Mental Health Conditions ‘Amplified’ by COVID

We’re proud to work with Key Fund and the incredible work they do supporting the social enterprise sector. The team have worked hard as one of the agencies distributing the Social Enterprise Support Fund in partnership by The National Lottery Community Fund. Below, is the story of one such enterprise they’ve supported with a £75k grant, doing invaluable work around mental health during COVID-19….

Martin Hogg, CEO of Citizen Coaching

Social Enterprise Steps Up as Mental Health Conditions ‘Amplified’ by COVID

A social enterprise has received a £75k grant from the new Social Enterprise Support Fund to help it address mental ill-health ‘amplified’ by the fall-out of COVID-19.

Official figures show depression in British adults has doubled during the coronavirus crisis. The data has prompted calls for an urgent national plan to avert a looming mental health crisis.

Birmingham-based Citizen Coaching has 60 counsellors and in a usual year deliver 20,000 face-to-face counselling sessions.

CEO of Citizen Coaching, Martin Hogg, said: “We’re anticipating a surge in referrals, but also more complex issues as mental health issues are amplified. If someone had anxiety before COVID-19, they may have managed with coping techniques. Those with anxiety see the world as a dangerous or difficult place, and the global pandemic has just confirmed what they always thought was true, so people with anxiety issues are particularly affected by this and may need more intense support.”

With 75% of its clients aged 14-24, referred by schools, GPs and youth workers, there are concerns young people will now urgently seek help after struggling in lockdown and returning to education or an increasingly unstable job market.

Social isolation, health worries, and exam and future career anxiety adds up to a ‘perfect storm’ for young people.

Martin said: “Because of the age group we work with anxiety is the main condition we’ve seen around how the coronavirus crisis will affect their long-term future. The closure of colleges and universities plus the cancellation of exams has left young people feeling lost.”

The social enterprise has also dealt with wider and far reaching issues.

Martin said: “People came to us in crisis, fearful of accessing hospital services and citing issues in dealing with loss and bereavement, domestic abuse, modern slavery, partnership issues, isolation, homelessness, loss of confidence and increase in anxiety. People with autism that Citizen Coaching were already working with, who were leading a life outside of the home, immediately retreated.”

During lockdown, Citizen Coaching were able to move 80% of its existing clients online thanks to previous support from social investor, the Key Fund, who gave a grant and loan mix in 2018 to help develop its online services. The enterprise offered free anger management courses online to help those struggling in confined homes during lockdown.

Revenue dried up for the enterprise as referrals from the NHS, schools and youth workers stopped, despite an increase in self-referrals, some with life-threatening health concerns compounded by COVID-19.

Key Fund has now awarded Citizen Coaching £75k grant from the Social Enterprise Support Fund. The Social Enterprise Support Fund was established in partnership by The National Lottery Community Fund and five social enterprise support agencies: The Key Fund, Big Issue Invest, Community Land & Finance CIC (also known as Resonance), the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) and UnLtd with support from CAF Venturesome, the Young Foundation and Ashoka.

Thanks to National Lottery players, £18.7 million of National Lottery funding has been committed to the fund to be used to provide grants to social enterprise organisations that are best placed to support local, vulnerable communities in response to the COVID-19 crisis. This National Lottery funding is part of The National Lottery Community Fund’s wider COVID-19 emergency response for communities.

Matt Smith, CEO Key Fund

Matt Smith, CEO of Key Fund, said: “The Social Enterprise Support Fund is aimed at social enterprises supporting people at high health risk from COVID-19, and those supporting people facing increased social and economic challenges as a result of COVID-19. The UK’s 100,000 social enterprises have been at the heart of community survival and recovery during this crisis, and Citizen Coaching is a prime example.”

Citizen Coaching aims to offer a wide range of therapies to meet growing complex needs and demand, with no waiting list.

The grant will directly and immediately support 400 people in greatest need and unable to find support elsewhere. Counsellors will address those with complex or urgent need within the most vulnerable groups – particularly those often marginalised, overlooked or disproportionally affected by COVID-19.

ENDS

Notes to Editor

The Social Enterprise Support Fund is one of eight expert partnerships, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, to ensure almost £59m of National Lottery funding reaches communities most vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19. The move is part of The National Lottery Community Fund’s COVID-19 emergency response and means it will benefit from the partnerships’ collective expertise and networks, to ensure funding is distributed to even more communities. The partnerships will focus on supporting organisations that work with those communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

The Social Enterprise Support Fund was established in partnership by The National Lottery Community Fund and five social enterprise support agencies. £18.7 million of National Lottery funding has been committed to the fund, raised by National Lottery players, which will be used to provide grants to social enterprise organisations that are best placed to support local, vulnerable communities in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Big Issue Invest, The Key Fund, Resonance, the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) and UnLtd will jointly deliver the grants.

About The National Lottery Community Fund

We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Since June 2004, we have made over 200,000 grants and awarded over £9 billion to projects that have benefited millions of people.

We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

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