Community and voluntary sector mental health - What people said

In summer 2020, the South London Mental Ill-Health Prevention and Recovery Programme was formed in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health and wellbeing. The programme is supported by south west and south east London Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), all south London NHS mental health trusts, local authority partners (councillors and leaders), Healthwatch organisations, Citizens UK, and voluntary and community sector organisations. 

Together we launched the South London Listens (SLL) campaign on 10 November 2020. Over the four-month campaign we heard from over 5,700 people who told us how the pandemic was affecting them, their families, and their communities. Four priority areas emerged:

• Social Isolation, loneliness, and digital exclusion
• Work and wages
• Children, young people, and parental mental health
• Access to mental health services

On the 16 June 2021, the SLL community invited all partners to their summit asking decision-makers from the NHS and local authorities to pledge support to 22 pledges underneath the priority areas. 800 people attended the event, including 150 community leaders and 19 NHS and local authority decision makers.

Kingston mental health activity audit

South London and the Maudsley Trust, on behalf of the South London Mental Ill-Health Prevention and Recovery Programme has contracted Healthwatch organisations across south London to carry out an audit of community and voluntary sector activity in their area relating to the series of mental health prevention pledges made at the Community-led summit on 16 June 2021.

Healthwatch Kingston completed a desk-based audit for our borough and submitted the template of our findings to further inform the South London Listens Action Plan. As part of this work, we undertook a series of interviews in September and October 2021 with stakeholders and engaged members of the Mental Health and Wellbeing subgroup of the Kingston Communities Taskforce, and members of the Kingston All Age Learning Disability Partnership Board.