Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, City of York Council, York Mind and York Carers Centre are working together to deliver one of six national 24/7 community mental health hub pilot sites.

The ‘York Community Wellbeing Hub’ opened in October 2025 and is based in Acomb Garth, York. The hub has been co-designed with people with lived experience, local residents and partners from the York Mental Health Partnership. It aims to offer access to mental health and wellbeing advice and support, in a calm, comfortable environment.

The hub brings together staff from a wide range of NHS, statutory and voluntary services, supporting organisations to work closely to meet the varied needs of those looking for support.

The multidisciplinary team can provide access to support for a range of mental health and wellbeing needs and build connections to wider support available in the community, such as housing and social care. Their wide range of skills, experience and knowledge allows people to access the support that’s right for them quickly and easily.

Acomb Garth is currently open six days a week – Monday, Tuesday and Saturday 9am to 5pm and Wednesday to Friday 8am to 8pm. There are plans for extended opening hours from early 2026. Anyone aged 18+ can self-refer to the hub or may be introduced to the service via their GP or a range of other public and voluntary sector organisations.

This is the second hub to have opened in the city. An existing hub is located on Clarence Street in the north of the city and a further hub is planned for the east of the city.

The aim of the hubs is to bring agencies together to offer immediate support, helping reduce reliance on emergency departments or hospital admissions and providing support to people in their local communities.

Several organisations are working together to create a new community mental health hub in Copeland and Whitehaven, North Cumbria. The service is known as Hope Haven.

Hope Haven brings together NHS teams, health and social care, and voluntary sector services to offer joined-up, personalised, and flexible support. It is a partnership between Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW), Cumbria Health, Everyturn Mental Health, Home Group, iCan Wellbeing Group CIO, The Well Communities CIC, and Whitehaven Community Trust.

Key parts of the service are already up and running. And Hope Haven’s permanent base – where people can walk in and get support every day of the year – will open soon in Whitehaven town centre. The service is already having an impressive impact, supporting hundreds of people in its first few months.

At Hope Haven, people do not need to be referred and discharged between different teams, making it easier and quicker for people to seamlessly get the support they need.

The service offers early intervention and wellbeing support to help people stay well, with a range of community-based drop-ins, wellbeing and fitness sessions, a ‘chatty café’, and wellbeing walks.

There is also crisis support (including four short-stay beds, providing a safe alternative to inpatient admission). A ‘virtual safe haven’ and phone-line offer support remotely.

People with lived experience and Peer Supporters are at the heart of developing and delivering Hope Haven. It will serve as a model for improving mental health care in genuine partnership with local communities.

David Storm, Associate Director for Access and Community Services at CNTW, said: “Hope Haven is a radically new way of supporting people’s mental health and wellbeing.

“At the moment, systems and services often aren’t joined up. It’s hard to get help. People have to go to lots of different places for everything they need. And the longer someone has to wait for support, the more difficult their problems become, and the harder it is to help them get better.

“But at Hope Haven, we’re changing that. People don’t need to be referred and discharged between different teams. They get the help they need much earlier, just by contacting us or coming to a drop-in. And it’ll be even easier to get support any day of the year by walking into our Hope Haven building in Whitehaven.

“The different services involved all link up around each person to provide what they need to get well, and stay well. One of our biggest strengths in Cumbria is our amazing community spirit, and we’re tapping into that.”

Due for completion in spring 2026, a pioneering new centre in the Gleadless Valley area of Sheffield is part of a national pilot programme aimed at transforming mental health care in communities.

Gleadless and Heeley Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre will provide the right care at the right time, closer to home, with a strong focus on prevention and early intervention. It will offer a safe, welcoming space for people to access support before reaching crisis point, helping to reduce the need for inpatient admissions. Open for anyone in the Gleadless and Heeley area, the centre will include safe-space hospitality beds, offering an alternative to hospital-based care.

Designed to foster long-term, trusting relationships between patients and staff, and ensure continuity of care whether someone is at home or in crisis, Gleadless and Heeley Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre is one of six pilots across England.

As well as a 24/7 mental health centre offering integrated, person-centred support for adults over 18 who have a serious mental illness, the site will include a revamped Terry Wright Community Hall (pictured), and a refreshed Newfield Green Library.

The centre is a collaborative project involving Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SHPU), Heeley Plus primary care network, Heeley Trust, Rethink Mental Illness, Synergy VCSE Mental Health Alliance, Sheffield Flourish, and Sheffield City Council. More than 400 local residents, including service users, carers, staff, and community organisations, were involved in developing plans for the centre. Engagement included public meetings, workshops and community group sessions.

In June 2025 the first phase of the project was launched. This laid the foundations of the pilot and saw the set-up of a new service incorporating community mental health and primary care teams working together to support people in Gleadless and Heeley.

James Drury, director of strategy at SHPU, said: “This is a major step forward in how we support people with serious mental illness in Sheffield. By working together with our communities, we’re building an innovative place where people can get the help they need, when they need it, in a space that feels safe and familiar.”

The mental health centre in Gleadless Valley is aligned with the 10 Year Health Plan for England and if successful could pave the way for similar centres across Sheffield and England.

Photo: Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust.