Mental Health Cafe Opens on South Ealing Road

Circle caters for the specific needs of young people in the area


The Circle Cafe

Related articles

 

Local Government Ombudsman Admonishes Ealing Council

'Shocking' Safety Flaws in Ealing's Housing Provision

Participate

Sign up for a newsletter from ActonW3.com, ChiswickW4.com and EalingToday.co.uk

February 9, 2023

The UK’s first mental health crisis café has been opened on South Ealing Road. Children and young people in the area can now take advantage of a venue which has been specifically designed for their needs.

The service called The Circle provides drop-in and appointment-based specialist mental health support for anyone under 18, all year round.

It is a partnership between Hammersmith, Fulham, Ealing and Hounslow Mind (HFEH MIND) in partnership with NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) across North West London.

Circle has been designed to create a welcoming, calm, and safe space with cafe facilities for local children and young people.

The service is staffed with both clinical and non-clinical highly specialised Crisis Support Navigators from HFEH Mind who have a background in CAMHS and crisis care.

Young people can self-refer or be referred to the Circle by a school, social care, A&E, or CAMHS crisis services between 3pm-11pm on weekdays and 12-8pm on weekends.

It provides drop-in and appointment-based specialist mental health support 365 days a year, to relieve pressure on local A&E departments.

Nana Owusu, Director of Children & Young People’s Services at HFEH Mind said, “A&E departments are already overstretched and often not the best place for a young person in crisis who’s already feeling distressed and overwhelmed. Circle provides a much-needed safe space and immediate support for young people who reach a crisis point with their mental health.”

The service has been co-designed with local young people, as well as parents, carers and local partner agencies, including Community CAMHS teams, CAMHS Crisis teams, social care, the Met Police, local GPs, youth liaison and diversion teams, drug and alcohol services and NHS North West London Integrated Care Board.

Dr Johan Redlinghuys, Clinical Director for North West London CAMHS Provider Collaborative said, “Opening the Circle is a significant landmark in our strive to make sure young people in mental health crisis are treated by the right people, in the right place, as quickly as possible. Demand for NHS mental health services continues to increase and so by putting in place a specialist hub to support young people across North West London, we hope this will reduce pressure on A&E units and set a benchmark for other similar services across the NHS.”

The centre will run on an 18-month trial pilot project and will be monitored by the partners throughout this time.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 

Bookmark and Share