Hampshire’s leading mental health charity has announced it will be running pilots to overcome barriers such as age, gender, location, ethnicity and socio-economic status. 

As part of Solent Mind’s work to advance mental health equalities, the pilots will include a trauma informed wellbeing group for Arabic speaking individuals at Mayfield Nurseries in Southampton.

Solent Mind will also provide workplace wellbeing training to CLEAR (City Life Education and Action for Refugees) – a Southampton charity empowering and assisting refugees. 

A spokesperson for Solent Mind said: “Good mental health shouldn’t be a luxury, but too many people face challenges that puts it out of reach. 

“Our deliberate integration of mental health support in Hampshire aims to widen accessibility for intersectional social groups to support services and improve their experience of seeking support.” 

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The pilots will build on work already being done by Solent Mind to ensure its services are as accessible as possible for everyone. 

Already, the mental health charity is continually connecting and building relationships with community members and professionals in local support organisations, to gain an understanding of people’s needs and the barriers they face in accessing services. 

Meanwhile, its ‘Heads Up’ service is helping children and young people to overcome barriers to accessing mental health services due to a lack of provision in schools or difficulties in navigating the complex mental health system. 

Solent Mind has also created a men’s mental health chat show called ‘Let’s Talk Mate’. Available on Spotify and Solent Mind’s YouTube channel, the show aims to get more men talking openly about how they’re feeling.