As we enter Mental Health Week, Lincolnshire World investigates what support is available in the county to help residents 'wait well' to see medical professionals and overcome the isolation they may feel.
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00:00 So, my name is David Bruce, I'm the lead community connector for Skegness, Spilsby
00:08 and District. I'm based here at the Spilsby Wellbeing Hub, funded by the NHS.
00:16 Now, May is Mental Health Week. What support is there in Lincolnshire for people suffering
00:24 mental health issues?
00:25 Really good question Chrissie. Well, there's more than what most people realise. So, two
00:32 years ago, the NHS funded grass root level projects to deliver wellbeing hubs, night
00:39 light cafes across the entire county. For example, in the one that we're in now, we're
00:46 open five days a week. We have early morning provision, we have sessions that run into
00:51 the evening, it's about 8, 9pm with our night light cafes. You can access an array of services
00:58 through the hub, so we'll help support you with getting an appointment with your GP or
01:03 a mental health practitioner. A lot of people don't realise now that all our surgeries across
01:07 Lincolnshire have a designated member of staff of mental health, who we work very closely
01:12 with here at the hubs. We have access to an array of other projects in the community through
01:18 Hey Lincolnshire. Simply going onto that website, again which was commissioned by the NHS to
01:25 showcase the best of what's available in our communities and anybody can sign up to that.
01:29 If you run a project within your community, you can put it on Hey for people to find.
01:34 We have so many projects that run across the coast that maybe just aren't publicised enough,
01:42 but going on Hey will help you find what is out there in your local community. Sometimes,
01:47 maybe just a coffee morning, but it reduces that social isolation and it gives people
01:52 a safe place in which to meet, socialise and talk. There's certainly a buzz going on behind
01:57 you in this room and you've got a craft session going on in another room haven't you? Is loneliness
02:04 a big factor in Lincolnshire do you think? Absolutely, loneliness and grief is another
02:10 one. We get a lot of people who are bereaved, who access our wellbeing sessions. We get
02:15 a lot of people who are waiting in between services as well. For example, maybe they're
02:19 waiting for a GP appointment, they're waiting to see their mental health practitioner or
02:23 one of the other teams. So the hubs are providing that 'wake and well' space. So we've got some
02:28 people here today who maybe access it every day and that's great and that's good for them,
02:33 that suits them, that actually is part of their therapy and their care because they've
02:38 got somewhere to wake well every day and just mix and socialise and sit and talk with other
02:42 people. We've got one of the volunteers here. What attracted you to these meetings? So when
02:53 I originally accessed the hub, I accessed for my own wellbeing and I had a lot of help
03:02 and a lot of signposting to anything that I needed really. There was a lot of support
03:08 there for me. When I stopped needing the support so much in my own life, I started volunteering
03:16 because I wanted to be able to give that support back to the community. And you're carrying
03:22 on enjoying doing that? Yeah, I absolutely love it. It's a really, really great team
03:26 to work with and everyone that comes here is just really, really friendly and it's really
03:31 rewarding. My name is Leslie and I'm a social prescriber. I work for First Coastal Rural.
03:42 So we're basically out and about in the community and we help connect people to the community.
03:50 We help them with mental health, housing and benefits, etc. So basically we're there like
04:05 I am at the minute with one of my clients, connecting to the community and making people
04:13 better in their lives. So maybe somebody that's moved to the area, maybe they've still got
04:21 to meet people but also they want to access some services, then they should contact you?
04:28 Yeah. Feeling isolated, obviously they can go to their GP and ask for a referral. So
04:37 if they're not sure to go to the GP and then how we can help. Yeah. Okay, well thank you.