Open Mental Health Grants

Announcing the 2025 OMH Community Grant Recipients

Real, lasting change often comes from the ground up, driven by local people with the passion and knowledge to make a difference. The foundations of mental wellbeing are laid in our communities, a fact that lies behind the Open Mental Health Grants scheme.
Following an inspiring round of applications, we are excited to announce the grant recipients for 2025. Please join us in celebrating the following organisations and their fantastic projects!

2025 recipients of Open Mental Health grants are listed below. Click on the organisation to find out more information about their work around Somerset:

Mendip

Evolve Music​
Evolve Music will deliver Dads Rock Frome, a creative wellbeing project supporting fathers and male caregivers of young children (0-5 years old). Using inclusive musical play, the programme aims to reduce isolation, strengthen mental health, and build parenting confidence. It provides a much-needed space where dads can connect with their children and each other in a positive environment, addressing a gap in early years provision.

Red Brick Building
Following on from the success of their award-winning Community Garden, the Red Brick Building will develop a new garden shop within its therapeutic dome. This project will offer meaningful, hands-on learning and creative opportunities for adults with mental health challenges. Participants will co-design and run the social enterprise, gaining skills and confidence while connecting with nature in a supportive, inclusive green space.

Make the Sunshine
This award-winning organisation will deliver a joyous and hopeful creative programme across Mendip, themed around the seasons and the Five Ways to Wellbeing. Through initiatives like Creative Communities sessions and The Sunshine Club tea parties, Make the Sunshine uses imaginative arts to develop social connections, build confidence, and reduce isolation for adults facing mental health challenges, low mood, health issues, food poverty, or caring responsibilities.

South Somerset

The Growing Space (Wincanton) Ltd
Responding directly to community feedback, The Growing Space will launch a new weekly nature and creative crafts group in Wincanton. The programme is designed to be highly accessible, requiring no prior skills or experience, making it ideal for those experiencing isolation or mental health difficulties. These sessions will use the positive health benefits of working with nature and art to reduce isolation and support recovery.

Carymoor Environmental Trust
Carymoor will run Roots to Wellbeing, a weekly nature conservation group for adults in South Somerset experiencing poor mental health. Held on their peaceful 80-acre nature reserve, the programme will offer purposeful and gentle physical outdoor activities, like habitat restoration and wildlife monitoring. This nature-based intervention provides a non-clinical space for people to reconnect with the land and each other, building confidence and improving wellbeing.

Sedgemoor

Autism Community Network
The project will establish a nationally recognised training pathway for practitioners to deliver a 12-Step Anxiety Program. This will provide structured, one-to-one online support for neurodiverse individuals (aged 14 and above), particularly those facing long waits for an Autism or ADHD diagnosis—waiting lists often exceeding 18–24 months. By training a network of qualified practitioners, the initiative offers early and accessible intervention to help people understand and manage anxiety, reducing pressure on NHS services by offering a community-based alternative.

In Charley’s Memory
This grant will support the crucial work of the volunteer counsellors at In Charley’s Memory. Their service provides unlimited, in-person, and trauma-informed counselling for young people and adults with significant and often debilitating mental health needs. This funding helps sustain their vital support, which last year helped nearly 1,000 people achieve better mental health.

Taunton and West Somerset

Taunton Team Chaplaincy
This grant supports the invaluable work of the 30+ volunteer chaplains who provide free and confidential support across the Taunton area. Motivated by their faith to help all people, the Taunton Team Chaplaincy operate in multiple settings, including care homes, the railway station (as ‘Rail Responders’), courts, and parks. The funding will help maintain their unique service, offering emotional and practical support to the whole community.

Countywide

2BU
2BU-Somerset will deliver a dedicated programme of support for LGBTQ+ adults aged 18–25 across the county. The project will offer a mix of personalised one-on-one sessions and group-based support, both in-person and online. The aim is to create safe, affirming spaces that improve mental health outcomes, build community connections, and empower young LGBTQ+ adults to live authentically and confidently.

Wellington Counselling CIC
Wellington Community Counselling will use the grant to enhance support for adults across Somerset with complex mental health needs, particularly neurodiverse clients and those who have experienced trauma. The grant will fund specialist neurodiversity and trauma-informed training for their entire counselling team, ensuring their service is quality-assured, follows best practice, and is fully equipped to meet the specific needs of these client groups.

The Womens Community Forum
The funding will restart a highly successful four-stranded wellbeing project for Black women and women of colour across Somerset. The programme provides safe, culturally specific, and empowering online spaces, including a ‘Knit and Natter’ group, a Women’s Circle, and courses in life-writing and mental health improvement, all facilitated by Black women. The project has already proven to be life-changing for participants, significantly improving their wellbeing.