility of support that can be offered and to provide a warm safe space

East Ayrshire:

Netherthird Initiative for Community Empowerment (NICE) - To facilitate staff costs and travel for two fully accredited Psychotherapists to work within Netherthird Community Centre for a 1 year period. This will be done by working in Partnership with charity Youth Interventions who are specialists in the emotional and mental wellbeing of young people. There will be a dedicated focus on supporting young people at risk of suicide, emotional distress or maladaptive behaviour through therapeutic one to ones with individuals and family members.

East Dunbartonshire:

LGBTQI+ Youth Scotland - This project will provide activities for LGBTQI+ young people aged 16-25 in East Dunbartonshire, enabling them to socialise, access engaging workshops and build positive relationships. They build the confidence, resilience and skills of LGBTQI+ young people, supporting them to move on to positive destinations.

East Lothian:

S.M.I.L.E. Counselling - To provide assist (suicide intervention) training to 144 people over 6 courses in 2023/24, a wide range of those living, working and supporting the community in East Lothian. ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) A two-day skill building workshop that prepares participants to provide suicide first-aid interventions. ASIST trains participants to reduce the immediate risk of suicide and increase the support for a person at risk. The workshop helps participants recognise what a person at risk may need from others in order to keep safe and get help.

East Renfrewshire:

Neilston Parish Church. Free Weekend Lunch Service - A free weekend lunch service aimed at tackling food/fuel poverty and isolation in the local community. Running for 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon we aim to provide a warm safe space where people can relax and not have to worry about having to feed/heat/entertain themselves or their families.

Eilean Siar (Western Isles)

Western Isles Community Care Forum – Musical Memories - Musical Memories is a monthly series of live and online music and singing events that stimulates and entertains care homes residents and others in Harris. The project is designed to reduce social isolation and loneliness by offering social activities to people affected by dementia, other long term conditions and their carers. There is an inter-generational aspect and people attending can also receive cost of living advice.

Falkirk:

The Braveheart Association - To help support across the district, inequalities experienced by those disadvantaged in society are clearly seen. Older people, women, ethnic minority groups, refugees, and asylum seekers are most at risk of adverse mental health. The project will address these complex issues by using their individual and collective resources to deliver emotionally engaging activities and provide evidence-based, practical wellbeing strategies to build resilience and better mental health.

• To increase volunteering, amongst people from priority groups
• To enhance community cohesion
• To increase capacity and resilience skills.

Fife:

Curnie Clubs - Six Curnie Clubs will help Members access nature and explore their own and each other’s local areas to help improve mental health. They will practice commonly problematic issues, i.e. accessing public places and utilising public transport. The project will serve as an extension to their deaf Stage 3 Mindset Group. For those ready, it will help them access local nature spots with staff and peer support with regards to previously mentioned issues. It will run for 15 weeks and will include walks with sit-spot invitations and nature-based workshops. Each participant will be provided with a waterproof sit-spot pad and sit-spot journal.

Glasgow:

Deafblind Scotland - The Don’t Worry, Be Happy Project will continue to address the mental health/wellbeing inequalities experienced by deafblind people, made transparent during Covid-19 with particular regard to older people -lack of access to mental health improvement information, guidance/support. The project offers deafblind people an equitable approach to improving their mental health through accessible phone/home-based one-to-one sessions - mental health brief interventions, advice/support. Participants will be provided with home-based self-care information/support.

Highland:

Held In Our Hearts - To support the expansion of their services in the Highlands. They are working in partnership with NHS Highlands to provide both specialist 1:1 baby loss counselling and peer support for bereaved parents. Prior to their partnership with NHS Highlands, there has been no support available for families and we have had some families reach out, who have been experiencing suicidal ideation or in one case actively suicidal. Their specialist services give families a safe space to share and find ways of coping with the loss of their baby in the long term.

Inverclyde:

Safe Harbour Inverclyde - To support individuals and families experiencing emotionally chaotic lifestyles, often due to long term mental health issues, poverty and trauma. This new programme will offer telephone support and outreach practitioner support, befriending, and delivery of wellbeing therapeutic sessions. This work is anticipated to help participants build emotional resilience to self-manage issues (trauma, domestic abuse, phobias, loss, isolation, exclusion), and reduce social isolation and challenge exclusion arising from poverty, poor health and education within poorer communities across Inverclyde.

Midlothian:

Circles of Support for People with Learning Disabilities in Midlothian - To recruit and train volunteers, who will support up to four individuals and their family members by delivering three main activities: 1:1 befriending; 'Circles of Support' and local social events. This includes co-production of person-centred plans to address their specific needs. The project will enable people with a learning disability or autism to live their best lives, facilitated by volunteers. This will include 1:1 volunteer befriending and tailored small scale social events to bring individuals and families together for mutual connection and friendship.

Moray:

Moray Coast Methodist Church - To develop Moray Hope for Peace into an ongoing programme, including a centre for Restorative Justice (RJ) and reconciliation, and a high-quality training facility focusing on the restoration of relationships and victim support for communities in Moray. Strong RJ and reconciliation support is shown to be a significant contributor to positive community mental health.

North Ayrshire:

Irvine Community Sports Club - To open a community warm room project with mental health support integration. They will run a community warm room for 4 days per week and in 4 evenings, allowing for community members suffering from socio-economic deprivation, disabilities, and those furthest from social interaction. Providing a warm space to interact, have some hot food and drink, play games, watch TV, gain digital literacy training, and access support for benefits, grants, mental health, suicide awareness, and bereavement support.

North Lanarkshire:

Getting Better Together - To take an early intervention and prevention approach by providing antenatal services that support families throughout the whole pregnancy and create clear pathways into Early Years services.

Orkney:

Orkney Blide Trust - To enable and support a group of men who are experiencing mental health difficulties, social isolation and a lack of purpose/opportunities to use their skills to engage with the Men's Shed. The project will involve a group of men who access support from the Blide Trust working alongside others from the Men's Shed community initially to plan, build, and erect a new garden tool/potting shed for the Blide garden and then to work on other agreed projects over the year. Their experience has shown that in order to overcome barriers to participation and maintain engagement this group of men would require a member of staff from the Blide Trust to work alongside them to provide support around issues such as anxiety, trauma, low mood and poor self-confidence.

Perth and Kinross:

Lighthouse & The Neuk (Partnership) - To support the continuation and further development of the family support project which the Lighthouse and The Neuk received funding from the 2022 CMHWF. The project provides crisis support for all family members when one member presents to their services for support. For instance, if a young person comes to The Lighthouse for support, their family members/carers will automatically be asked if they would like support from The Neuk.

Renfrewshire:

Jambo! Radio - To deliver a weekly mental health broadcast project - Mind Matters - for the BAME community across the West of Scotland. Funding will support volunteer expenses, admin support and production costs.

Scottish Borders:

Eastgate Theatre (Peebles) Ltd - To develop work across two strands of creative classes for vulnerable adults living with chronic conditions; a new set of movement- based workshops designed for adults seeking to improve their physical and mental health; along with training for practitioners, volunteers and Eastgate staff.

Shetland Isles:

Relationship Scotland Shetland - To provide a peer support group offering emotional support for young people who are experiencing or have experienced family separation. They aim to provide a safe space so that they can work on feelings and emotions to help support better relationships now and in the future.

South Ayrshire:

Symington Friendship Group - To provide a safe and warm environment for local people struggling with energy bills. Offering light refreshments and hot drinks and activities.

South Lanarkshire:

Supporting Older People - To support older people to re-engage in their community is a project being developed in direct response to the needs of older people in Cambuslang, Rutherglen and Hamilton. As they have met and listened to our older, resoundingly many of them who have been adversely impacted by shielding, state that they are still anxious about leaving their home and meeting in groups. They wish to offer these people the opportunity to come together in a safe environment and participate in a range of opportunities aimed at building lasting relationships whilst improving an individual’s feelings of mental and physical wellbeing.

Clackmannanshire and Stirling:

Forth Valley Disability Sport - To support the 'Without Barriers' project will deliver bespoke sport and physical activity sessions for adults aged 16+ living with a disability or limiting condition. The project will meet a significant gap in daytime provision of this kind taking a targeted approach. The project has been developed following the '5 steps to mental wellbeing' to generate the greatest impact.

West Dunbartonshire:

Flourising Faifley - To establish and support a new men’s group within the Flourishing Faifley community. This group, which would be open to all men, is a proven mechanism for tackling social isolation, loneliness and mental health issues.

West Lothian:

Team Jak Foundation - To run support sessions and activities for parents, carers and other adult family members who have a child with cancer (or related illness) and for those who have been bereaved. This includes, Counselling sessions, weekly Parent Patter sessions, Monthly Angel (bereaved families) Parent Patter, Mindfulness, Yoga, footgolf, games night. More relaxed sessions where adults can gather while their children are at our Mini Dener’s programme or they have the opportunity to receive a pamper or relaxation treatment, knowing that their child is being taken care of by staff and volunteers who understand their condition. All of these provide essential emotional, social and practical support to help ease the journey of having a child with cancer, including when that means losing a child to cancer.