A SAFER space service has helped hundreds of people with mental health problems since it opened its doors one year ago.

Haven, a day-time adult mental health service, at the Cellar Trust charity in Shipley is an alternative to A&E for vulnerable people in distress having a mental health crisis.

Today it marked the anniversary with a breakfast celebration, having delivered almost 2,000 support sessions over the year from one-to-ones to group and telephone support.

Haven helps people get the support they need to stay well and cope better in the future, identifying crisis triggers early to stop situations escalating. It is open to people across the Bradford district as well as Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven.

Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, The Cellar Trust and Bradford Council have all worked in partnership to open the project which runs seven days a week, from 10am to 6pm, 365 days a year and can be accessed through the Trust’s First Response Service, 01274 221181.

Simon Long, Interim Deputy Director of Mental Health Acute and Community Services at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “The reaction to Haven has been really positive and people accessing the service have credited it with helping to give them the coping skills needed to manage crisis more confidently in the future.

"We would like to thank everyone involved for their continued commitment to the service – and ensuring people in crisis get the help they need. Partnership working has been key to the success of caring for people locally with acute mental health needs.”

And Kim Shutler-Jones, Chief Executive of The Cellar Trust added: “We feel very lucky to be able to offer a service like Haven – which recognises that when you are feeling mentally distressed – a clinical approach isn’t always what you need. Being able to create a calm, safe space for people where people feel really understood and listened to has been brilliant and we have been blown away by the feedback we’ve received."

Trained volunteers and professionals work at Haven with peer support workers including those who have experienced their own mental health crisis and are recovering.

Feedback written in a comment book about Haven include: “Was really helpful talking to a professional who actually knows and understands how it feels, for the first time I felt totally understood.”

Other services running alongside Haven are the Care Trust’s First Response service, which offers mental health crisis support 24 hours a day, seven days a week and also The Sanctuary, a night-time mental health service, which is open from 6pm to 11pm, based at Mind in Bradford.