A look inside our crisis cafes
In the second week of our profiling series on Mental Health Crisis services, we went along to a crisis café to find out more about who crisis cafes are for and what sort of help you might be offered if you visit a crisis café.
Crisis cafes are welcoming community spaces across Northamptonshire where any adult can drop in and get support with their mental health. There are six crisis cafes across the county in Corby, Daventry, Kettering, Northampton, Rushden and Wellingborough, which are run jointly by Northamptonshire Mind and NHFT.
Whilst they are called cafes, theydon'tprovide food, but they do offer a quiet, welcomingindoor spacewhere you candrop in, get a hot drink and have a chat with someone about your worries or your mental health. They are free to access and there is no waiting list.
Despite the name, you do not have to be experiencing a mental health crisis to visit a crisis cafe, you might feel stressed or overwhelmed and just need to talk things through with someone and that's ok. But, if you are feeling unwell and finding it hard to keep yourself safe, you are more than welcome to come through the door and seek support.
Once you are offered a hot drink and a chat with one of the Mind Support Workers, they will listen to you and if they feel you need additional support, they may refer you on to the NHFT member of staff or other organisations that can provide a more specific type of help. It might be that a chat with the Mind support worker is helpful, and that you do not require any additional help. Staff across each crisis café will listen to your needs and provide compassionate care, appropriate to your needs.
The environment inside is relaxed, quiet and calm. You can pop out to a local shop or go outside for some fresh air and this won't affect your ability to speak to a support worker. Every day, at least two crisis cafés are open across Northamptonshire. View the crisis café opening times.
In the video, we meet Alison and Helen, Support Workers from Northamptonshire Mind, who tell us about the range of different support needs people attend with. They explain why they want you to come through the door and reach out for help and they show compassion and kindness towards the different challenges people are experiencing. Take a look and the video and share it with anyone who you think might benefit from the support of a crisis café.