‘NO FAMILY RECEIVING SUPPORT WILL BE LEFT ALONE’
“The Haven passes the baton to SAMH, leaving behind a wonderful legacy, proving Scotland’s mental health crisis can be reversed.” – Roslyn Neely – CEO, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity
A walk-in wellbeing and resilience pilot, developed to tackle Scotland’s mental health crisis will come to an end in the summer, after demonstrating unquestionably that early intervention can reduce mental health challenges among children and young people.
The Haven opened at The Fraser Centre, Tranent in September 2023 under Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity’s ‘No Time To Wait’ strategy. It later moved to bigger premises in Haddington due to demand, and since opening the service has attracted 3,461 visits. Of these, 2,041 were children and young people and 1,420 were their affected family members.
Roslyn Neely, CEO of Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity said: “We are incredibly sad that our pilot wellbeing and resilience service is coming to an end, but that was always our intention, as a charity we couldn’t fund this forever.
“However we will close our doors with a huge sense of pride in what The Haven has achieved and a promise to all families receiving support that we will not turn our backs on them, we will continue to provide vital assistance, ensuring that the care and connection established through The Haven remain a core part of our work.”
Scotland’s national mental health charity, Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH), has recently announced The Nook, a network of mental health support hubs, which will build on the foundations laid by ECHC and the team at The Haven, marking a significant step forward for mental health support in Scotland, and beyond.
Roslyn Neely continued: “We are delighted that our work will now contribute to a long-term, sustainable national approach to Scotland’s mental health crisis.
“The Haven passes the baton to SAMH, leaving behind a wonderful legacy, proving Scotland’s mental health crisis can be reversed, and we celebrate the fact that a major organisation like SAMH is stepping in to continue this important work.
“Their ability to advocate for long-term government support means that children’s mental health remains firmly on the national agenda, and we wholeheartedly support this.”
The Haven is a groundbreaking two-year pilot which has successfully supported hundreds of families who have a child struggling with their mental health. Critically, it uses a walk-in format with no waiting lists.
The Haven takes a unique whole family approach, supporting not just the individual struggling with mental health challenges, but their parents, grandparents, siblings and carers.