If you are worried about your own or someone else’s mental health call the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 24/7 NHS mental health response line on 0800 038 5300. It's free to access by anyone, any age, any time, day or night.
Round 1 funded projects
The following projects benefited from Round 1 of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Suicide Prevention Innovation Fund, which was launched in July 2020. This supported innovative community-based projects to help reduce the numbers of people taking their own lives.
Imagine If Partnership, working with Justin Wiggan, a professional sound artist, incorporates the community connect project which works with GP practices and Parish Councils within Cornwall to connect to their communities, focused on reducing isolation, improving well-being, building thriving resilient communities. The project will be based within the Coastal PCN geographic area, creating a programme of work that can scale across Cornwall adapted to the needs of each local community. We will use sound to help break up negative thought patterns and through community settings help to start the conversation, bringing people, organisations and communities together, helping to contribute to prevention or intervening to save a life. The project will address the issue of mental ill-health as a contributory factor in coastal fatalities via an interventional safe space which contains sound to redirect negative thoughts into more positive ones resulting in potential behavioural change, both in personal space and social space.
Contact: Kevin Feaviour
Email: kevinfeaviour@me.com
Through this process individuals will have the opportunity to engage in their own creative flow, enabling them to look forward and support each other whilst building stimulating challenges that will positively influence participants in thinking about themselves and each other. Through previous experience we have found that men engage willingly and enthusiastically with digital arts projects around the creative use of everyday personal digital technology such as smartphones and tablets. We find that smartphone photography meet ups are a great way to explore the 5 ways to wellbeing. We will create 4 projects in different areas of the county, introducing people vulnerable to self-harm and suicide to smartphone photography, develop their knowing and understanding with a highly skilled and experienced practitioner. Once the initial 4 sessions have been completed we will introduce the participants to our established groups and run a further series of 4 more sessions. Finally the projects will show their prints and continue to meet up long term via our monthly meet up and online challenges.
Contact name: Ruth Purdy
Email: ruth@mitber.com
Tel: 01326 340251 or 07800 586315
Website: https://mitber.com/
It’s a co-produced project aimed at men who are experiencing isolation and loneliness with the main focus being to prevent suicide and reduce the risk of self-harm. Men will shape every aspect of this project, sharing existing skills and hobbies and learning from each other. A place to pursue practical interests at leisure and enjoy social connections and friendship building, sharing knowledge and a lot of laughter.
The group will meet regularly for the social connection, company and camaraderie while deciding on the planned activities together. Activities such as den building, bushcraft and simply sitting around a fire pit immersed in nature will form stable activities.
Contact name: Babs Rounsevell
Email: babs@chaosgroupcornwall.co.uk
Tel: 01872 277600
Website: http://chaosgroupcornwall.co.uk
Dads' Packs
We would like to develop a resource pack for widowed dads who have come to us for support for their children. We want to put together a ‘rescue pack’ specifically for Dads with resources for wellbeing. We would also include practical/ reflective resources such as ‘tool box’ cards – making a tool box of things that help, postcards and grounding activities. We will include ideas for remembering which they can share with their children too.
Leaflets and Resources
Specific written resources and signposting leaflets for agencies that may be helpful for the men in families we support to access. If we were to include resources within our family pack specific to Dads, we could potentially achieve an increase in engagement.
Family Fun Day
We want to facilitate additional Family Fun events into our calendar each year with a focus on what Dads may potentially feel more confident to engage in, for example:
- golf day
- moorland walk
- bowling
When we do get Dads attending our fun days it can be a great opportunity to talk informally and build confidence in accessing support.
Contact name: Julie Parker
Email: julie@penhaligonsfriends.org.uk
Tel: 01209 210624
Website: https://penhaligonsfriends.org.uk/
In-house suicide and self-harm awareness, training workshops and discussion groups for residents and customers of support projects in LiveWest in Cornwall.
LiveWest runs a number of supported accommodation services across Cornwall supporting young people, young parents, homeless families, people with mental health issues, people who have fled domestic abuse and people with complex needs including substance misuse and homelessness. We have a dedicated team of staff delivering holistic support to vulnerable people.
Contact name: Mel Sweet
Email: Mel.Sweet@livewest.co.uk
Outdoor Learning programme called ‘Pathfinder’ which covers all aspects of survival and wilderness experiences
- Shelter Building
- Fire lighting
- Foraging
- Navigation
- Mental and Physical resilience
- Nordic Walking
- and much more
The programme has been designed in a way that it is accessible to all abilities and ages from Primary school aged children to retired persons. Survival School on site at the centre where we run most of our sessions and have recently been in talks with the Duchy of Cornwall to develop a partnership which will allow us access to their estates to run the programme. We are also able to offer the programme as days on the moors and overnight camping. ‘Fire Brew’ - has come about after discussions with the local Police on how we can work towards engaging those students in school but also persons in the community who need somewhere and someone to talk to. The focus of this element is to sit around a campfire and chat, whilst learning new skills like wood witling, rope making from vegetation (Stinging Nettles, Sunflowers).
Contact name: Simon Barnes
Email: nscc@tretherras.net
Tel: 01637 875533
Website: Newquay Sports Centre Facebook page
1. To develop a whole WILD organisational awareness and commitment to the aspirational goal of ‘Towards Zero’. WILD currently employ two workers with experience of working in mental health services (one as a statutory mental health practitioner in the NHS and one as a specialist rape and sexual abuse third sector counsellor). Our intent is that two workers will have funded hours to facilitate monthly staff training which focus on mental ill health in young fathers, in particular the impact of childhood trauma on mental health, suicide and self-harming behaviours.
2. To develop direct work with young fathers to ensure we are actively identifying individuals’ protective factors and working to reduce their risk factors through:
- workshops with a specific suicide and self-harm focus
- strategies for reducing self-harming behaviours
- group sharing of healthy coping ideas
- and information sharing about where to get further support from
Contact name: Hannah Densham
Email: hannah.densham@wildproject.org.uk
Tel: 01209 210077
Website: https://www.wildproject.org.uk/
We would like to encourage more people to connect together and form new social ‘bubbles’ to support each other through challenging times. Our plan is to adapt the HOPE delivery programme from a face-to-face model to an online model allowing us to run it despite social distancing restrictions which often precludes face-to-face delivery for vulnerable groups. We will target patients working with Social Prescribers, and young people referred via the One Vision Community Development Worker Team.
HOPE (Help Overcoming Problems Effectively) is based on a course developed by the University of Coventry, originally to help people cope better with long-term medical conditions and which has now expanded to include workforce groups and carers. It is based on positive psychology built on academic research to address the rising numbers of people with poor mental health due to other medical and nonmedical conditions. Their vision is for everyone to have the tools to lead a hopeful and flourishing life.
HOPE is a six week programme to help people build confidence to self-manage their long-term health conditions that may lead to thoughts of suicide. This could include:
- Physical health such as pain relief
- Mental ill health issues such as anxiety, stress and depression
- People returning to work after a long absence
- Parents and carers of children with additional or complex needs
Contact name: Marianne Wright
Email: MarianneW@volunteercornwall.org.uk
Tel: 01872 266987
Website: https://www.volunteercornwall.org.uk/hope
Man Down run fortnightly group support meetings across Cornwall in 18 locations www.mandown-cornwall.co.uk and are expanding to reach a goal of 33 locations providing coverage for all who need it. We also run weekend retreats and several social outdoor events alongside the fortnightly meetings to reduce Suicides in Cornwall.
To achieve this through helping adult men to talk about their struggles in a safe, nonjudgmental environment at fortnightly meetings that are accessible, require no booking and are completely confidential. Up until the pandemic these were monthly. We want to increase these to two to three per month.
Contact name: Brad Osman
Email: support@mandown-cornwall.co.uk
Facebook: Man Down Facebook page
Website: https://www.mandown-cornwall.co.uk/
Mental Health Network work in partnership to sustain improvements to the mental health and wellbeing of commercial fishermen, led by Fairwinds Mental Health Practitioner, experienced in delivering mental health support for fishermen and their families living in Cornish ports. The project would target a high risk population of men, with a focus on those who are middle aged or older, working in one of the most dangerous industries in the UK.
Contact name: Ceri Summers
Email: Fairwinds781@outlook.com
Tel: 07934 720429
Website: https://fairwindscornwall.co.uk/
Mobile crisis service in the form of a trailer and van capable of pulling the trailer, and storage facility. This will enable the service to navigate some of the narrow roadways which our lorry cannot. It will provide a flexible resource, locating the trailer in a community space and providing a van for local outreach to support people to access our face to face groups and services. The approach takes mental health support out into the heart of communities, improving accessibility and breaking down barriers and discrimination. It provides a very flexible approach enabling us to target hotspots and hard to reach groups.
Contact name: Matthew Byrne
Email: Matthew.Byrne@valuedlives.co.uk
Tel: 0800 260 6759
Website: https://www.valuedlives.co.uk/
Mental health service to the Cornish farming community that would include time dedicated to engagement with the community. Offer would include one to one sessions using a robust evidenced based assessment, risk assessment, safety planning and treatment using CBT and solution focussed therapy techniques. To include provision for outdoor walking therapy, meaning that farmers could access therapy on their farmland by adopting an outreach style approach. Telephone and digital platform for therapy delivery as required to tailor therapy in line with need.
Contact name: Sarah Counter
Email: landtoseacbt@outlook.com
Tel: 07934 720429
Website: https://fairwindscornwall.co.uk/
