Time For Action: Together for Mental Health is grounded in evidence and shaped by the voices of people who have received support from CPSL Mind.
Key details in the new strategy include:
- Improving Access, Preventing Crisis: ensuring people are equipped to receive the right support at the right time.
- Strengthening Communities: building resilience and influencing systemic change.
- Shaping Systems: making mental health support work better for everyone.
Across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire many people struggle to get help early enough. Support can feel confusing and some communities face bigger barriers to accessing help. Too often, people only receive support when things reach crisis point.
CPSL Mind understands that mental health is influenced by everyday life – things like housing, work, money, relationships and loneliness. That’s why the charity want to shift the focus from reacting to problems to preventing them. Each year the charity supports more than 8,000 local people.
Around 1 in 5 adults live in our communities with a common mental health condition at any time and numbers are steadily rising (Minds Big Mental Health Report 2025). Suicide rates remain above the national average in Lincolnshire (ONS), while within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough the highest rates are seen in Fenland, with Peterborough also exceeding national average (Local Authority Public Health Profiles).
Peterborough faces disproportionately high levels of severe mental illness, depression diagnosis and self-harm hospital admissions compared to Cambridgeshire overall (NHS Digital). Mental Health need in Huntingdonshire is significant, with local estimates showing Huntingdonshire as having among the highest numbers of adults experiencing common mental health conditions in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (C&P Insight).
In South Lincolnshire, wider socioeconomic pressures, including loneliness, fuel poverty, low wages and insecure seasonal work are intensifying vulnerability (DWP).
Time For Action: Together for Mental Health is published alongside a new short film, which hears from members of the CPSL Mind staff and volunteer teams and people who have received support from the charity.
Watch our campaign video:
The launch is timely, taking place on Local Minds Week – an opportunity for local Mind charities to showcase the vital work they do in the community. The 100 local Mind charities across England and Wales are part of the Mind Federation but they are all independent charities and responsible for raising their own funds.
Ashley Bunn, Chief Executive Officer at CPSL Mind, said: “I am proud to introduce our 2026-2030 strategy, Time for Action: Together for Mental Health. I would like to thank everybody who has contributed to our strategy, helping us to shape what comes next for CPSL Mind.
“We are at a pivotal moment. Demand for mental health support is rising; needs are becoming more complex, and too many people still reach services only at the point of crisis. We face the challenge of doing more with less, whilst maintaining a relentless focus on delivering the best possible outcomes for the people of Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire. By working in partnership with health services, social care, local authorities and the wider VCSE sector, we can all challenge and strengthen the system, and each other, to deliver meaningful change. Thank you for supporting our #TimeForAction campaign – your backing helps us support more people in our communities and ensure no one faces a mental health challenge alone.”
In the short film, we hear from Belle who shares how accessing CPSL Mind services helped her overcome mental challenges. Her story is one of hope, resilience, and courage.
Belle says, “I found myself incredibly isolated and I don’t believe I had any belief or hope that things were going to change again. I walked into a Good Mood Cafe and there I found a community that I never knew how much I needed. I could just be and I really got to know myself again. I began volunteering and my lived experience was recognised, it was valued. With the training I was given, I was able to give back to that community.”
Nick accessed support through CPSL Mind’s Community Connector service, a service he was referred to by his GP.
Nick says, “CPSL Mind came into my life just at the right time. I was in a very dark place; I was ready to not be here truthfully. I had no choice but to open up to my GP, who referred me. CPSL Mind got involved really quick. I was shocked at how soon they got on the phone with me to help. The help I received from CPSL Mind has led me to the new life I have now. I regularly travel around the UK, climbing mountains, exploring, finding waterfalls. This new life is massively helped and exists because of things like CPSL Mind.”
CPSL Mind is encouraging people to back its #TimeForAction campaign by making a donation to the charity.
Support today, can change tomorrow.
Help people receive the right support at the right time.
By donating £10 you will help CPSL Mind to answer calls to its enquiries line, providing someone with vital support and information about help in their area.
A donation of £25 will help CPSL Mind to train more volunteers like Belle to support people in the community, such as the Good Mood Cafes. A £50 donation will help CPSL Mind to create new bespoke services to ensure the charity can continue to evolve and meet the needs of its diverse communities.
CPSL Mind believes that together, we can improve access, reduce crisis and build stronger, more resilient communities across our region.
To find out more about CPSL Mind’s services, including the Good Life Service, support for parents, and how to Get Help Now, visit: www.cpslmind.org.uk
May 26, 2026
