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‘Ask once, get help fast:’ Mental health charity removes barriers to support in Tayside and Fife

T-shirts created by Aberdeen designer Ryan Douglas to raise money for SAMH.
T-shirts created by Aberdeen designer Ryan Douglas to raise money for SAMH.

Mental Health charity SAMH is working harder than ever to support people in Tayside and Fife.

And they’ve urged anyone who needs support to reach out.

Alex Cumming, SAMH assistant director for delivery and development, said they’ve seen an increase in the number of people reaching out over the past year.

At a recent week-long event called Wellbeing on Wheels which the charity ran with Stagecoach, a staggering 59 people came forward for help in just 20 hours — with seven of them at crisis point.

He said: “We’ve seen requests for support and information within our services and there’s been an increase in hits on our website as well, especially the section we put together specifically for Covid-19.

“Our principles and focus at SAMH are that we want to help people build resilience and use self management tools.

Alex Cumming of SAMH.

“But we find the challenge with services is people often don’t know how to get them and access them.

“Our mantra is ask once, get help fast.

“We want to remove barriers to mental health support services and make it easy as possible for anyone to access the support they need, when they need it. And often, that’s not at the regular hours of nine to five.”

Where can I get support?

SAMH has a range of different services across Fife and in Dundee.

Sam’s is a Fife drop-in service for people aged 16 and over, providing one-to-one support for mental health issues, crisis and people experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Trained peer practitioners — who have their own lived experience of ill mental health and recovery — are on hand to help seven days a week from 12pm until 8pm at four different locations.

There is no appointment or referral required to access the drop-in.

SAMH offer support services across Fife and Tayside.

Going Forth, based in Dunfermline, is a day service open Monday to Friday 9am until 5pm and provides a range of sessions to support people to understand their mental wellbeing through peer support.

It is also an employability service and supports everyone from people already in employment to people who have never been employed before.

Evergreen in Kirkcaldy and Chrysalis in Dundee offer horticultural services, which have a therapeutic impact on mental health recovery.

And Time for You is an online and virtual mental health support service, providing help for frontline workers across Scotland during the pandemic.

Alex added: “Peer workers have made a real difference to us and give an immediate sense of connection.

“They give a real sense of hope for people, because they are chatting to someone in front of them who is promoting recovery.

“People are able to see a way out of a very dark place or a difficult situation they are in.”

Alex also added that strong partnerships with the Third Sector, Police Scotland, Stagecoach and Health and Social Care Partnerships have helped.

Douglas Robertson, Stagecoach East Scotland Managing Director, Alex Cumming, SAMH,<br />Cllr Jim Leishman, Provost of Fife, Chelsea Graham, SAMH Peer Practitioner and Nicky Connor, Director of Health & Social Care, NHS Fife.

If you need help, the SAMH Information Service is available by phone, email and through online information on 0344 800 0550 or info@samh.org.uk

If you need help urgently, organisations like Samaritans, Breathing Space and Shout! can help.