The new Safe Haven Coventry and Warwickshire service will provide community-based, non-clinical support for those who have feelings of mental health and emotional distress.

The service is designed for Coventry and Warwickshire residents aged 16 and above, for those times when the challenges of life being to overwhelm and impair daily living, providing open access drop-in support and supplementing existing NHS mental health crisis and emergency care. It will do this by increasing the ways local residents can access mental health support, it will also help relieve pressures on other mental health services by allowing for earlier interventions.

Building on the already existing Safe Haven provision that started in 2018, Coventry and Warwickshire Mind will be expanding the service to better support under-served communities and, following review and wider engagement with service users, improve the service to meet the identified needs, such as easier navigation, more widely accessible face-to-face support, and a no appointment necessary approach.

The service takes a ‘single front door’ approach, meaning that the service will be accessed through 1 phone number, 1 website and open-access drop in venues. The service started on Saturday 1st July and is commissioned by NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board and is being operated by Coventry and Warwickshire Mind.

The Safe Haven Coventry and Warwickshire services are:

• Available from 6pm-11pm, 7 days a week, 365 days a year

• Contactable by telephone - 024 7601 7200

• Website - www.cwsafehaven.org.uk

• Contactable by email - support@cwsafehaven.org

• On social media (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) - @cwsafehaven

Local residents who access support can expect:

1. Respectful, compassionate short-term interventions

2. A positive relationship-based experience, enabling honest discussion and making space to explore further support

3. A safe, caring, non-clinical environment - informal, open, accessible for all, with no appointment required

4. Open-access support for as often or little as required

5. A staff team, experienced in delivering mental health support, bringing understanding and helping remove stigma

6. The service will help to provide crisis de-escalation, emotional support and help with planning, face-to-face, one-to-one support, light refreshments and information and signposting

Face-to-face, open-access drop-in venues offering one-to-one and peer group opportunities have already started at ‘The Retreat, Bond Street, Nuneaton’ and are available 7 evenings a week. More venues are due:

• Wellington Gardens, Windsor Street, Coventry, 7 evenings a week - by the end of July 2023

• Venues in Rugby, 2 evenings a week, and Coleshill, 1 evening a week - due October 2023

• Venues in Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick, both 2 evenings a week, due in November 2023

You can find out more and read into further detail on the Warwickshire County Council website: