Everyone at the Kelly Foundation has been touched by the tragedy of suicide. Each case represents an extreme consequence of poor mental health. We seek to support local people with mental health issues by listening and observing in order to understand and then to provide a bespoke support programme. This will typically include regular one-to-one sessions with our dedicated team, which includes Support Workers, Clinical Psychologist, Life Coach and Mentors. We will be on hand to help lead down an individual patheway to a healthier life.

Who We Are

The Kelly Foundation was founded in 2022 and is a registered charity that focuses on the Swindon area to provide a one-stop shop for adults experiencing short or long-term mental health problems. It is governed by a Board of Trustees

The Kelly Foundation has been established to help tackle mental health in the Swindon Community for anyone over the age of 18 years old. To offer support, general advocacy, counselling, life coaching and being a point of contact for those struggling with their mental health or needing assistance with getting their mental health assessed. With our dedicated team we will be on hand to help individuals on a personalised pathway to a better, healthier and happier life.

In the medium term we will also focus on social inclusion for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) by way of activities and events, which will encourage friendships and prevent loneliness with our 4Kelly (4K) Social Clubs.

Our Community

We are seeking to address inequalities in mental health provision. These largely relate to inequalities in society, the conditions in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age. It is the unequal distribution of the social determinants of health such as education, housing and employment that in turn drive inequalities in mental health. Nationally excess premature mortality rates are more than three times higher amongst those suffering mental illness compared to the general population.

The 2022 Swindon JSA Needs Assessment, demonstrated little progress has been made in reducing life expectancy gaps and for women it has widened.

According to the JSA report, there are 22,766 people in Swindon presently diagnosed with clinical depression of which 2000 have a diagnosis of severe mental health (SMI) There is a cohort in addition, largely unmeasured, who suffer low mood and acute anxiety.

There are 700 hospital admissions each year for self-harm incidents, on average 16 residents per year die from suicide - three quarters are men. Office of National Statistics records 52 deaths from suicide in the Swindon area from 2018-2020. Whilst this is a little lower than the national average it is still up 7.4% from recorded statistics during 2017-2019.

Further, a gap exists where young people transition from child mental health services, (often, but not exclusively provided by CAMHS), and move into adulthood at 18 where, in our experience, comprehensive support effectively disappears in all but the most extreme cases. The Kelly Foundation will try to prevent them falling through holes in the system.

We are committed to the Swindon Borough Council's Health and Wellbeing Strategy, with the aim "Everyone in Swindon lives a healthy, safe, fulfilling and independent life and is supported by thriving and connected communities."

What Drives Us

One in four of us will experience a mental health issue at some point in our lives. In reality, we are all only one life event away from it…… It could be a bereavement, a divorce, losing a job, or another trauma that has impacted our mental health. Some of us will suffer short term and others will suffer much longer. Those with longer-term mental health issues are more likely to experience stigma that attaches itself to those individuals with mental health disabilities. Mental health doesn't discriminate, it can happen to anyone …..young, older, wealthy, low income, male, female, disabled ….

In order for us to be able to lead a healthy and productive life we need good physical and mental health!

In our society, unless you have substantial financial means it is hard to find any practicable and available resources that will adopt a 'whole person' approach. This is a vital component in recovery from severe anxiety and depression and even low mood and social isolation. Further, we are determined to strive to add additional talking therapy resource to our community.

What We Do

Due to scarcity of resource, individuals with poor mental health do not receive the same access to NHS services or the quality of care as do people with physical illnesses. Further studies have shown that 75% of poor mental health can be traced in individuals before their 18th birthday, and worryingly, what support for adolescent mental health often ends at the transition, leaving the individuals potentially feeling further isolated.

Our work can be summarised under five headings:

Listen and Understand: GP surgeries are limited in the resources they can offer many of us and, given today's escalating costs of living, it's hard to afford to engage regularly and seriously with the private sector, especially when reliant on universal credit benefits. Listening and talking therapy can be a highly effective component, alongside medicines, if delivered within a structured and long-term plan.

Signpost: following listening and understanding, we will provide one-to-one coaching, alongside access to dietary and nutritional specialists, recovery groups, voluntary opportunities or even supported employment within an agreed personal wellness plans.

Deliver Practical Support: by liaising with the Department of Work and Pensions, the local Borough Council and other local agencies '4Kelly' will support non-medical needs of Service Users, as invariably it is despair relating to housing issues, relationships, or spiralling debt, which are acknowledged drivers of poor mental health.

Work Collaboratively: by working with parents, supportive family members, local agencies and employers, we will support Service Users in part-time or full-time work placements as part of a continuing and supported wellness plan.

Advocate: we will offer general advocacy, to ensure Service Users who are most vulnerable have their voices heard on issues that are important to them and their views and wishes are properly considered when decisions are made about their ongoing mental health.

We will engage, via drop-in sessions, vulnerable individuals and seek to make a difference to isolation and loneliness, which are well-known precursors to a decline in mental health. These drop-ins will be strategically located across North Swindon may also include 'parental support worker sessions' often a forgotten cohort in this epidemic.

Working collaboratively with 'Swindon Communities Together', we will be a catalyst for good links between community services at all levels and deliver improved mental well-being for our Service Users, via community outreach, then a person-centric approach.

Outcomes

We believe '4Kelly' can deliver measurable mental health improvement and emotional well-being strategies, which will enhance individuals resilience to life's challenges, ensuring individuals do not just cope but thrive in their communities. It is anticipated that intervention by '4Kelly' will reduce, in a modest way, the daily pressure on clinical services.

Can We Help You

We aim to offer you a 'one-stop support package', which is not time-limited. In working with us you will not need to go to multiple agencies for different services, see different individuals when accessing services or wait on lengthy waiting list for appointments. You will be able to access a dedicated support worker, a life coach, counsellor and volunteer support. You will see the same team, who will regularly deliver support as frequently as is required.

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