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.
Key information
Funding call: Living Well with Psychosis – Community support
Summary: We will fund trusted, established community and voluntary organisations that provide excellent support to people affected by severe enduring mental illness in southeast London (Croydon, Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth).
Amount available: Organisations can apply for up to £30,000 for up to 18 months. Bids can be for core costs, or in the case of an existing project, project costs.
Aimed at: Trusted community organisations (charities, community interest companies (CICs)) already working with people affected by severe enduring mental illness, particularly those organisations that can show how they effectively cater for the needs of racially minoritised communities.
Key dates: The programme closed for expressions of interest at 11am on 12th November.
About the funding call
The Living Well with Psychosis programme funds initiatives and research to improve the treatment and support the recovery of people affected by psychotic disorders. We also have a focus on work that supports families and carers, and addresses inequalities in the experiences of racialised communities with mental health services.
This funding call is specifically focused on building sustainable capacity in the community and voluntary sector. We want to fund trusted and established organisations already providing support to people affected by psychosis that is fundamentally different from that provided by statutory services (for example, the NHS or social care). We are particularly keen that people from racially minoritised communities receive appropriate support.
When we consulted charities and CICs about the programme, many told us they spend all their time dealing with urgent issues or managing crises, leaving little capacity to think about future development or to connect with other organisations and learn from them.
We have designed a funding call that focuses on giving organisations the time and space to think beyond immediate tasks and challenges.
After this first round, there will be a second round of funding available in autumn 2026 to support the core costs of organisations for a longer period.
We expect the majority of grant holders in the second round will come from those awarded funding in the first. We see these grants as building on each other. The first round will allow organisations to have the space and time to think about and plan for their future, the second round of grants will provide further stability to be able to deliver that. We hope to help funded organisations feel better connected to each other and part of a cohort of organisations with the same goal. We expect to fund roughly 20 organisations with an even spread across the four boroughs we work in.
Maudsley Charity intends this funding to be used to support people affected by psychosis. However, we know that often services that support people with severe mental illness including conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, appropriately do not ask for or need to know if the users of their services have a specific diagnosis. We also recognise some people reject what is inherently a medical term. For these reasons, we’ve chosen to use the term “severe enduring mental illness”. We know people will use other terms they are comfortable with, and we don’t want our language to exclude anyone. To be clear, we do not expect organisations to be able to provide detailed data on the diagnoses of the people they support.
Tender opportunity for this programme
We are looking for a learning and support partner for our Living Well with Psychosis Community funding call.
Find out more on our Tender Opportunties page. Deadline: 13th February 2025.
Eligibility
Who can apply?
The types of organisations that can apply for funding are:
- Registered charity: This is a formal type of voluntary or community organisation that has gone through a process to gain special tax benefits and recognition from the Charity Commission. They work for charitable purposes.
- Community interest company (CIC) (with two or more directors): This is a special type of business that has a social purpose and is locked into reinvesting its profits back into the community. It needs at least two directors to oversee its operations.
- Companies Limited by Guarantee: These are companies that are not set up to make a profit, and any profits they do make are reinvested back into the company.
To be eligible for funding, all organisations must be working on projects/services that are considered to be legally charitable under the Charities Act 2006. This means that the project’s purpose must fall within one of the 13 charitable purposes outlined in the Act and be for the public benefit.
Religious groups and charities with religious values are welcome to apply for funding as long as they meet the standard criteria above and support is not dependant on individuals participating in religious activities.
Additional requirements that organisations must meet to be eligible for funding
- Have been providing services which mostly benefit people living in Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth, and/or Croydon for at least 24 months. Organisations do not need to have a postal address in one of these boroughs, but they must be able to evidence their ongoing commitment to working in these locations.
- Be formally constituted with a governing document that sets out their charitable aims and objectives
- Have a bank account in the UK registered to their organisation
- Have at least three non-executive trustees or directors
- If the organisation is a CIC there must be an asset lock or other mechanism in place to ensure that their assets are used for charitable purposes
- Have financial statements showing your income and expenses each year
Who can’t apply
- Individuals, for example, sole traders or consultants
- Organisations not based in the UK: funding is only available to organisations located within the UK
- Someone applying for another organisation: applications must be submitted by the organisation itself, not by someone else on their behalf
- Companies for personal profit: funding isn’t for businesses that aim to make money that gets distributed to private individuals
- Organisations working exclusively with people under the age of 18 years old
Selection criteria
What we are looking to fund
We will provide core funding to existing well-trusted organisations that provide support to people affected by severe enduring mental illness. We recognise some groups have experienced disadvantage in conventional services and funding has not been readily available for certain cultural and social needs. This funding will therefore prioritise funding submissions that can show how they meet the needs of the community they serve, particularly racially minoritised communities.
What your work must focus on
- Delivering culturally competent services that are designed for or particularly benefit people affected by severe enduring mental illness
- Commitment to creating user/person centred approaches and trusting relationships with people
- Delivering services in the London Boroughs of Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and/or Croydon
- Working with people over the age of 18 years old
- Well established work (i.e. we will not fund new projects)
How your submission will be evaluated
At the Expression of Interest Stage
Meeting the needs of people affected by severe enduring mental illness: how your support specifically meets the needs of people affected by severe enduring mental illness
Building relationships and trust: How your organisation actively builds trust and strong relationships with people who are affected by severe enduring mental illness
Track record of cultural competency: Whether your organisation has a proven history of delivering culturally appropriate services for people with severe enduring mental illness, and which groups of people are your services designed for
Involvement of people with lived experience: How you involve people who access your services to participate in, and/or inform, decision-making within your organisation
Use of funding: What difference core funding would make to your organisation and how you would use the funding
If you are invited to progress to the next stage
If your Expression of Interest is successful, you will be asked to provide further details on:
Future plans/ambition: Whilst we will be providing core funding for existing work, we are interested in organisations who have thought about their future potential. What, if anything, would core funding free your organisation up to think about? We don’t need concrete plans and costs at this stage, just a sense of what you think the issues are with the capability and capacity of the organisation and how a greater sense of security and sustainability would help you.
Inclusion: How your organisation actively involves people with lived experience of serious mental illness and/or their carers in its design and delivery or your plans to do so in the future. How your approach is tailored to the specific needs of the delivery and people you work with.
Impact: Demonstrating a clear understanding of the challenges faced by people with serious mental illness, particularly from racially minoritised communities, and of how your project has the potential to improve their lives.
Learning: Your approach to learning to improve your services.
What grant funding can be used for
You can apply for up to £30,000 of core funding. If you have an existing project that you would like funding for, this would also be eligible. We will not be funding new projects.
The aim of the funding is to help give organisations the time and space to think beyond immediate tasks and challenges and we are keen to hear in your application how you would use the funding to do this.
Any size of organisation can apply for the maximum of £30,000 but you must show very clear evidence that you have the capacity to manage the level of funding you are applying for. If you are using the funding to recruit your first paid member of staff, you must be able to show evidence that the board understands best practice and is able to provide effective staffing policies/processes/structures or how you will develop these.
Application process and timeline
To help reach a wide range of organisations, we will use video calls and visits as well as written submissions to assess submissions. We know we won’t be able to fund everyone who applies, so have provided the information below to show clearly what is happening and when.
Successful applicants will go through the following stages:
- Stage 1: Completion of a short online Expression of Interest form
- Stage 2: We will use the eligibility and selection criteria to select a proportion of applicants to go to the next stage, which will be a video call to better understand how their organisation operates
- Stage 3: Based on the video call, we will then select a proportion of applicants to go to the final selection stage, which will be an informal visit from Maudsley Charity grant assessors and Lived Experience assessors to better understand the ethos and approach of the organisation
- Stage 4: We will then review the information we’ve gathered and make a final decision on who we recommend for funding.
Expression of Interest form
You need to be registered on SmartSimple to apply. SmartSimple is our grant management platform. To apply, visit SmartSimple, log in and select Living Well with Psychosis Community Fund.
If you need to register, visit SmartSimple, click on the ‘Register here as applicant’ button and enter your details. You can read the questions asked on SmartSimple (26KB , docx) ahead of registering and applying.
Expressions of Interest must be submitted by 11am (GMT) on 12th November 2024. We will not accept late submissions.
Video call
No specific preparation is needed for the video call, though we will be asking about general organisational health. We will ask questions about finances, staff or volunteers, and the structure of the organisation. Not all applicants will be taken through to the video call stage.
Before this call we will ask you to send us your annual accounts. If you do not have annual accounts, we would like to see your management accounts instead.
Site visit
Again, no specific preparation will be needed for the site visit, but we will be aiming to understand the ethos of the organisation and the way you work. Not all applicants taken to the video call stage will be progressed to the site visit stage.
Before this visit we will ask you to send us your safeguarding policy.
Due diligence
We will be doing due diligence checks on all submissions recommended for funding. We will ask for your most up to date submitted annual accounts or management accounts. We will ask to see your safeguarding policy and we will ask questions about safeguarding during the assessment process. If we recommend your organisation to our trustees for funding, we will ask for 3 months of bank statements.
Support available to applicants
Frequently asked questions
You can read some frequently asked questions about the programme (27KB, DOCX).
Webinar
We will be holding a webinar on 22nd October at 3pm where applicants can ask questions about the funding call. A transcript for this webinar will be available afterwards.
Dates
Applications open: 1st October 2024
Q&A Webinar: 3pm 22nd October 2024
Deadline: 11am on 12th November 2024
Video calls: January 2025 (exact dates TBC based on availability)
Site visits: February 2025 (exact dates TBC based on availability)
Final decision: You will be informed of the final decision at the latest in late April 2025
Grants awarded
Total Funding Awarded: £27,000
Boroughs Served: Lewisham
999 Club provides a safe, comfortable day centre – the Gateway – for vulnerable, homeless people to meet immediate needs and address the causes of their homelessness, such as physical or mental ill-health. More than 80% have enduring mental ill-health, mostly unrecognised and undiagnosed. They work with partners with specialist knowledge such as a Dual Diagnosis Homeless Outreach Practitioner, who helps people access mental health support. Their out-of-hours service, the Bridge, runs 365 days a year to support people experiencing a mental health crisis. Recovery Workers support people one-to-one for up to six weeks to put coping strategies and a health and wellness plan in place. People engage in group activities around wellbeing, such as yoga, creative writing, and art.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs served: Croydon
Centre of Change is a community-based CIO working with residents of Croydon, who are presenting with severe and enduring mental illness, many of whom have been referred directly from their GPs or from Bethlem Royal Hospital because the charity’s ability to work successfully with the most complex mental health challenges including bipolar disorder, PTSD, or trauma. Centre of Change provides tailored 1-to-1 talking therapy sessions with each client averaging over 6 months and open-ended programmes for people with the most complex needs.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Lambeth
Creative Voices Collective supports people experiencing schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and other severe conditions through expressive arts. Their therapeutic programmes include group workshops, exhibitions, and creative therapy sessions that encourage dialogue, connection, and healing. The charity also offers safe spaces for people who experience auditory or sensory phenomena to express themselves and develop tools for managing distress. Their multi-disciplinary approach, combining art, movement and conversation aims to reduce stigma, improve mental health, and build self-confidence.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs served: Lewisham
Diamond Ecoute is a volunteer- led organisation that has been running an ‘Enhanced Access Service’ since September 2022, supporting individuals living with severe mental health issues. Founded in 2018, the charity provides accessible, early-stage mental health support for adults struggling to get help. Their volunteer-led team offers a safe, confidential space for people to express their thoughts and feelings and receive emotional and practical support. Their aim is to reduce long waiting times for therapy and help service users from marginalised backgrounds navigate barriers to care. Their main goal is to listen, to support, and to give people hope for recovery.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Croydon
Hear Us provide specialist peer support for people with complex mental health issues living or working in Croydon. Their practical, regular activities help service users cope better with daily living and help meet their social, emotional and physical needs. They support, advise and signpost service users with a range of diagnoses (including bipolar, psychosis and schizophrenia) to services that can help with recovery and social inclusion, helping people connect and live healthier lifestyles. Their Peer Support Linkworkers are all people with lived experience of mental illness, and many are still using Croydon’s services and by sharing their own recovery journeys, bring hope and insight into the lives of others.
Total Funding awarded: £20,000
Boroughs Served: Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark
Intoart works with learning disabled and autistic people living with severe enduring mental illness to develop agency and leadership through the visual arts. Intoart’s unique model of sustained and supported artistic and professional development is designed to address systemic issues affecting learning disabled communities including poverty, isolation, low quality of life, and exclusion from education and employment – all factors that can trigger psychotic episodes. They provide highly subsidised studio space; materials and equipment; inclusive learning working with professional artists and designers; and public exhibition, commissioning, and career development opportunities. All Intoart artists are encouraged to develop independence, confidence, and positive wellbeing, as well as a long-term career that elevates their visibility as professional artists.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Lambeth, Southwark
Katakata is a Brixton-based charity that provides a safe and inclusive community space, providing holistic, tailored support for people living with severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD. Through creative workshops, therapy, and benefits advice, the charity aims to uplift and empower individuals, fostering personal growth and resilience. They address mental health and social barriers through compassionate care, building a community that understands and supports each member’s journey. By embracing a person-centered approach, they help individuals feel valued, supported, and connected, creating a foundation for well-being and social inclusion.
Total Funding Awarded: £29,240
Boroughs Served: Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark
Key Changes provides trauma-informed music mentoring programmes in hospitals and communities for people experiencing severe and enduring mental health difficulties. Their in-patient services have provided pop-up recording studio sessions on the wards at Bethlem Royal Hospital, Maudsley Hospital, Lambeth Hospital and the Ladywell Unit at Lewisham Hospital. In the community they provide structured, recovery-focused, tailored 1 to 1 and group mentoring sessions at BRXTN Village Studio.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Lambeth, Lewisham, Southward
Ladies of Virtue Outreach directly addresses the needs of women from 18 and above experiencing severe, enduring mental illness like bipolar disorder, depression and psychosis and PTSD. The charity runs a day centre which is a safe space, and learning hub offering a structured support system that combines facilitated personal development training, a wellness programme including creative arts and physical activity , as but a holistic learning hub that offers personal development training, wellness activities – as well as peer support interactive sessions to strengthen resilience and coping skills. It also offers women experiencing bipolar disorder and psychosis tailored personal and group life coaching sessions to help them set and achieve their goals.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Croydon
Manju Shahul-Hameed Foundation operates three Dementia Cafes that provide a safe space for people affected by mental illness, particularly those from racially minoritised groups in Croydon. Beneficiaries often have multiple challenges with an increasing number diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD. Their culturally competent support approach ensures that the ‘Coffee-With-Counsellor’ sessions meet pressing concerns related to homelessness, immigration status, housing and employment advice. The ‘Counselling’ service is targeted at adults but is being accessed by more and more young people presenting with mental health concerns.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark
Mental Fight Club provides creative activities in a safe non-judgemental space where everyone is welcome, no matter how unwell they are. Their provision is designed to specifically meet the needs of people who experience of severe and enduring mental illness. It is led by people with lived experience of mental illness, and their activities are delivered by artists with severe and enduring mental illness. They use arts a tool to humanise mental illness and give it value, offering open-access support with no labels, referrals, or personal data required. Services are co-created with attendees, 34% of whom are from BAME backgrounds, 77% disabled, and 1 in 20 are non-binary or trans.
Total Funding Awarded: £28,045
Boroughs Served: Lambeth
Mosaic Clubhouse is a supportive community that works with residents of Lambeth who are living with severe mental health conditions including schizophrenia and personality disorders. The Clubhouse offers opportunities to do meaningful work and build social connections. Service users, who are referred to as members, work side by side with staff to run the Clubhouse, which can help residents and members regain their confidence and the skills needed to lead productive and satisfying lives. From making lunches to fundraising and governance, no area of work at the clubhouse is off-limits to members. This enables members and staff to build trust, identify skills, and bring members closer to work.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark
The Manna Society operates a day centre for homeless people, providing essential services such as food, showers, clothing, computer access, housing and welfare support, and health assistance. Open seven days a week, they welcome approximately 120 people daily, including many with severe and enduring mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. Through their partnership with the START Team from South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, who are based on-site weekly, they offer focused crisis support, including Mental Health Act assessments. Their centre offers a unique, stigma-free space where people can retain their dignity.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs served: Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark
The Motherhood Group directly addresses the needs of Black mothers affected by severe enduring mental illness, particularly perinatal mental health conditions. They provide culturally competent peer support, advocacy, and education, focusing on the intersection of racial inequalities and mental health in maternity care.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Lambeth
Poetic Unity uses poetry as a tool to support young people’s mental health, working primarily with people aged 18-30, but with children as young as 10. Based in Brixton, they run a by-and-for service predominantly supporting young Black people. Their work to address mental health includes targeted group spaces that are dedicated to learning, expression and healing, supporting participants to navigate the intersecting experiences of being young, Black and affected by mental illness including anxiety, depression, PTSD, psychosis and bipolar disorder – amongst other social challenges.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs served: Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark
PTP-Usemi is committed to the development and delivery of innovative trauma-informed care for psychosis and complex trauma in community settings. The support offered is long-term, giving service-users time and space to cultivate robust and enduring solutions. A diverse pool of specialist therapists enables them to provide culturally sensitive services, which contributes to achieving better outcomes for service users who predominantly come from racialised communities. They especially target the needs of those whose experience of severe mental illness is impacted/ intersected by their race, ethnicity and culture.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Lambeth
Raw Material Music and Media Education Limited runs ‘Raw Sounds’, their award-winning creative social prescribing programme supports people experiencing mental ill health. They have collaborated with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and has partnered with over 120 NHS Care Coordinators to support individuals with severe mental health issues mainly from African, Caribbean, Asian and mixed-heritage communities in Lambeth and Southwark. The individuals they support, especially from African and Caribbean communities, are disproportionately represented in mental health services due to systemic inequalities linked to race, class, and economic hardship.
Total Funding Awarded: £29,715
Boroughs Served: Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark
Sporting Recovery CIC is a Black-led not-for-profit Community Interest Company based in Peckham. It provides opportunities for social interaction for people affected by serious mental illness and/or mental distress through physical activity and a Wellness Café. Their Wellness Programme for adults aged 18+ is delivered by qualified coaches and supported by volunteers with lived experience. Activities are designed to improve mental wellbeing, reduce isolation, and build peer support networks. 65% of participants come from racially minoritized communities.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Croydon and Lambeth
Status Employment are a charity that supports individuals who have, or are, experiencing severe mental health difficulties, to find and sustain employment. Working in collaboration with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Status Employment assists people to improve their health and wellbeing by providing bespoke employment and holistic services, that are designed to support them with their recovery and employability. The charity particularly focuses on individuals who have been, or are, under section due to their mental health.
Total Funding Awarded: £30,000
Boroughs Served: Lewisham
Sydenham Garden is a community organisation in Lewisham, primarily supporting people with mental health problems, including those with severe enduring mental illness, through social and therapeutic horticulture. It was set up in 2002 by a local GP and group of patients to meet a need for community support for those with mental ill-health, such as psychosis and bipolar disorder. People with severe enduring mental illness join for a 12-month placement where they undertake horticultural, creative and nature-based activities as part of a small, inclusive weekly group within their gardens. They provide tailored individual support and opportunities to join a breadth of community activities during and after their placement.
Total Funding Awarded: £20,000
Boroughs Served: Croydon, Lambeth
Therapeutic Productions provides arts, career and skills-based employability services for hospitalised ex-offenders, who are often unheard and amongst the most stigmatised. Their service not only provides a route to employment but allows those with artistic skill to accomplish more in life and rebuild their self-esteem. This is delivered through forming direct partnerships with service users on wards to assist them with creating their own artistic pieces, accessing capital costs and connecting them with industry professionals to create their own stories.