New Open Mental Health associate partner The Nelson Trust bring belief, hope and long term recovery to lives affected by addiction and multiple disadvantages.
Their Women’s Community Services span across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Bristol, and Wales. Services are trauma-informed, gender responsive, and provide holistic support for women and their families.
The Somerset Women’s Centre is a one-stop-shop where women can access a wide range of support services in a safe, women only environment. The centre provides support to approximately 600 women per year including some of the most difficult to reach and hard to engage women in the county.
The centre offers both practical and emotional guidance across nine pathways of need including housing; finances; physical, emotional and mental health; drugs and alcohol; trauma and abuse; sexual exploitation and sex-working; attitudes, thinking and behaviour; education and training and families and relationships. The women’s centre, based in Bridgwater, includes access to an onsite crèche, shower, washing machine access, IT suite, therapeutic groups and additional therapies, as well as dedicated one-to-one key-working. The aim is to provide ‘wrap around’ support for a woman in need.
In October 2022, Somerset Women’s Centre was successful in securing grant funding from the Open Mental Health Network to recruit an in-house Mental Health Worker. The worker, now in post for 6 months, has been providing intensive, holistic key-working to women experiencing moderate to severe mental health. Under this programme, 18 women have been supported so far.
This role is invaluable in helping to ensure that women, that often don’t access services, are engaging with a range of specialist support to help improve their overall mental health and wellbeing.
Since being funded, The Nelson Trust are proud to announce that they have become an associate partner of the Open Mental Health Network. They hope that this will increase the reach of their services to support even more women across the county to ensure that they get the support needed. They are looking forward to working more closely alongside other amazing organisations across Somerset to help those who need it most.
Case Study from a client supported by our new Mental Health Worker:
One woman that is being supported had had multiple admissions to mental health units. The Nelson Trust started to work with Chloe prior to her release from custody, whilst she was on remand. During this period Chloe was ligaturing and experiencing significant mental distress, leading to her placement on HMP Eastwood Park’s mental health wing. We visited Chloe whilst she was in custody and explained the service that we offer in the community. At this point Chloe was non-verbal and indicated that she did not wish to speak with us. We reassured Chloe that she didn’t need to make a decision about support straight away and that we would be at her court hearing should she opt to engage.
Over the span of five months Chloe has made incredible progress. Actively participating in group interventions has become a regular part of her routine. Moreover, her interaction with her dedicated keyworker on an individual basis has paved the way for her increased involvement with the Community Mental Health Team. Chloe recently participated in a body image group session with us, where she expressed a feeling of being ‘on top of the world’, and that she was finally experiencing a normal routine. We asked her what had changed, and she said ’consistent support’, she said she had never felt like anyone really cared before but now she has The Nelson Trust.
Get in touch with The Nelson Trust.