First Wiltshire women's mental health crisis home opens

A women's-only mental health crisis house, the first in its mental health trust, has opened, providing a space where users can seek support in a community setting.

Oriana House, owned by the Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health NHS Partnership Trust (AWP) and run by the charities Missing Link and Alabaré, opened on Wednesday in the Old Town area of Swindon.

The partnership says the house will help women by providing a "pathway to longer-term wellbeing" in a safe, and supportive space as an alternative to being admitted to hospital.

Matthew Page, AWP's chief operating officer & deputy chief executive, said: "I just feel overwhelmed that people have achieved such a brilliant thing."

"For too long we've worked on an assumption in society that mental health care is something that one organisation does," Page added.

"But all the evidence shows when we collaborate, we provide more inclusive services to people who might not otherwise be able to access services."

The house has full disabled access and four individual bedrooms, with the intention that guests stay for around seven to 10 days as they receive support.

It includes a sensory room, a lounge area and a garden area, with users able to take part in wellbeing activities such as cooking, arts and crafts.

Sam Hanks previously received support from Alabaré at a separate house, and was part of a group that contributed to designing the programme at Oriana.

"It's really important that people who have used the services have a voice in how they're shaped," she said.

"Walking into a room that felt like a bedroom, with a pillow, a chair and a lamp, is so different to a hospital environment that you immediately let a bit of that guard down."

She also said that having previous spent time on a mixed gender mental health ward that could be "noisy or violent," it was important women had their own space.

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