Support can take many forms – and one of the best is mutual support. At SMHF people support each other through day to day contact, through Intentional Peer Support and groups for people who hear voices. We are outward looking and try to establish contact with new people through our relationships with social work teams, GPs and the local Mental Health Trust.

Underlying all that we do is a set of values that puts people first. We aim to be member led, to provide a safe and supportive environment where people can take steps to build up their own wellbeing.

On Saturday 6th December 2014, a new phoneline opened. Sutton Hopeline is for people in Sutton experiencing mental distress. It is open from 8pm until 11.30pm on Saturday and Sunday evenings and is staffed by our Intentional Peer Support Workers.

SMHF offer a range of support services in mental health for a range of people in our local community.

Sutton Hopeline was set up as Sutton Mental Health Foundation identified through testimonials from people with experience of emotional distress or mental ill health that weekend evenings are a difficult time to get through for many

Working on the model devised by Shery Mead, we have trained a number of people who use mental health services in Sutton as Intentional Peer Support Workers helping support people in in our local community.

We use the term “hearing voices” as a convenience, but it encompasses a whole spectrum of hearing voices and noises, seeing and feeling things that other people cannot. In psychiatric terms these are called hallucinations...