Increased demand for mental health service

The financial award is from the local wind farm charity Point and Sandwick Trust and will enable WIAMH to continue to offer support through its Catch 23 daily drop-in sessions, which has seen numbers doule since the pandemic with staff routinely now seeing more than 20 people a day.

Rebecca Mahony, WIAMH Project Manager, “Western Isles Association for Mental Health know that financial times are tough for everyone just now, including for small local charities such as ourselves.

"One of our key strengths as an organisation is the ability to remain flexible and responsive, adapting Catch 23 services in-line with members needs.

“We have naturally found ourselves evolving into a 'warm hub' to help members address impact of the cost-of-living crisis and on top of our mental health provision, we provide a hot, home cooked lunch 4 days a week plus access to hot and cold drinks and snacks.

"In addition, we seek to offer a range of weekly therapeutic activities including, health walks; yoga; creative writing; music and alcohol and drug support alongside our weekly drop-in sessions.”

She added: “Local support from such a fantastic community asset as Point & Sandwick Trust means so much. PST are investing so much into our local community to help ensure many organisations, including ours, have a sustainable future.”

DJ MacSween, General Manager at PST commented “The WIAMH Project Workers of Catch 23 play a vital role in reducing stigma and social isolation associated with mental illness, providing a safe space for people to connect here in Lewis. We are very pleased to award this community grant of £9,771 towards the increased costs of running the service, believing it to be a crucial in support of those suffering from mental health, their families and carers”.

Catch 23 runs Monday – Friday from their base in Bayhead Street, Stornoway. More details on the Catch 23 Facebook page.