Boost for mental health service which gives people hope
A mental health charity in Croydon will be able to help twice as many people manage their finances, access benefits and maintain vital social contact.
Hear Us, which is staffed and run entirely by people with experience of mental health issues, has received a £148,500 grant from City Bridge Trust – the City of London Corporation’s charity funder.
The charity will use the money to ramp up its peer navigator service, which helps people navigate the often complex benefits maze and support them to challenge decisions where they’ve been unfairly refused benefits.
It will also help people access discretionary payments from local authorities and to access the Motability and Freedom Pass schemes to ensure they can maintain their independence and stay connected.
Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust Committee Dhruv Patel said:
“People who have mental health issues are far more likely to find themselves in poverty, and to need access to benefits, due to the day-today difficulties they experience in getting and holding down a job.
“The support from Hear Us is invaluable, not just in supporting people to keep on top of their finances and keep food on the table, but also in helping people access the transport they need to maintain social ties which are vital for good mental health.”
Hear Us says it has seen an increase in the number of people needing support in recent years with the switch from so-called legacy benefits such as Income Support to the online-only Universal Credit.
It expects demand to continue to surge as the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic – and the resultant impact on people’s jobs – continue to take their toll.
David Ashton, Hear Us welfare surgeries manager, said:
“The benefits system can be very complicated and often if people run into problems or get a negative decision they just give up, because they don’t know the next step or they just don’t have the energy to fight.
“It really helps that all of us have had mental health issues so we can use those experiences to help others, and people know when they come to us they can talk about their difficulties without being judged.
“People often tell us that just by talking to us they feel like a weight has lifted off their shoulders and they feel more hopeful knowing that they’ve got support and they don’t have to face these issues alone.”
More information about Hear Us is available online at www.hear-us.org
The City of London Corporation’s charity funder, City Bridge Trust, is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of over £25 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital – www.citybridgetrust.org.uk
Case study: ‘Without their help, I wouldn’t have coped’
Susan Ellis, 57, from Thornton Heath 57, has been a client of Hear Us for a number of years and has received help accessing benefits, applying for discretionary and mobility schemes and obtaining food parcels during the pandemic.
She said: “Coming to Hear Us has helped me immensely. I don’t know what I would have done without their help – if I was faced with these difficulties on my own, I wouldn’t have coped.
“Hear Us has given a lot of support and help which has made these difficulties and my life more manageable. Having mental health problems themselves, they have understanding and compassion and they always go that extra mile for me.”
Notes to editors
The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally-successful UK – www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
The City Corporation’s charity funder, City Bridge Trust, has allocated £11.25 million to the London Community Response, set up to help charities deal with the impact of coronavirus, and has also given over £1.7 million in one-off grants to 202 organisations it already supports to help them offset lost income resulting from the pandemic.
The London Community Response Fund is administered by City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of Bridge House Estates. The City of London Corporation is the sole trustee of Bridge House Estates and Members of its Court of Common Council form the City Bridge Trust Committee, responsible for taking grant and funding decisions for the charity.
Tim Fletcher | Media officer – public services
City of London Corporation
07738 862229 | tim.fletcher@cityoflondon.gov.uk