If U Care Share, the Chester-Le-Street based foundation, has partnered with national mental health charity, Chasing the Stigma, to help provide support this Christmas, through its ground-breaking Hub of Hope app.
With this time of year being difficult for many, the foundation, which has the goal of saving lives, supporting communities and preventing suicide, recently hosted its annual Time to Remember event, at which it launched its partnership with Chasing the Stigma.
The signposting partnership has seen the Hub of Hope app embedded on to the If U Care Share website, directing its visitors to 24/7 crisis support and centralised access to NHS, Mind and Samaritans, and more than 3,500+ registered national and local voluntary, grassroots, private and third sector mental health support groups and services. This means anybody who needs help over the Christmas period, while If U Care Share is closed, can still access mental health support.
As well as the Hub of Hope being embedded on the website, Founder of If U Care Share, Matthew Smith and CEO of Chasing the Stigma, Jake Mills have created a video which talks about the partnership and the reasons the two organisations are working together. The video which can be viewed on If U Care Share’s social channels also shares personal stories from those who have found solace from the foundation in a bid to help others seek support.
The Hub of Hope app was established in 2017 by, Chasing the Stigma, a charity set up by Liverpool comedian, Jake Mills, following his own suicide attempt in October 2013. Jake realised when talking through his own personal experience that many people didn’t know where to turn for help with their own mental health issues, so he and his team created the Hub of Hope – an app to bring together all the mental health support available to someone in any given area. In just four years the Hub of Hope has grown from a simple spreadsheet of services to become the UK’s go-to mental health signposting tool, recently cited by the Secretary of State as the sole pathway to find local mental health support, in a letter to 3.6m people who had previously been on the shielding list. The charity has also been working closely with NHS UK which, since May 2021, has directed approx. 100,000 people to the Hub of Hope from its NHS.UK website.
Matthew commented:
“Christmas can be a difficult time for many people, whether they have lost someone to suicide or they are struggling themselves, and we want to make sure people have access to support while the foundation is closed for the Christmas period.
“The Hub of Hope offers a choice of support, from peer to NHS services, and different ways to access help, including over the telephone to in-person. The more options people have access too, the more likely they are to find the right help for themselves, which can be life changing and even life-saving.”
Chasing the Stigma CEO and founder, Jake Mills, said:
“It’s our fifth birthday this month and we are proud to be working alongside If U Care Share, as it means we can help more people across the UK and help them to get the support they need. With this partnership we are continuing to remove the stigma surrounding mental health and raise awareness of the Hub of Hope to ensure everyone knows there is always hope, no matter what and no matter when.”
In addition to the Hub of Hope being accessed via the If U Care Share website, the app can also be downloaded from the App Store (iPhone) or Play Store (Android), via the Chasing the Stigma website or www.hubofhope.co.uk. The Hub of Hope also has a ‘Need Help Now?’ button that connects users directly to Samaritans or Crisis Text Line’s messaging service.
For further information on If U Care Share visit the website. Watch the video mentioned here