Doctor Dysphoria Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 Mental health helpline to close as Government cuts £1m funding Country United Kingdom United Kingdom Date 10 January 2005 Thousands of Britain's most desperate and isolated people will be deprived of access to the country's largest mental health helpline after a £1m cut in government funding. Saneline, run by the charity Sane, is being forced to close two of its three national centres, with the loss of 127 trained volunteers and 13 full-time staff. The charity currently answers 1,000 calls a week from those in distress. Demand is such it could cater for another 11,000 calls if it had the means. Last night Marjorie Wallace, the chief executive of Sane, described the Government's decision as "extraordinary". "We are very sad and disappointed to have to take this step," Ms Wallace said. The loss of Department of Health funding will mean the closure at the end of March of the charity's offices in Bristol and Macclesfield, leaving only a helpline based in London up and running. Ms Wallace added: "This comes at a time when the number of attempted calls to Saneline has recently doubled, and we anticipate more calls from those affected psychologically by the recent disaster in South-east Asia." Two years ago, Independent on Sunday readers raised more than £30,000 for Saneline when it was this newspaper's nominated Christmas charity. Our campaign was backed by a number of celebrities, including Joanna Lumley, Boy George, Ned Sherrin and Juliet Stevenson. Saneline, the only helpline of its kind to be open every day of the year, costs around £1.3m to run annually. It had previously been under a two-year government contract, worth £1m a year, to provide the service. But Ms Wallace said that even that money - legally owed to the charity by the Government - had not been forthcoming of late. "This latest announcement follows the Government's unexplained 10-month delay in failing to honour its contract to fund Saneline's service," Ms Wallace said. "This delay has eroded our reserves. We have been performing a service to their specification which has not been paid for." Since its establishment in 1992, the helpline has attracted praise from a number of prominent supporters, including the Prince of Wales and Cherie Blair. At a Downing Street reception in 2002 the latter said Saneline should be thanked for its "formidable achievements". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostsoul Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 OMG. well there we go then. obviously spending money on a war in iraq and decorating out number ten is more important than dealing with the ever growing mental health problems in the uk. yep. close down the mental hospitals, cut funding for help lines. why not top it off by eliminating benefits too. why not ask us all to just bend over. ******** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Dysphoria Posted January 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 OMG. well there we go then. obviously spending money on a war in iraq and decorating out number ten is more important than dealing with the ever growing mental health problems in the uk. yep. close down the mental hospitals, cut funding for help lines. why not top it off by eliminating benefits too. why not ask us all to just bend over. ******** <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but i thought it was important. Just goes to show how low down on the list of prioraties mental health care is :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostsoul Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 i actually got a job at sanel, working on their database - i only lasted a day cos i have issues. but i was sad to leave such a great charity. they are truly a nice bunch of people who all work sodding hard to help others like us. it is so blatently wrong that their organisation is being cut down like this. i hope blair and his whole cabinet rot in hell. well except for brown, who redeemed himself briefly the other day for saying publicly that he will never trust anything blair ever says again. marvellous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostsoul Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 i think he speaks for the nation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunnyWabbit Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Even though I live in the US I have used Saneline to call on friends. It is a very sad day for the UK. I am sorry that your politics stink as much as ours do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexa Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 :angry: :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lille_eskimit Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 yep. close down the mental hospitals, cut funding for help lines. why not top it off by eliminating benefits too. This country does need a sound Benefits system, but every year a lot of money is wasted on those who abuse it, and that makes me so angry! :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Dysphoria Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 yep. close down the mental hospitals, cut funding for help lines. why not top it off by eliminating benefits too. This country does need a sound Benefits system, but every year a lot of money is wasted on those who abuse it, and that makes me so angry! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Benefits are a major stressor for me or should i say DLA .Despite being mentally ill for nearly 30 years, due to having no cpn and a GP who cares f*** all about the mentally, i have been turned down twice since first applying since 1998. I am now too scared of further rejection to make a further claim. Can't face another wait to get yet another kick in the teeth. I've even approached local mh charities several times and then backed out because i have been so paranoid thinking 'What if they are good but not good enough' What gets me is i know people who don't need the money anmd aren't that disabled but know how to play the system. One of the worst examples being a man who spends it on a few bottles of vintage brandy a month I'm going to stop now or i'll go into major psycho rant and rave mode . HEAD-WALL-BANG AGAINST REPEATEDLY - AARGH!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostsoul Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 I am getting some help from Joshua with my benefits. Maybe you could get some help and advice from him too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 The thing that really gets me with any kind of disability benefit is that you have to of earned enough during your time working to qualify. Well at just 23 even if I had worked full time up untill the age of twenty when things became impossible to work I may still not of met the critera. Seeing as how I had a child at 19 and had many mental health issues/social problems prior to that I have never been in a situation where I was capable of working for any period of time. But because I was so young and screwed up I didnt realise how much I needed help so my needs where never registerd. So now im forced to work in a shitty job for around 20 hours a week (all I can cope with) just to bring in enough to help support my family. If I could recieve some kind of financial help I could afford to take time out for therapy that is needed and gain qualification that I was unable to gain due to illness at the normal age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostsoul Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 that is so unfair lorna. god, if we don't qualify who the hell does? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calyps Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Other than Fraud, the biggest problem with the Benefits system is that the people who are entitled to financial help are the ones who don't get to hear about it. Remember 2 years ago when the Government introduced Pension Credits as a new form of Minimum Income Guarantee? EVERY pensioner in Britain was sent an application form. When I came out of hospital with no job and needing to pay rent, my social worker was useless as I was about what I was entitled to. I can be glad of this experience now because it probably makes me more compassionate in my job (I work in Housing and Council Tax benefits) and I appreciate more than my colleagues how difficult and antiquated the system is for those on the other side of the claim form. If you can't work because you do not have adequate mental or physical health there are benefits available in the uk if you fulfil certain criteria. I strongly recommend applying for everything going- it's up to the professionals to calculate whether they can help you or not, and receiving one benefit (eg, Income Support) can mean entitlement to other benefits such as Housing and Council Tax. There's a lot of form filling in to do which I think is specifically designed to put people off from applying. If you have a Social Worker or CPN they can help you, you can even go to CAB and appoint someone as your authority so you never even receive letters. In extreme cases it is possible to have someone from your Council visit you at home or hospital. This is the stuff that we need to know about, that and keeping any wageslips/bank statements/utility bills- which you will need to provide as proof. As my mother told me during a rare moment of kindness- 'members of your family have been paying taxes for years'. I can't profess to be a wealth of knowledge of all Benefits going, but I certainly know about filling forms, and hey, I have contacts, and I would be glad to help anyone here who's struggling with the beaurocratic bollox. Anwen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calyps Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Oh yeah, and I forgot to add... I was so annoyed after I read the original post, I emailed Tony Blair. I hope he's scared now... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lille_eskimit Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Oh yeah, and I forgot to add... I was so annoyed after I read the original post, I emailed Tony Blair. I hope he's scared now... Wahey! Good for you!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 out of curiosity how do you e mail him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calyps Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 go to www.number-10.gov.uk and follow the instructions. I can't guarantee you won't be put on a list... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lille_eskimit Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 You'll have MI5 coming after you now!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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