How your donations can make a difference this Christmas

Three people embracing eachother and smiling, surrounded by Christmas inspired DIY crafts.
  • £5 can buy crafting supplies for our popular craft peer support group.
  • £20 could fund a day of activities for people supported at our mental health rehabilitation hospital.
  • £50 could fund room hire for a peer support group, giving people with mental health challenges a safe and supportive space to connect with others.

What we do:

Donations during the festive season allow us to continue supporting adults over 18 in Devon to manage their mental health, achieve employment goals and live more independently. We work with people who may be experiencing mental health difficulties and/or disabilities and support them to fulfil their potential and lead happy, health lives. Every year we support up to 800 people to achieve their goals.

Although for many people the festive season is a happy time, this isn’t the case for all. For some people, the Christmas period can cause a decline in mental health. This can be especially detrimental for people with pre-existing mental health conditions. Therefore, it is especially important that accessible mental health resources are available to those who need it most all year round.

“Coming here has changed my life, two years ago i didn’t really leave my house, now i go out every day.”

“If you dont have anyone to talk to life can be very lonely, theres always good conversation here, and everyone is very welcome.”

How your donations make a difference:

  • Last Christmas we raised £640 which enabled the running of 12 BeWell@StepOne peer support groups.
  • Thanks to generous donations so far this year we have been able to expand the peer support groups offered by BeWell@StepOne to include wellbeing walks and yoga sessions.
  • A donation of as little as £1 can help us towards providing essential resources for groups and courses to run.
  • BeWell@StepOne offers a wide range of courses to help people manage their mental health at home, reducing the pressure on NHS waiting lists.
  • At the end of June 2023 1.75 million people were in contact with NHS mental health services across the UK – this equates to approximately 30,000 people in Devon.

Thank you for thinking of Step One Charity this festive season.

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