Having somewhere decent to live with the right level of support is vital to anybody. It is even more crucial if you are recovering from a mental health problem. In fact it can be the make or break factor in terms of recovery or relapse.
Nevertheless mental health services throughout the country often struggle to find accommodation appropriate to the person who needs it. There often seems to be simply not enough places, especially once peoples varying needs are factored in.

Possible periods of ill health can put mental health service users at greater risk than others of becoming homeless, or of having difficulty maintaining a mortgage or tenancy.
In addition they may be doubly disadvantaged by the consequences of their mental ill health and the negative attitudes of the surrounding community towards mental illness.

While the majority of people with mental health problems live in independent housing in the community there is a smaller group of service users who need the more intensive support offered by 24 hour staffed residential and nursing care homes. This is not necessarily a static group and opportunities for people in residential care settings to move on greater independence need to be kept available.

In Herefordshire there are now a number of innovative projects, partnerships between the Statutory and Voluntary sector that provide a range housing linked to support models of varying intensity. Think of support as the assistance a service user needs to exploit the same opportunities as a citizen as everyone else in the community.

Recent developments include:

• SHARP, the Supported Housing and Recovery Partnership managed by Herefordshire Mind in partnership with Herefordshire Primary Care Trust.
• Ferncroft, high quality single unit accommodation provided by the Marches Housing Association in partnership with Herefordshire Mind
• Chatsworth Road flats provided by Herefordshire Council in partnership with Mind and the St John Kemble Housing Association.

Accommodation is a key component of the spectrum of care mental health services must provide for its service users. These pages list what is available in Herefordshire and how it can be accessed.