Members of The Bridge in Harrow are unhappy about council’s decision of reducing the size of the mental health centre with large parts of it replaced by a community kitchen. They also expressed concerns at the council’s approach of dealing with long-term mental health issues, with programmes at The Bridge for only a period of maximum of three months.
Lisa Hanna, who used to spend most of her time at the centre when the whole building was open, said this is no longer an option.
“Some people have long-term mental health illnesses, but the council doesn’t seem to understand that. Before the pandemic, you could arrive at 9.30am and leave at 4pm. Or there was a drop-in counselling service.”
“Now you get an hour a day, it has to be in groups, and we’re told we can only have access for three months at a time. We’re constantly told to ‘pull ourselves together’, but not everyone can just do that. It’s as if about 150 people have just been abandoned”, she said.
