CPSL Mind on World Mental Health Day 2026

World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health, encourage conversations and help reduce the stigma that can stop people from asking for support. But it’s also an opportunity to think about what needs to change and how we can make sure people get the support they need, when they need it.

At CPSL Mind, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to feel seen, heard and supported. We know that reaching out for help can be difficult, particularly when someone is already struggling, which is why accessible, welcoming and timely support is so important.

This year, we launched our new strategy, Time for Action – Together for Mental Health. It sets out our commitment to working together with people and communities to create positive change across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire.

A key part of this is listening to people with lived experience and making sure their voices help shape the future of mental health support.

This World Mental Health Day, we’re also supporting Mind’s See Me Now campaign, which is calling for a mental health system based on same-day open access. The campaign is about making sure that when someone reaches out for help, they feel seen, taken seriously and supported.

Alongside this, the World Health Organisation’s theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”. It highlights the importance of listening to people who have experienced mental health challenges and recognising the insight they can bring to shaping better support.

The experiences of the people we support show why all of this matters.

Finding Hope Through Connection

Belle shares how accessing CPSL Mind services helped her through a difficult period in her life and eventually led her to become a volunteer.

“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 me and I really got to know myself again. I began volunteering and my lived experience was recognised, and it was valued. With the training I was given, I was able to give back to that community.”

Belle’s experience shows how important it can be to have somewhere you can go, people you can talk to and a community where you feel welcome.

Our Good Mood Cafes provide a safe and welcoming space where people can connect with others, talk about how they’re feeling and access support in their local community.

For some people, simply knowing there is somewhere they can turn to can be the first step towards feeling less alone.

Finding Support at the Right Time

Hattie first accessed CPSL Mind’s Good Mood Cafes following the Covid-19 pandemic, at a time when she was feeling low and isolated.

“My first contact with CPSL Mind was around 5 years ago. At this point in my life, I was feeling really low and really isolated as Covid had just ended, and I felt like I didn’t have any support around me. I found CPSL Mind’s Good Mood Cafes and I felt like this was a really good opportunity to get some support in my local area on the same day.”

For Hattie, being able to find local support when she needed it made a real difference. Her experience reflects the importance of making mental health support accessible and available at the point people reach out.

She now supports CPSL Mind’s Time for Action – Together for Mental Health strategy and believes that people should be able to get the support that’s right for them, when they need it.

Her experience connects closely with Mind’s See Me Now campaign and its call for same-day open access to mental health support.

When Support Comes at the Right Moment

Nick also experienced the difference that timely support can make.

“CPSL Mind came into my life at just the right time. I was in a very dark place. My GP referred me to CPSL Mind, and they got involved incredibly quickly. I was shocked at how soon they managed to get on the phone to me and provide ongoing support. Now I’m in a much better place, and I don’t know where I’d be without them.”

Nick’s experience shows why the first response to someone asking for help matters. Being able to speak to someone quickly and then access ongoing support can provide reassurance and a starting point when someone is struggling.

This is at the heart of the See Me Now campaign. It’s about creating a future where people don’t have to wait until they reach crisis point to be taken seriously or receive support.

Supporting Parents When They Need It Most

Mental health support needs to be accessible throughout every stage of life, including pregnancy and parenthood.

At CPSL Mind, we understand that becoming a parent can be rewarding, but it can also be overwhelming, emotional and isolating, particularly when someone is struggling with their mental health.

Our perinatal mental health services support parents during pregnancy and up to two years after birth.

Sam’s Story: “They were there when I needed it the most”

When Sam’s daughter Emily was born early and unexpectedly, things quickly became difficult.

“I filled in the form and within a day, I got a call from Alex on the team. She was so kind, calm and reassuring – it felt like someone finally understood. It can be scary talking about mental health and admitting you’re having a bit of a wobble, but she put me right at ease from the get-go.”

For Sam, that first contact came at a time when she felt alone and was looking for help. Being contacted within a day meant she quickly knew that someone had heard her and was there to support her.

She went on to attend Mindful Mums and complete the Mums Matter course, finding both practical support and a community of people who understood what she was experiencing.

Sam’s story is another example of why timely, compassionate mental health support matters. Sometimes, that first conversation can be the start of something that changes the direction of someone’s journey.

Supporting People Through Connection and Community

Across CPSL Mind, our services are designed to give people opportunities to access the right support for them, build connections and develop tools to look after their mental health and wellbeing.

Our Good Mood Cafes, peer support groups, workshops, tailored 1-2-1 support and a range of our other services are just some of the ways people can find support in their local communities.

These services reflect our commitment to ‘Time for Action – Together for Mental Health’: working alongside people with lived experience, communities and partners to make mental health support more accessible and responsive to people’s needs.

This is also where the World Health Organisation’s theme of “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change” comes in. The people who use our services have experiences, knowledge and insight that can help us understand what works and where things could be better.

Laura Breakwell, Peer and Volunteer Manager at CPSL Mind, said:

“For me, lived experience is so much more than a story. It brings understanding, insight and a perspective that can’t be learned through training alone. Our peer mentors and community volunteers use their own experiences every day to connect with others, reduce feelings of isolation and offer hope. When we genuinely listen and create space for people’s voices to be heard we can shape services that better meet the needs of those who use them. Real change starts with listening.”

For Nikki, her own experience of accessing CPSL Mind has gone on to shape the support she now provides to others.

“I joined a peer support group, and for the first time in my life, I felt truly seen and heard. I was then asked if I’d like to volunteer, and I jumped at the chance. I now help run peer support groups and some of the Good Mood Cafes, and have even co-facilitated wellbeing workshops.

To be able to co-facilitate the very peer support group that started my journey is incredibly meaningful. It feels like I’ve finally found the place I’ve been searching for all my life.”

Nikki’s experience is an example of how lived experience can become part of the support offered to others, helping to shape services through understanding that comes from having been there yourself.

Supporting Mind’s See Me Now Campaign

This World Mental Health Day, we’re proud to support Mind’s national See Me Now campaign.

The campaign is calling for a transformation in the way mental health support is accessed, with same-day open access at its heart.

Everyone should be able to reach out for mental health support and feel seen, taken seriously and supported. The first conversation should be accessible and timely, helping people get the right support rather than being left waiting until their mental health deteriorates further.

The stories shared in this blog show what this can mean in practice.

For Hattie, it meant finding a local Good Mood Cafe on the same day she was looking for support.

For Nick, it meant receiving a phone call quickly after his GP referral, followed by ongoing support.

For Sam, it meant receiving a call within a day at a time when she felt alone and desperately needed help.

For Belle, finding a welcoming community gave her a sense of connection and belonging that she had been missing.

And for Nikki, her experience of accessing support led her to use her own lived experience to support others.

These experiences are different, but they share something important: support was there when it mattered.

Time for Action: Together for Mental Health

Our new strategy, Time for Action – Together for Mental Health, reflects our belief that improving mental health support requires all of us to work together.

It means listening to people with lived experience, working alongside communities and taking action to make mental health support more accessible, inclusive and responsive.

We want to see a future where asking for help is met with a timely, compassionate response. Where people feel comfortable reaching out before they reach crisis point. And where everyone knows that they don’t have to face a mental health problem alone.

This World Mental Health Day, let’s listen to people’s experiences, learn from them and turn what we hear into action.

Because when people are seen, heard and supported, change becomes possible.

How CPSL Mind Can Help

Whether you’re looking for support for yourself or somebody you know, CPSL Mind offers a range of services across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire.

Visit cpslmind.org.uk for further information, or contact us on 0330 303 4363 / enquiries@cpslmind.org.uk