Shropshire mental health charity in danger of folding over funding

Shropshire Mind, which has five centres across the county, may have to cease its services due to a £10,000 deficit in the money needed to keep the charity operating.

The blow came after the charity saw a 130 per cent increase in demand for its "vital" help.

The Shrewsbury headquarters in Abbey Foregate is open 24 hours a day every day, including Christmas and also operates a call centre. Meanwhile support is also offered from centres in Market Drayton, Whitchurch, Bridgnorth and Ludlow.

Chairman Clive Ireland said the charity will not go without a fight but he has to be honest about their financial crisis.

He said: "A major funder has pulled £30,000 but at the same time, demand for our services has gone up 130 per cent in the last 12 months.

"We have seen the reduction in mental health day services and Shelton reduced from 32 to 16 beds so we were expecting to see an increase.

"We've got to the point that even though we are doing an amazing job we know that come February we will only have eight weeks of money left.

"We know we have other money coming in but that normally arrives in July or August.

"As a charity we have to be open and honest. if we get to that eight weeks we have to look to an orderly wind-down if we can't find that £10,000 to bridge the gap.

"We couldn't survive. We would just go bust. But we are not going to go without a fight. We are going fundraise as much as we can. But we believe everybody should be aware because we have a duty to the people we help.

"We see people in crisis with depression, stress, self harm and suicidal thoughts.

"We have got one of the highest suicide rates in Shropshire because of the rural nature of the county."