How can local councils know if their mental health services are working well?

Andy Bell

Chief Executive

Dear friend,

Welcome to our April newsletter. I’m very pleased to be writing to you as the Centre’s new chief executive and to be continuing to lead our brilliant team in our fight for equality in mental health.

Today we published a new guide for local councils to help them know if the mental health services they offer are meeting people’s needs well, drawing on the views of the people that use them.

With local elections in many areas of England coming soon, do take a look at our manifesto for local councils and a recent blog we’ve published about how to support people with mental health difficulties to assert their right to vote. Nothing is more fundamental to equal citizenship.

Our Festival Of Ideas has explored new approaches to tackling poverty and racial injustice and tomorrow moves on to look at how to give all children and young people a mentally healthier start in life. Please join us for this event and our next two in this important series.

Next month we’ll be at RHS Chelsea talking about the importance of nature and the environment to mental health in the most disadvantaged communities. I hope you will be as inspired as we are by The Balance Garden and its message about mental health equality.

‘It feels like being seen’

How do local councils know if the mental health services they fund are working for the people who use them?

Drawing on research with people who use services, and carers and professionals, this briefing outlines a series of statements or criteria to help local authorities measure how well their mental health services are supporting people’s needs.

Prison mental health services in England, 2023

Nine out of ten prisoners have at least one mental health or substance misuse problem, and the majority have complex needs.

This report finds that one in seven people were receiving support from mental health services while in custody in 2023, rising to more than one in four women, and identifies where provision needs to be improved.

Image: Young girl runs on beach. Teal block with dark blue text. Text: Building an effective mental health system for Children and Young people. 27 April 2023. 12PM-1.15PM. ONLINE.

27 April | 12PM - 1:15PM

Many agree that change is drastically needed in children and young people’s mental health services. But what would an effective system for children and young people’s mental health look like?

Join us tomorrow to hear from an amazing panel of speakers about how we can transform mental health support for children and young people.

We’re delighted to be the charity partner for a show garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show! We’ll be shining a light on inequalities in access to the mental health-boosting benefits of nature.

Blog: Nature, gardening and mental health - Expanding the narrative

Find out more about our vision for the garden and the legacy it will have by being relocated to Markfield Park in Tottenham.

Our garden’s legacy and relocation - Markfield Park, Tottenham

Thea is joined by award-winning mental health activist and anti-racism campaigner António Ferreira. From providing guidance for an Eastenders storyline about a young Black man with schizophrenia, to his campaign to end tokenism in the charity sector, hear how António has been using his own lived experience to drive change in mental health.