The organisation tasked with stamping out mental health discrimination has hit out at misinformation amid a row over plans for a mental wellbeing cafe in Kilmarnock.
Wendy Halliday, the director of See Me, Scotland’s programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination, said that misinformation campaigns hit the people who need help.
The team behind the Kilmarnock Station Community Village have also hit back at objections to their plans to turn Howard Park’s Old Men’s Cabin into a Wellbeing Cafe with counselling for people with common mild to moderate mental health issues.
Ms Halliday said: “With so many people finding things tough just now, it’s great to hear about new a community-based mental health support service being planned in Kilmarnock.
“While awareness around mental health has improved in recent years, we know that stigma still exists.
“Misinformation and misunderstanding about mental health and mental health problems can be some of the biggest barriers that people face when it comes to getting help and support.”
Allan Brown, a trustee of Kilmarnock Station Railway Heritage Trust (KSRHT), has spent the best part of a decade working to help transform Kilmarnock train station and, more importantly, people’s lives.
The opportunity to expand on the success of the work at the station in the positive surroundings of Howard Park was seen as a way to build on those efforts.
The KSRHT invited the Local Democracy Reporting Service to see how the trust had turned an area that had become a haven for anti-social behaviour into a gathering place and support hub for local people.
It is far removed from the claims made by the anonymous objector, who launched a campaign against the move, including stating that the rooms at the station were ‘mostly vacant’.
The council and trust have both slammed this ‘misinformation’ and are adamant that the claims that the project would deal with extreme cases, addictions and ex offenders as inaccurate and malicious.
The model the trust runs is key to their success, says Allan, both in terms of attracting people who may not otherwise seek help and creating a sustainable model relying less on grants and donations.
Community is the overarching priority. Every group who makes use of the rooms at the hub is able to feed into the wellbeing and counselling aspect.
The introduction and expansion of the tabletop gaming centre and bakery means that many locals simply come to enjoy a cuppa or enjoy the social aspect of gaming.
For many, this alone helps to foster their wellbeing. Others have found a way to find support, being signposted towards the services available there.
The trust are also one of the main providers of counselling through East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership.
The trust has also pointed out that rehabilitation support for ex-offenders related to a past programme at the station which is no longer in place.
Allan and team said that the Howard Park plans were very clear and would not create any risk for park users.
He said: “It is for mild to moderate mental health issues, the type of things that are affecting more and more people and have been exacerbated by the pandemic and cost of living crisis.
“People are realising more and more about the impact of loneliness, anxiety and isolation.
“The medical profession has also realised that these are not always best dealt with in a clinical setting.
“Social prescribing is about improving wellbeing through social activities, encouraging them to become more active, provide opportunities for them to socialise and get out of the house.
“This is where we come in. We have created a social space, without the stigma that has been a long standing barrier to people seeking help.
“A lot of this is preventative, which has never been more important than now, with the health service under such pressure.
“The Howard Park project is an extension of this aspect of our work. People go to the park because the surroundings help them feel better.
“That in itself will help people who are struggling with mild to moderate issues such as depression, loneliness and anxiety.
“We have been making inroads towards reducing the stigma that is attached to mental health. However, campaigns like this take us in the wrong direction.
“This stigma can exacerbate the problem or even prevent people from seeking the help they need.
“It is only made worse by the fact that some people are willing to mislead others into believing those misconceptions.”
There are currently more than 40 counsellors working with the trust. They can deal with two dozen cases a day at the station village.
The trust say that this has been the result of an increase in the number of people facing mental health issues, in the wake of the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.
The Director General of Health and Social Care states the one in three Scots faces mental illness at some stage every year.
The specific impact of the cost of living crisis has also been assessed by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), which reported that one in six adults experienced moderate to severe depression each year, with higher rates in those who were long term sick (59 per cent), unpaid carers (37 per cent), and disabled adults (35 per cent).
A quarter of people who were finding it difficult to pay energy bills experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms compared to nine percent who found it easier.
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