Royal Foundation announces £1.8m to support frontline workers & mental health
Melanie May | 27 July 2020 | News
The Royal Foundation has granted nearly £1.8 million to charities providing support for mental health and frontline services.
Ten charities are receiving grants through the Royal Foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund. The Fund, in partnership with NHS England, is the Foundation’s first crisis response fund. It aims support the nation’s mental health both now, and in the months and years ahead, and the grants will help mental health charities increase their capacity for helpline and chat services to meet rising demand.
Through the grants, all emergency responders will have access to individual grief trauma counselling from Hospice UK, while over 250,000 emergency responders will have access to peer-to-peer support through Mind’s Blue Light programme.
In addition the grants will enable:
- The Ambulance Staff Charity to provide an additional 2,780 hours of support for the UK’s ambulance community;
- Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) to respond to 2,300 more contacts each month;
- Shout 85258 to have 250 more text message conversations with people struggling to cope every day;
- The Mix to expand its group chat service for young people to seven days per week;
- Teachers, children and their parents to be supported to cope with mental health needs including self-care and managing anxiety as schools re-open, through training and resources from Place2Be and The Anna Freud Centre; and
- Best Beginnings to deliver a Digital Outreach Programme and maternal mental health training to Home-Start volunteers and midwives so an additional 20,000 expectant and new mothers will be supported by Baby Buddy, their NHS approved pregnancy and parenting app
Funding will also work to build the capacity of the Heads Together partners as they work together on campaigning activity to directly address the nation’s mental health as the population adjusts to life after Covid-19.
Speaking to frontline workers and mental health counsellors last week, The Duchess of Cambridge said:
“Over recent months we have all been in awe of the incredible work that frontline staff and emergency responders have been doing in response to COVID-19, but we know that for many of them, their families, and for thousands of others across the UK, the pandemic will have a lasting impact on their mental health.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.