Safe Haven Community CIC operates as a rich community resource benefiting the individuals of Bolton. In the past 12 months, Safe Haven has secured the regular weekly use of a central Council owned building; the Library in Bolton in order to serve the community in a variety of ways. We have also very recently opened our own Hub in Westhoughton in order to hold our own community support groups. The preliminary focus of Safe Haven is to provide mental health and wellbeing support to the community. As well as enrichment classes, focused support groups, activities and reduced cost therapies to the vulnerable individuals of Bolton. We intend to address the cost-of-living crisis, as well as providing opportunities to improve the complexities of mental health concerns whilst providing tangible tools for people to take away and improve their holistic health. It is intended that the service will benefit individuals and families across the northwest once the service is further established. The CIC is led by an experienced team, including a social Worker, Psychologist, Counsellor, SENCO and District Nurse to ensure all factors are considered and effective support and sign posting is implemented. Offering therapeutic group sessions, one-to-one support, education on mental health needs, signposting and practical support sessions and support to help aid mental health and awareness. This takes a variety of forms dependent on what is needed in the community at the time, which is subject to change, and based on a range of qualitative research. And means that we continuously strive to promote mental wellbeing, social inclusion and the importance of self-care. The community benefits by having an all-encompassing community service which explores the needs of people either suffering with their mental health and not knowing where to turn, or living with a mental health condition, with which they are struggling to manage. Staff support both the individuals, their carers and families, to offer resources and opportunities for respite and down time. Safe Haven Community CIC provides practical support and assistance wherever possible, which benefits the target group, and this could be in terms of supporting employment opportunities, homelessness, housing issues, substance misuse and other social issues related to mental ill health. Additionally, we hope to run a “crisis cafe” style drop-in service in the near future, which will inevitably reduce attendance at A and E and take pressure off the frontline services and NHS by creating a welcoming space to address immediate concerns from the community.

Our stakeholders tend to be some of Bolton’s most vulnerable adults, who suffer from a variation of disabilities; both physical and cognitive. These range from people struggling with mild mental health difficulties, all the way through to those who have been treated as inpatients in complex mental health care facilities. Others who engage in our community services include those who are physically impaired and struggle with social isolation. Thus far, our stakeholders report feeling an improvement in feelings of emotional distress, reduced impacts of social isolation, and having a better understanding of the way that mental health & wellbeing impacts their day to day lives. Shareholders have also shared that since attending our support groups, they now feel better equipped with knowledge of self-help, coping tools, and a deeper sense of community care to be able to cope with their mental health and wellbeing moving forward.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration