The council has secured £2.4 million of investment for a new mental health hub in York.

York’s Mental Health Partnership (YMHP) has successfully managed to fund more than two years of investment to enhance mental health support available to York residents.

YMHP and the "Connecting our City" project will use the funding to develop a new 24/7 community mental health hub in the west of the city.

This hub will be open 24/7 to local adults (ages 18 and over) needing mental health support with no need for a referral.

During the hub’s daytime hours, it will be run by a multi-disciplinary team of statutory NHS and voluntary sector staff, including clinicians, social workers, social prescribers and peer support workers.

They say they will offer access to mental health support in the local community in a calm and comfortable environment.

The "Connecting our City" project has been developing a community-based mental health hub model over the last two years, with a hub also under development to support residents in the north of the city.

The new hub is likely to be developed in Acomb to support people in the west of the city. It will be co-developed in collaboration with people with lived experience, local residents, carers and those with community connections. The exact location will be confirmed soon.

In the future, YMHP aims to create a third hub in the east of the city to ensure enhanced community mental health support is available to residents across the whole of York. 

(left to right) Alyson Scott, Lynne Gabriel, Steve Wright, Savanna Thompson, Ros Savege, Kate Helme (Image: City of York Council)

Professor Lynne Gabriel, professor of counselling and mental health from York St John University is one of the independent co-chairs of the YMHP.

Prof Gabriel said: "Through the determined work of the Connecting Our City project and programme team, as well as York Mental Health Partnership colleagues and collaborators, we’ve delivered a daytime co-designed and co-produced community venue and service that provides compassionate person-centred care. 

"Having successfully secured the NHSE funding, we now can extend that offer into a 24/7 community mental health hub – an exciting and much-needed innovation."

From the voluntary and community sector, Alyson Scott, chief executive officer of York Mind, and Sharron Smith, chief executive officer of York Carers Centre, work with the partnership. 

"The wonderful thing about receiving this funding is we started with what people who use services want and need and we built up from there," said Alyson Scott.

"The whole process has brought together people across statutory and voluntary services and combined with people with lived experiences, we have worked through the challenges and are a stronger, more trusting partnership as a result."

Sharron Smith added: "Mental health carers have long struggled to be seen and heard. However, significant improvements have been made since the establishment of the hub in the northern part of the city.

"From the outset, carers have been actively involved and included, with support provided to them on a par with those they care for."