Whitehaven mental health hub reports encouraging early response

A community mental health centre in Whitehaven is reporting encouraging early results from an approach that allows people to seek help at any hour without a referral or diagnosis. Hope Haven, one of six pilot hubs across England, provides preventive care alongside practical support in an area facing high suicide rates and growing demand for mental health services.

Around 3,000 people received support online or in person during the hub’s first five months, from March to July. Almost half had no previous contact with NHS mental health services. Separately, admissions to local inpatient mental health wards were 24% lower between January and September than during the corresponding period in 2025. An evaluation of the pilot centres is expected later this year.

For Tamara, 22, the service provided help during a particularly difficult period. She had received therapy and counselling intermittently since she was 14 after suffering childhood abuse by an acquaintance. Although her abuser was sentenced following a lengthy legal process, she continued to struggle. A friend brought her to Hope Haven at about 11pm, where a staff member saw her immediately and arranged an appointment for the following day. She believes she would otherwise have remained at her lowest point.

The hubs draw on the Trieste model, a holistic, 24-hour approach developed in Italy in the 1980s. Alongside mental health care, they bring together services including exercise classes, financial guidance and housing assistance. Short-stay beds also enable staff to support people overnight. The other pilots are in Lewisham and Tower Hamlets in London, Birmingham, York and Sheffield, and form part of NHS England’s 10-year health plan.

Following Andy Burnham’s announcement this summer of £343m for a redesign of mental health services, another 100 hubs are scheduled to open in stages beginning this autumn. The approach comes amid concerns about the ability of traditional NHS services to improve local wellbeing. In Whitehaven, referrals to mental health services have trebled since 2017, while NHS Alliance puts the area’s suicide rate at 20 deaths per 100,000 people, nearly twice the national rate.

Staff describe economic hardship behind the coastal town’s surroundings. Hope Haven worker Vikki Ford-Powell, 53, said the loss of factories and major employers, coupled with limited investment, had diminished people’s hope. Colleague Sue Papworth, 49, highlighted deprivation in and around Whitehaven. Josh MacAlister, Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, welcomed the centre, saying that distance from services and difficulty asking for help within a close community could create barriers to care.

Gordy, 47, who is originally from Scotland, said individual support without judgment had helped him feel able to walk in public without fear. He has experienced alcohol addiction and had taken antidepressants for four and a half years before coming off them after engaging with Hope Haven’s services. He particularly valued the availability of help throughout the day and night.

The hub also offers companionship. Mary Bragg, 91, lives alone after losing her husband seven years ago. Through a weekly chair-based exercise class at Hope Haven, she has made friends and says she feels happier.