We are working to ensure that children on the Isle of Wight are supported to get the best start in life that will lead to good health and wellbeing. This will provide the foundation to ensure they are able to achieve the best opportunities and keep as healthy and well as possible throughout their lives.
We want to ensure that families, individuals and communities are thriving and resilient with access to good jobs, affordable housing, leisure activities, lifelong training, education and learning, health and care services are are able to enjoy the place in which they live.
We want to ensure that people on the Isle of Wight are able to live independently in their own homes with appropriate care support. We want to make sure older residents are supported to play an active role in their communities and supported to maintain and develop their social and community networks.
The first Isle of Wight Community Safe Haven service has been launched in Newport. The service, which will initially run as a one-year pilot, has been developed in response to community feedback as part of the work to look at redesigning health and care services last year under the My Life a Full Life new care model.
People currently accessing services and members of the public had said they wanted a facility, for people approaching a mental health crisis, to go to outside of usual office hours; in the evenings and weekends. Somewhere they could come and seek support, advice and information from both professionals and people who had been through similar experiences.
In response, the Community Safe Haven has been established at Quay House in Newport having been designed together with people who use mental health services. It will be run by national mental health charity, Richmond Fellowship, and supported initially by the IOW NHS Trust.
Derek Caren, Chief Executive of Richmond Fellowship, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Isle of Wight NHS Trust to provide this vital community mental health service on the Isle of Wight.
“Richmond Fellowship has a long and proud history of providing mental health services within communities and we are delighted to be involved in running the new Community Safe Haven – a service that the Isle of Wight community has specifically told us they want.
“Our vision at Richmond Fellowship is to work together with the people we support to make mental health recovery a reality and we believe the Community Safe Haven is an important first step in meeting that vision for the people on the Isle of Wight.”
Kevin Bond, Executive Director of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities at the IOW NHS Trust, said: “We’ve listened carefully to what people on the Island told us they needed in terms of additional mental health support. I’m delighted that, together with Richmond Fellowship, the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group and the people we support, we have been able to put this service in place. It is a model that has worked successfully elsewhere in the UK and I believe it will make a genuine difference for people on the Island.”
Mark Langford, a Recovery Worker at the community Safe Haven who also has lived experience of mental ill health, said:"I believe the Isle of Wight Community Safe Haven will save lives. The Safe Haven is a place where people can come and talk through their problems openly and start to think about their strengths. This is a key factor in helping them on their recovery journey.”Mark Langford, a Recovery Worker at the community Safe Haven who also has lived experience of mental ill health, said:"
The service will be open from 5pm-10pm Monday to Friday, and from 10am-10pm on weekends and bank holidays.
An open day, for members of the public to drop in and visit the service, will take place on Thursday 26th October from 12pm-4pm at Quay House in Newport.
For further information on the Community Safe Haven service, please visit: www.richmondfellowship.org.uk/isle-of-wight
