Health & Wellbeing Community & Social Justice 2024
Washington Mind

Washington Mind Annual Report 2023/24

Washington Mind is a Washington-based community mental health charity in its 43rd year, supporting 5,218 people in 2023/24 across counselling, social support, listening ear, training and digital wellbeing services. Its Life House hub received 27,956 visitors and handled 100,809 enquiries. The charity runs youth counselling in 6 schools, maintains Rays Corner suicide prevention resources in 700+ venues, and operates the Fans Supporting Fans Match Day Mental Health Hub at Sunderland AFC. All quality standards were maintained including BACP accreditation, Mind Quality Mark and CPD Standards Office. Washington Mind implemented an above-inflation pay rise for all staff despite sector-wide financial pressures.

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📋About

Counselling (BACP accredited, Service Level Agreements with 6 schools, volunteer counsellor programme relaunched with 5 counsellors); Listening Ear one-to-one support; Social support groups (Women's Space, Connection Café, Lunch and Learn, Gardening Group); Exercise groups (Yoga, Flow to Sow, Trimmed Toned Toddlers); Online peer support; The Life House community hub; Young people's counselling and creative activities (Teenage Market, Bunker collaboration); Fans Supporting Fans / Match Day Mental Health Hub at Sunderland AFC; wellbeinginfo.org and youngpeopleswellbeing.org digital resources (Peer Support, Exam Stress, Bullying, SEND, Educational Transitions, Self-Help); Training (suicide prevention ALWL, mental health awareness, emotional resilience); Peer-led support group development Custom geography from upload: Washington, Sunderland and the Coalfields, Tyne and Wear, UK

📊Key Metrics

5,218 people received support; 100,809 enquiries; 1,274 new referrals; 27,956 visitors to the Life House; 7,403 counselling appointments Key Metric 1
18,588 social support attendances; 557 Listening Ear appointments; 1,033 people attended training courses; 220 online support group members; 7,264 young people's activity attendees Key Metric 2
1,750 Rays Corner visits; 2,342 crisis page visits; 106,686 unique visitors to wellbeinginfo.org; 25,922 unique visitors to Washington Mind website; Rays Corner resources now in 700+ venues across the city Key Metric 3

✅Key Outcomes

  • 43 years of operation in 2023/24 — one of the North East's longest-running mental health charities; Fans Supporting Fans Match Day Hub endorsed by SAFC patron Gary Bennett; new Chair James Fildes (founder of Space North East) appointed
  • Above-inflation pay increase implemented for all staff; Living Wage employer; BACP service accreditation successfully renewed; Mind Quality Mark, BACP, CPD Standards Office and Mindful Employer quality standards all maintained
  • Washington Mind CIO with 500+ Friends membership; President Sharon Hodgson MP; wellbeinginfo.org SEND resources expanded; live chat service evaluated; 4,000+ people scanned Rays Corner QR codes

📍Geography

North East

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