A WIRRAL mental health charity providing creative and accessible mental health and wellbeing support for young people has won a major award.

The Open Door Charity was chosen from more than 500 organisations across the UK as one of the 10 winners of the 2024 GSK IMPACT Awards, which are delivered in partnership with The King’s Fund.

Now in its 27th year, the awards are described as a mark of excellence in the charity sector, designed to recognise the outstanding work of small and medium-sized charities working to improve people’s health and wellbeing in the UK.

As an award winner, the Birkenhead-based charity will now receive £40,000 in unrestricted funding as well as expert support and leadership development provided by leading health and care charity, The King’s Fund. 

Commenting on the award win, Lee Pennington, charity director, said: "To receive this recognition represents a very important milestone in the Open Door Charity story.

"We have been on a significant growth trajectory since creating the Bloom Building in early 2019, which has culminated in us reaching a transformational crossroads in our development.

"We are on the edge of a very exciting future and to be recognised in this way, on a national level, is something which the team and I are very proud of.

"The award will go a long way in helping to foster the trust and public awareness that will be vital to us achieving our aims over the next few years."

The award judges commended the unique way Open Door Charity has broken down barriers for young people needing mental health support, such as long waiting times, needing a GP referral, off putting clinical environments and a lack of understanding of what someone is going through.

It uses art, music, and its environment as a catalyst for change, providing a range of services in a colourful and informal space. Young people can access these services for free and without a referral from a GP or other professional, and with no or minimal wait times.

The charity offers mental health support to young people aged 17-35 across Wirral and Merseyside. 

Its main programme is 'Bazaar', where a volunteer peer mentor, often someone of a similar age to the member and who is likely to have experienced mental health challenges either themselves or someone close to them, is matched with someone struggling with anxiety or low mood. They meet up in person once a week for eight weeks.

The programme blends aspects of cognitive behavioural therapy with mindfulness and positive psychology. Data collected by the charity showed that for 2022/23, the Bazaar programme supported almost 450 young people and led to a 50% reduction in stress and 43% reduction in symptoms of depression.

The judges also commented on the charity’s emotional resilience outreach programme, Colours, noting its’ particularly striking impact on young children in the local community, with those who completed the four-week programme showing a 40% reduction in stress levels.

Data collected by the charity shows it supported more than 1,000 young people in 2022/23 across their main programmes and around 8,000 people benefited from their arts, wellbeing, and cultural events in the community.

The award win comes at a time the charity is expanding with the development of the Joy a new wellbeing hub opening in 2025 that will help foster greater collaboration with the NHS and other mental health services.

Lisa Weaks, Senior Associate at The King’s Fund, said: "Open Door Charity is a pioneering organisation using arts and music to engage young people and reduce the stigma of mental health. Its ability to see young people quickly and effectively by self-referral is excellent.

"The charity's ethos of blending open access mental health support with creative activities is impressive, along with its ability to influence wider sector collaboration and the development of new services. It is a lynchpin in the local community."