Mobile mental health service set to hit the road in Washington after community help and large anonymous donation sees £30,000 raised

A new mobile mental health service will be hitting the road to help people after fundraisers raked in £30,000 within months.
A mock up of how the Washington Mind community outreach van could lookA mock up of how the Washington Mind community outreach van could look
A mock up of how the Washington Mind community outreach van could look

Washington Mind have raised the staggering sum with the help of the community and an anonymous £10,000 donation to fund a mobile mental health service.

It is hoped the service will be in operation later in the summer.

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With the support of the community, Washington Mind were able to smash their target of £22,000 and reach a total of £28,000 to fund the new mobile service.

With the van, a multi-disciplinary team will be targeting young people and their families as well as attending national campaigns related to themes around adult mental health such as World Mental health Day, World Suicide Prevention Day.

Youth Worker at Washington Mind, Lisa Wilson Riddell said: We are delighted that we have not only reached but exceeded our goal to raise funds for an outreach van. We would like to say a huge thankyou to everyone who supported our crowdfunding campaign.”

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The campaign also received a surprise anonymous donation of £10,000 which came as a big surprise to staff.

Lisa added: “We also had an anonymous donation of £10,000, well what can I say, we were blown away and we wish to pass our appreciation and gratitude to this person too. It is an outstanding achievement for the team here at Washington Mind and it just shows that every single like, share and pledge all add up.”

The Washington mind team are hoping to have the van out on the streets supporting the community by early August.

It comes amid concerns over the impact of the coronavirus crisis on people’s mental health, either in relation to the disease itself or the economic impact.

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A large number of job losses and business failures are anticipated as the crisis bites and the UK lives under a “new normal”.

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