ECHC overwhelmed by success of The Haven wellbeing pilot project

Almost 2,500 visits to service in its first year 

Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC), the charity behind The Haven, a wellbeing and resilience pilot, developed to tackle Scotland’s mental health crisis says it is overwhelmed by its success in its first year. 

The service opened at The Fraser Centre in Tranent in September 2023 and is the first centre to open under the Charity’s ‘No Time To Wait’ strategy. Over its first twelve months, the service operated for three afternoons a week, and attracted 2,412 visits. Of these visits, 1,360 were children and young people and 1,052 were their affected family members. 

Roslyn Neely, CEO of ECHC said: “We are incredibly proud of the success of The Haven over its first year. Poor mental health is one of the biggest challenges of this generation and to have been able to support so many young people, and their families, struggling with their mental health is really inspiring.

“The Haven model has been created by experts and delivered by hugely passionate and committed members of our team, but it is not a complex or complicated process. This is a model that can be taken and delivered all over the country, it simply needs the will and the funding. 

“If we, as a charity, can evidence this much success in one pilot service in just twelve months, imagine how many people dealing with poor mental health could be helped if this model was scaled up and rolled out throughout Scotland.” 

The Haven aims to support families with children struggling with their mental health and prevent problems escalating to the point where professional intervention is needed. Of those who have attended in the last year, the most common issues are around anxiety and depression, followed by challenges in the school environment and school attendance, neurodiversity and self harming, and less commonly, suicidal ideation and eating disorders.

A parent who has used The Haven said: “When we all felt at our lowest point we contacted The Haven. Everyone there genuinely cares.

“Our son found it a safe space to open up and talk. The support The Haven provides us as parents is invaluable. We know the team is on our side and has helped us to realise what we are doing is right. I always look forward to our chats.”

The Haven is open to any child or young person with a mental health concern, and any member of their family, including parents, carers, siblings and grandparents. Due to its success, The Haven will next month move to new premises and will open five days a week.

With bigger facilities, longer opening hours and a larger catchment area, The Haven will be able to support even more people across the Knox Academy postcode area as well as the Ross High School area, from its new premises in Haddington. 

Fiona O’Sullivan is Director of Children’s Wellbeing at ECHC, she said: “The Haven is unique as it supports the whole family and recognises that when a child or young person is suffering as a result of poor mental health this can have a massive detrimental impact on the rest of the family. 

“Our service exists to support the child, the parent, the grandparent, the auntie, the carer, whomever is closest to the child in need. 

“We are thrilled that The Haven is able to expand its service for the remainder of the pilot. Part of the purpose of the pilot was to ascertain the scale of demand, and our data from the first twelve months has simply  confirmed to us what we already knew, that children and young people are crying out for help.”

The Haven will close its doors permanently in July 2025, at which point ECHC is willing to hand over the model and findings from the pilot to any organisation willing to take The Haven model and roll it out more permanently. 

Roslyn Neely added: “Our entire team is completely invested in The Haven and the thought of it closing at this point is almost unbearable, but it was always the intention this would be a two-year pilot, and as a charity we sadly can’t fund and resource this forever. 

“It is our vision that every community in every local authority area across Scotland will have a Haven for those who need it. The model has shown without any doubt that it works, and at the end of the pilot we hope to demonstrate that, at the very least, it has provided valuable support and intervention which has helped a child and their family to cope better with their situation; and at best, may have negated the need for CAMHS support later down the line.”