Mental health support fund launched in Morecambe’s West End

West End Morecambe Big Local (WEM) has launched an open commission to deliver a community mental health project in the area where people have become more stressed since the pandemic and cost of living crisis.

With mainstream services currently overstretched, the gaps are often filled by local groups who deliver mental health support activity, which can be patchy in terms of how it‘s all co-ordinated.

WEM, a community partnership set up to help improve the West End, might fund one significant project or support a number of smaller sized projects with the £50,000 on offer.

The partnership is also keen to distinguish focused mental health activity from overall community work, which is sometimes more about general wellbeing.

WEM chair Chris Price said: “In our Action Plan we have considered several critical issues within the West End, one of which is the gap in mental health provision.

"We are keenly aware that our limited resources are dwarfed by the scale of the problem so we are asking local groups and organisations to propose a focused project.

"We are open to any ideas in the realm of mental health and look forward to receiving some good ideas that we can support."

Funding applications must be submitted by April 24 and the commission is a two-stage process.

Initially, WEM will select projects it can support within its budget and then it will summarise all submissions so other funders can see which projects are looking for support.

WEM is aiming to making the process as open as possible so everyone can see the range of proposals and help improve links with each other.

Although WEM prioritises work that targets the West End, it does also support groups that work in a wider area yet have members or users in the West End.

This commission is one of several initiatives that WEM is working on as part of its current three-year plan.

Interested groups and organisations can find details of the commission on WEM’s website at westendmorecambe.co.uk/mentalhealth/