Health service to pick up demand from folded mental health charity

Tuesday 20 August 2024

The island’s Mental Health service is set to take over the demand previously covered by a local charity which yesterday announced its “immediate” closure, the Health Minister has confirmed.

Deputy Tom Binet said he had been in discussion with Jersey Recovery College “on and off” since he came to office in February, and that he was “aware of their struggles”.

The charity's Board of Directors announced yesterday afternoon that JRC had been forced to close "with immediate effect" due to an increased demand on services, growing costs, and a reduction in income and donations.

JRC's mission was to "champion mental health through education", and the charity had helped more than 3,000 islanders since its inception in 2017 through free courses and workplace programmes.

Pictured: Health Minister Tom Binet said it was "very unfortunate" that JRC had closed.

Speaking to Express this morning, Deputy Binet said JRC's decision to close was "very unfortunate" but "with any small charity, it is always quite difficult".

"The model itself can be a strain when you have rent to pay and declining donations, but sometimes these things happen," he said.

A written question from July revealed that Deputy Binet's department spent over £14m on contracts with charitable and third sector organisations in 2023.

This included Jersey Recovery College, which received funding for the "provision of educational courses for people experiencing mental health issues and their carers".

The charity received a "direct award" on 1 January each year from 2021 to 2023. The 2024 funding figures are yet to be made public.

Pictured: Jersey Recovery College received a "direct award" from the Government on 1 January each year from 2021 to 2023. 

Express has asked the Government to confirm the total funding over this period, as the specific amounts given to each charity were deemed as "commercially sensitive" at the time.

Earlier this year, the response to a request made under the Freedom of Information Law revealed that donations made to Jersey charities plummeted by 33%  from £16.8 million in 2021 to £11.2 million in 2023.

Charity heads warned at the time that, if their organisations folded, their services could be picked up by the Government at a "significantly" higher cost to the taxpayer.

Deputy Binet added today that he spoke "regularly" with Andy Weir, Director of Mental Health and Adult Social Care, and confirmed that JRC's services "for the moment" would come through to the Mental Health Service "pending further discussion".

He added: "The main thing is to make sure there is some sort of continuity in the short term.

"We can then take our time to evaluate how those services are being delivered going forward.

"That could be to retain them within Mental Health, or to move them elsewhere."

On whether the already busy service could deal with this extra output, Deputy Binet said: "I think it can be managed by the Health service."