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In the last twelve months, we’ve seen two revolutionary sites open in Birmingham – Selly Oak’s ‘mental health café’ and Hall Green’s ‘wellbeing hub’ – to tackle growing mental health concerns in the region. Part of the pioneering grounded. project – a partnership between Living Well UK and NHS England – both locations were tailored to fit and support their varying communities.
Now a third grounded. site has opened in Birmingham – this time supporting locals to the Jewellery Quarter. Situated in St Paul’s Square, grounded. St Paul’s is a combination of the previous two locations, with a café and wellbeing studio on the ground floor, and a further two floors of therapy rooms above.
The NHS England-backed initiative acts as a welcoming space providing accessible mental health support for its diverse communities. This includes everything from professional talking therapies to casual social gatherings with coffee and cake. It’s located at 55 St. Paul’s Square, overlooking St. Paul’s Church, offering coffee, cakes, and mental wellbeing support Monday to Friday from 8:30am – 3:30pm.
It’s unique, however, as it makes nine therapy rooms available to smaller regional wellbeing organisations. Particularly those with few therapy spaces and are facing increased demands for face-to-face support. It’s not only for locals either. The wellbeing studio will also be dedicated to helping mental health staff access support themselves.
According to recent research from the Care Quality Commission, NHS staff are more than twice as likely to record ‘anxiety, stress or depression’ as their cause of sickness absence than any other reason – with staff shortages and physical and verbal abuse cited as key causes for concern. To help, the JQ wellbeing studio will offer care professionals a calm space to decompress and switch off from work.
“In the midst of a mental health crisis, both locally and across the UK, grounded. presents an
opportunity to bring much-needed support to the city,” says Ben Howells, Chief Executive Officer at Living Well Consortium. “We continue to be amazed by the reception to these spaces, and the entire team behind their development has been fantastic.
“With the support of various partners, we’ve been able to create three brilliant and welcoming wellbeing services for communities that need them. The team on site – both from Living Well, Evolve, and third-party partners – will be working hard to continue to deliver the brilliant standards set by our other sites and offer the warm, welcoming space and a cup of coffee people have come to expect from grounded.”
Since the launch of grounded. in Selly Oak (in September last year) and Hall Green (in January), over 7,000 people have used these wellbeing hubs. Not just offering somewhere for locals to relax, recover, and recoup, there’s everything from fitness classes to crisis support. grounded. has also held 125 free wellbeing workshops, supported 150 people to access free Talking Therapy, and created numerous jobs for people who have faced barriers to employment.
To learn more about what each grounded. site can offer you head here.