OVER £250,000 has been given to four groups in Ards and North Down providing mental health support for local communities. The awards have been made following an additional allocation of £6.02m to the Mental Health Support Fund which is providing grants to a range of charities and groups across Northern Ireland. In the Ards and North Down area, a total of £257,230 has been awarded to four organisations. • ACET, based in Holywood, is receiving £94,000 to help deliver mental health and emotional wellbeing programmes to young people across Northern Ireland. • An award of £43,230 has been allocated to AGE North Down and Ards (AGENDA) for its Good Morning call and signposting service for older people. • The NI Rare Disease Partnership, based in Newtownards, is receiving £20,000 to deliver a programme of enhanced mental health provision for people with rare diseases across Northern Ireland. • An award of £100,000 has been given to the Newtownards-based Beyond the Battlefield, a charity working to help ex-service personnel with their mental health. Welcoming the awards, Health Minister, Robin Swann, said the projects are delivering vital person-centred care and support at a time when help is desperately needed. “I commend all of the staff and volunteers for their tireless work and the innovative programmes they have developed to expand their services,” he said. “There is evidence of a longer term increased mental health need associated with the pandemic. A key element of responding to this emerging mental health need has been the development of a new Mental Health Strategy which I published last June. “The Strategy promotes emotional wellbeing and positive mental health for everyone, supports recovery and seeks to reduce stigma and mental health inequalities. We also want to break down barriers so that people are put in the centre which is exactly what these organisations are doing every day.” The Fund is being administered and managed by the Community Foundation NI on behalf of the Department and aims to provide grant funding to organisations with charitable status that can deliver outcomes to improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing of the population.
