‘This is direct’: positive early feedback from pilot community mental health hub in Cumbria

Hope Haven in Whitehaven is one of six trial open-access, 24/7 schemes in England offering preventive care

The night Tamara first walked through the doors of Hope Haven, a new community mental health hub in the heart of Whitehaven, she was afraid. “Terrified, actually,” she says. “Like, my life was falling apart. I didn’t know how to stop it from hurting.”

The 22-year-old, who works in children’s transport, had been in and out of therapy and counselling since she was 14, after being abused by an acquaintance as a child. After a lengthy legal process her abuser was sentenced, but the “mental challenge” of dealing with what had happened to her was not over.