Annual Review 2025 16 West Cumbria Mental Health Partnership The need for mental health support for people in West Cumbria is greater than ever. The West Cumbria: Opportunities and Challenges 2025 report, produced earlier this year by the Community Foundation, shone a light on some grim statistics. The suicide rate for Cumberland is the third highest in England, and hospital admissions for mental health conditions and self-harm are far higher than the national average. West Cumbria Mental Health Partnership (WCMHP) was launched in 2021 as part of the Transforming West Cumbria social investment programme, funded by Sellafield Ltd and delivered by the Community Foundation. Since the WCMHP programme began, more than 20 charitable organisations have been funded by Sellafield Ltd, through the Social impact, multiplied (SiX) programme, to deliver accessible, low-level mental health services that prevent mental ill health and promote emotional wellbeing. More than 6,500 adults and 2,200 children and young people have benefited from this support so far. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES DELIVERED IN PARTNERSHIP Groundwork North East & Cumbria manages the overall programme and coordinates mental health service delivery for both young people and adults in West Cumbria. Together We CIC leads the Recovery College which provides courses and workshops to improve wellbeing and aid recovery. Partners funded to deliver services and enhance provision include: Always Another Way, Citizens Advice Allerdale, Citizens Advice Copeland, Cumbria Youth Alliance, Mind in Furness, Together We and the Windmill Trust. SOMEONE TO TALK TO Chris Young received counselling from Together We to address mental health problems he has faced throughout his life as a result of sexual abuse as a child. He said: “I’ve had a lot of issues within relationships. I’ve done a lot of soul searching and I came back to the fact that there was something that I hadn’t really addressed which was my childhood sexual abuse. “There’s a huge importance in speaking to people. Sometimes you don’t even necessarily need answers or solutions. “The counselling sessions allowed me to unload and to speak about things which I haven’t spoken about in detail before, just to try and move on past them.” HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE As part of the partnership, care experienced young people in West Cumbria can access mental health support and help with issues such as low confidence through Cumbria Youth Alliance (CYA). Claire Price, In Care and Leaving Care Project Manager at CYA, said: “A lot of care experienced young people have massive trust issues. They’ve had so many different adults in their lives who often move on, sometimes without warning and they don’t understand why. So their mental health can come in massive dips and massive highs. “I would be very, very surprised if I met a young person who’s been in the care system that said to me, ‘I don’t have any issues with my mental health’. “They lack confidence in themselves and our job is to boost that confidence, build their self-esteem and give them belief that they can do whatever they want.” Mental health services delivered in partnership
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