A vital service offering help to those in crisis has celebrated its first anniversary.
The Sanctuary Crisis Hub CIC at Yeates Corner, Portland, offers a free, face to face service for those experiencing crisis, depression, anxiety, and other mental distress.
As a way of celebrating the milestone, volunteers and service users came together to have a party at the Cozy Corner wellbeing lounge.
The Cozy Corner wellbeing lounge ‘is set up like a living room with a fire, tables and chairs,’ and is a relaxing setting where activities are often hosted like crafts and ‘Lunch Buddies’ where people go along, get a meal and have a chat with others.
The service was founded by Izzy Sommers, 54, who is a qualified hypnotherapist, life coach, and therapist.
Ms Sommers explained that she created The Sanctuary because she also runs a private therapy practice on Portland and ‘has had lots of people coming in to see her which is when she realised that a lot of people couldn’t afford to be in therapy.’
She believes that it was unfair for people to be feeling low due to not having access to a service like The Sanctuary – so she set it up.
Ms Sommers said: “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without my incredible team of volunteers. It’s important for people to talk with someone who understands what they are going through.”
There are 10 volunteers who ‘all work incredibly hard,’ with the founder making a special mention of Jenny Foot and Sam Bowditch.
She explained that ‘the service is vital to its users with some saying, ‘I wouldn’t be here without it.’
The facility also receives referrals from GP’s, 111 and paramedics and has a dedicated phoneline.
The service is completely free and has received ‘a little pot of funding but not a lot.’
A variety of agencies also visit including Help and Kindness and Christians Against Poverty, who offer support and advice.
Additionally, there is a community shop which provides items like toiletries and cleaning products at reduced costs for those in need and at present, the CIC is even hosting a Christmas Toy Drive.
For more information, visit: https://www.sanctuarycrisishub.org.uk/.
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