Donate to Cornwall’s Mental Health Fund and double your money
The challenges of coping with mental ill health, as a sufferer or carer, places a huge strain on individuals and families. One in four people will experience mental health issues in their lives. Department of Health and NHS statistics show that 11.5% of young people aged 11-16 years have a mental health disorder.
CCF has established a new fund, the Mental Health Fund, to support children and young people aged between 5 to 25 years struggling with mental health challenges in Cornwall. The Mental Health Fund will be a fund that is available forever for this very important cause.
This is how the Mental Health Challenge works. Every £10 donation to the Mental Health Fund will be doubled with £10 from match funding. For every £50,000 raised from generous new donations, that will create a fund of £100,000 to support local organisations working to support people with mental health challenges. Additionally, Gift Aid can be claimed on many new donations. This means that £50,000 of new donations becomes up to £112,500!
Match funding for the for the Mental Health Challenge is being provided by the Active Bodies Happy Minds Fund established through fund-raising by CCF Chairman Jane Hartley during her year as High Sheriff of Cornwall. Jane Hartley DL, CCF Chairman, says, “I am delighted to offer the match funding for donations to the Mental Health Fund. We know from projects already supported by CCF that targeted funding for community groups working with people with mental health challenges can literally change lives.”
A donation to the Mental Health Challenge will create a substantial in-perpetuity fund to support community organisations helping mental health clients.
Demand for such services continues to grow. Department of Health and NHS England statistics show that 11.5% of young people aged 11-16 years have a mental health disorder. Also that over half of all mental ill health starts before the age of 14 years old, and 75% has developed by the age of 18 years.
Self-harming figures for young people have doubled in the past 10 years, which NHS England believes is linked to social pressures and body-image fears, as well as children being subjected to sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
Tamas Haydu, CCF Chief Executive says, “ There are many organisations doing great work to support young people who experience mental health challenges. They invariably do not have enough funding to meet the need. The Mental Health Fund will be able to support groups providing innovative and life-changing services.”
Work Skills South West CIC (WSSW), for example, is a group who support young people with learning difficulties and disabilities who also suffer from mental health issues. Accessing green spaces and outdoor activities at the charity’s base, Merryhue Farm near Callington, young people are helped to develop independence and build friendships.
One of WSSW’s young people, who lost his mother at 11, disengaged from school and has a variety of mental health issues, commented, “I don’t really know why I joined the project. I thought it would be a waste of time. Once I started the instructor made me realise that it didn’t matter that I didn’t finish school, I could learn skills on this project that would help me get a job.”