Community organisations funded to help people live well with psychosis
Maudsley Charity has awarded £600,000 to support a diverse group of 21 local charities and organisations through its Living Well with Psychosis programme
Living Well with Psychosis is an ambitious initiative to improve the lives of people living with psychosis across four south London boroughs – Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham and Croydon. It aims to fund work that means people affected by psychosis have better outcomes from treatment and care, wherever and however that care is delivered. The programme has two funding streams – one for clinical services and research, and one to support community organisations.
Social deprivation, discrimination and racial trauma are all linked to an increased likelihood of developing a psychotic illness. These four boroughs are some of the most ethnically diverse in the country and have some of the highest recorded rates of psychosis in Europe, with racialised communities disproportionately affected. For example, Lewisham has a higher prevalence of severe mental illness when compared to London and to England as a whole, with people that ‘categorise themselves as Black’ overrepresented in Crisis and Psychosis care pathways within the community and inpatient services. One of central themes of the NHS’s recently published 10-Year Plan, is prioritising moving care from hospital settings into the community.
"We know that an urgent shift is needed from hospital-based care to community-based care in mental health. We need to ensure the right level of support is there for people when they want it, and not only at the point of crisis or acute need. We also know the unique value of these 21 community-based organisations. They have gained the trust of people and families in the places that they work and can therefore provide help that changes lives. We are proud to support their work and their growth to help ensure the shift to community care is real and sustained in south London."
Funding organisations within the community
This community funding stream was designed to directly address these disparities by funding organisations embedded in the communities they serve, providing culturally competent care, and responding to the mental health needs of people affected by severe and enduring mental illness above and beyond the diagnosis of psychosis.
Through the provision of core funding, organisations have the freedom to use it however they see fit – including to sustainably deliver their existing services. The charity has also commissioned support from JRNY, a feminist research and learning organisation, to help strengthen the organisations in areas they have identified, and capture and share learning from their work.
Lived Experience assessors
To ensure a diverse range of perspectives and expertise during the selection process, Maudsley Charity partnered with Croydon BME Forum to recruit 13 assessors, all of whom have lived experience of using mental health services or being a carer for someone who does. These individuals were engaged to go on site visits to the organisations alongside staff from the charity and made decisions on the selections of the grant recipients.
Commenting on the delivery of the programme, Living Well with Psychosis Programme Manager, Venetia Boon said:
“We’re thrilled we’ve been able to give funding for these 21 trusted, established community partners providing support for people affected by severe enduring mental illness. Their highly specialist and skilful support shone through when we visited them as part of the assessment process.
“We worked with a fantastic group of Lived Experience Assessors, in partnership with Croydon BME Forum, and the unique strength of these types of organisations was evident to us all. We are looking forward so much to hearing what they do with their core funding and how we can learn from and evolve our approach in partnership with them.”
The Living Well with Psychosis programme is part of Maudsley Charity’s wider commitment to transforming mental health in south London and influencing change beyond it. Future funding rounds will continue to support both clinical innovation and community resilience, with lived experience remaining central to every stage of the journey.
Organisations funded:
- Status Employment
- The Motherhood Group
- Sporting Recovery CIC
- LOVO (Ladies of Virtue Outreach CIC)
- Katakata CIC
- Poetic Unity
- Centre of Change: Counselling, Mentoring and Tutoring Service
- Manju Shahul-Hameed Foundation for Mental Health
- Raw Material Music and Media Education Limited
- Therapeutic Productions CIC, Mental Fight Club
- Psychosis Therapy Project (PTP-Usemi) CIC
- Creative Voices Collective, The Manna Society
- 999 Club, Sydenham Garden
- Intoart
- Key Changes
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Living Well with Psychosis – Community support
We will fund trusted, established community and voluntary organisations that provide excellent support to people affected by severe enduring mental illness in southeast London.
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Addressing the complexity of mental healthcare and support
How Maudsley Charity is becoming an inclusive grant-maker.
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Advance Statements for Black African and Caribbean People
Creating opportunities for Black service users to make choices about their care.
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