Oliver Townsend has been part of campaigns to protect housing support funding for almost a decade. Now, as many in the sector are warning things are harder than they've ever seen, he reflects on whether we can hold onto hope.

“I feel that I cannot win. I feel I have no agency. My trauma is belittled. Mental health professionals have labelled me as manipulative, demonstrative, childlike, badly behaved, more difficult than others,  and less deserving of care.” …

You may have seen us and other charities and organisations campaigning around the Housing Support Grant. If the Welsh Government has to reduce this funding in the December budget, the consequences for homelessness services…

The announcement of upcoming budget cuts in Wales is a painful situation with no single solution. What is clear is more cuts will deepen further the costs to our mental and physical health here in Wales. The affect will have lasting effects for generations.

Jen Daffin reflects on the recent Bevan Commission conference, and how solving the problems faced by the NHS will take more than just trying harder.

At Platfform, we believe hope is a way of being, a process. It is why we are excited that we have received funding from the Moondance Foundation for two years of a ground-breaking project in the Caerphilly area.

We have outgrown the story that people having a tough time with their mental health are just experiencing the fate of biology, genetic potluck and lacking ‘personal resilience’. If we understand that distress and mental health is not rooted in disease and pathology then it makes no sense to construct our understanding from this starting point.

This is why we believe change urgently needs to happen - to bring about an evolution in how we understand and respond to mental health.

Read the latest blog from Ewan, CEO at Platfform.