Our Story

Shropshire Mind Established

Founded initially in Wellington, Telford as Shropshire Mind, we began championing mental health wellbeing, reducing stigma, and providing free support across Shropshire.

A New Chapter of Independence

To focus on local provision and allow for greater autonomy, Shropshire Mind de-affiliated with National Mind. Shropshire Mind rebranded with a new logo and green and purple colour scheme.

Community-Based Mental Health Support

With a small but dedicated team of staff and volunteers we opened 7 days a week delivering daytime drop-in services, support groups, and telephone support.

Launch of Shropshire Sanctuary

Working with the emergency services, Samaritans, British Transport Police and Shropshire Council, we launched the acclaimed and multi award-winning out-of-hours crisis service called Shropshire Sanctuary. This free mental health support service began offering a holistic and person-centred support, whilst alleviating pressures on the emergency services.

Expansion of Specialist Services

We launched an Outreach Support Service and opened our first Shrewsbury Calmer Café, expanding access to community-based mental health support.

Became an Independent Charity

We transitioned from the national Mind network (Shropshire Mind) to become an independent charity (Shropshire MHS), which enabled us greater flexibility to develop specialist services and improve accessibility across rural communities.

Commissioned for Bereavement Support

Shropshire MHS was commissioned to deliver the Bereavement service by Public Health Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. The service continues to deliver this invaluable service to those who suffer a sudden or unexpected loss.

Supporting a Rural County

To meet the needs of public demand in our rural county, we purchased an old British Rail command and control vehicle to begin offering mobile support. The success of the service led to a brand new vehicle being purchased in 2024. This mobile support reaches over 2,000 people per year, in the hardest to reach areas of Shropshire.

Launch of SASH Supported Housing

We welcomed a brand new service which holistically complimented our existing services; SASH (Shropshire Association for Supported Housing). Providing safe and stable accommodation for people experiencing mental health challenges.

A New Partnership and Growing Services

From April 1st, we started delivering of the mental health support element of Shropshire Council’s SWANN (Shropshire Wellbeing and Navigation Network).

This year, our team grew to 96 staff and volunteers and our services now include: 24-hour support line, volunteer-led peer support groups, Calmer Cafés across eight locations, mobile wellbeing vehicle, outreach and crisis support services, bereavement support, and trauma-informed SWaRS service.