Mental Health Awareness Week: Sheffield MP supports local charities
A Sheffield MP has voiced her support for community groups aiding people who are struggling with mental health issues as data suggest one million people are on the waiting list for services.
Abtisam Mohamed, MP for Sheffield Central, has come forward as part of Mental Health Awareness Week - which starts today, May 12 - to urge the Government to protect existing resources allocated to voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) that support people struggling with mental health issues.
It comes after the 2024 Darzi Report highlighted a growing mental health crisis, as one million waited for services as of April 2024 and depression rates doubled since 2021.
And yet despite these staggering figures and services that are struggling to handle the mounting pressures, VCOs face continued underfunding.
The MP said: “A one-size-fits-all approach to mental health is not working.
“Mental health issues affect everyone and as we become increasingly aware of them, we are not looking at all of the effective avenues of addressing these problems.
"The voluntary and community sector is working tirelessly to support the millions of people who are dropping through the cracks in our mental health provision.
“Organisations are losing their core funding, and if we do not protect these vital services, the mental health crisis will only deepen."
Her call to action comes after a roundtable discussion with key voluntary sector leaders in Sheffield, who highlighted the main impacts of the problem including a lack of visibility, reactionary solutions that focus on short-term support and staff burnout due to high caseloads and limited resources.
Sheffield is home to numerous community organisations providing vital mental health support, including Sheffield Flourish, Synergy Mental Health Alliance, SACMHA, and Mind Sheffield.
As part of the campaign, Ms Mohamed is calling for the Department of Health and Social Care to protect funding for VCOs providing mental health support, develop cross-sector initiatives to integrate VCOs with NHS services, implement long-term funding models to ensure continuity of care and expand culturally competent and community-led services.
“They are continually coming up with incredibly creative solutions to the mental health crisis that don’t cost the earth,” she added.
“Football clubs, gardening groups, writing and music classes, spaces that are led by volunteers that save lives due to meaningful interactions.
“Sheffield Flourish even runs the Sheffield Mental Health Guide which provides readily accessible free information about mental health groups in Sheffield.”
Steph de-la-Haye, CEO of Survivors of Depression in Transition (SoDiT), emphasised the challenges they face, saying: “The impact of losing our main funder will be devastating for the women we support.
“The sector can’t sustain the level of reduction and the effect it’s having on already traumatised and marginalised people is immeasurable.”
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