Mental Health & Wellbeing Community Grant

The London Borough of Newham, through the COVID-19 Mental Health & Wellbeing Community Recovery Grant are working with seven local Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) organisations to deliver engagement with communities on mental health and wellbeing recovery.

The seven successful recipients of round one of the grant fund are:    

The Children’s Society

The Children’s Society deliver a range of services to young people and the local community of Newham. These include: 

• Direct therapeutic support and mentoring services
• The Stride service for boys/young men at risk of trafficking/exploitation. 
• The Resilient Me programme (working with Stepney All Saints school) supporting young Muslim’s mental wellbeing in schools.

The Children’s Society will use the grant funding to train 15 community volunteers to support children and young people (CYP) with emotional wellbeing needs. By recruiting mentors that reflect the diversity of the borough they will be able to reach those who are outside mainstream services as well as enabling some community resilience.

Newham Chinese Association

Newham Chinese Association (NCA) provides a range of services to the Chinese community in the London Borough of Newham. They provide social and recreational activities as well as bi-lingual advice and advocacy services to help connect their members into mainstream services.

The grant funding will allow NCA to adapt existing health materials into both Cantonese and Mandarin and present them in a culturally sensitive way. 
They will also provide both physical and virtual outreach services to create conversations within the Chinese community and raise awareness of issues such as loneliness and social isolation, bereavement and grief, fear and anxiety and/or trauma and raise awareness of the mental recovery from Covid-19.

Newham New Deal Partnership

Newham New Deal Partnership works primarily with older isolated people, people with disabilities, dementia and/or those who are digitally excluded.

The grant funding will be used to support the delivery of the @online club mental health and wellbeing programme for over 55s. This will work to support and promote the take up and awareness of existing mental health and wellbeing services to Newham residents that are publicised through online sources. This will be done by providing the training to register online and to directly access online services. The programme will be co-produced with participants, based on their needs and initial level of digital confidence. Topics are likely to include:

• Understanding your device; how to store and share information and use apps
• Going online safely
• Accessing health information online (local and national)
• Transactions
• Zoom, and online health videos

Tablet devices will be loaned so that programme participants can also practise at home.

NEWway

NEWway has worked with the homeless community in the London Borough of Newham since 2013 when it was launched by church leaders and charity workers from across the borough to support the rising numbers of homeless and vulnerably housed people in the local area. Over the past three years, NEWway developed into an umbrella charity with three core services: NEWdawn – a winter night shelter, NEWday – a year-round day centre, and NEWlife – a gardening social enterprise.

The grant funding will enable NEWway to extend its holistic offer at its day centre for homeless adults in Newham by providing gym sessions, extra gardening/carpentry workshops, organising monthly mental health and wellbeing events and employing a champion who will promote wellbeing among the homeless community.

Our Time

Our Time supports children of parents with a mental illness and their families. In the London Borough of Newham, they have been delivering a multi-family intervention known as the KidsTime Workshop, since September 2020. These are fun group workshops that offer a safe, non-judgmental place where families can come together to talk and learn about mental illness.

The grant funding will sustain this workshop so that they can continue to provide preventative mental health support to vulnerable children and families and allow further evaluation to develop a business case to embed and expand this provision in Newham.

Resources for Autism

Resources for Autism provide practical services for children and adults with a diagnosis of autism and for those who love and care for them.

The grant funding will be used to fund the Saturday play and youth group for autistic CYP with complex needs and/or challenging behaviour, in the London Borough of Newham. The Saturday groups are essential in addressing the current needs of the autism community and provide a safe and appropriately stimulating place for CYP with autism to enjoy themselves, whilst also reducing stress, developing their communication, play skills, independence and self-esteem.

Total Insight Theatre

Total Insight Theatre uses the arts to transform the lives of CYP. Their process is youth-led and they tackle important social issues with CYP to improve mental health and develop lifelong skills with holistic support.

The grant funding will be used to work with children aged 5-11, addressing loneliness, isolation, fear and anxiety to help process the adverse events of COVID-19 and restore a sense of routine, play and good mental health. In addition to delivering direct mental health and wellbeing services, activities will also raise awareness of services that children and families can access to help challenge stigma around mental health support in the community.

*The next round of applications for the Mental Health & Wellbeing Community Recovery Grant will be available from June 2022