More than £130k secured for charities in Northumberland

Everyturn Mental Health, facilitated by NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), aims to fund grassroots projects and provide support to local people in their mental health recovery.

Since 2021, the Alliance has brought together more than 80 charities, organisations, and individuals who have been offering mental health support to communities across the county.

The scheme is open to organisations throughout the region and is awarded by a grant process.

Among the organisations benefiting from the Alliance are Cycling Minds, a charity based in Hexham that helps young adults through outdoor exercise.

Toby Price, founder of Cycling Minds said: “The VCSE funding was crucial for Cycling Minds, as it was part of the start-up funding, we needed to get up and running.

"It funded some of our staff costs enabling our General Manager to work full time on finding volunteers, setting up and opening The Link community cycle hub and launching our charitable programmes.

“We are very grateful to the panel for putting their faith in our project and to the Everyturn team who have supported us over the last year.”

The VCSE alliance is part of the NHS's Community Mental Health Transformation programme for Northumberland and is facilitated by Everyturn’s Northumberland Recovery College.

Adam Crampsie, Chief Executive Officer for Everyturn Mental Health, said: “We’re very proud of the work that has been supported through the VCSE Mental Health Alliance in Northumberland. By using our position and close partnership with the ICB and the NHS, we have been able to facilitate some incredible programmes and projects on a postcode level to provide much-needed support to unreached communities."

“As we develop our work as the VCSE lead for mental health across the North East, we are looking forward to continuing our work with the NHS and ICBs and help deliver improved community mental health for everyone.”