Bristol Mind

Who We Help, Why We Help & the Difference It Makes

What We Do

Bristol Mind is a mental health resource for people in Bristol and surrounding areas providing:

(please click on the green links for further details)

A wide range of advocacy services

• Outreach advocacy service  To meet with an advocate, please come to one of our weekly drop-in sessions, or if this is not possible, phone to make an appointment. We can make home visits if you are unable to come to meet us. It is likely that the earliest time you would be able to see an advocate is at a Drop-in.
• Bristol Law Clinic  Bristol Mind has formed a partnership with the University of Bristol Law Clinic to provide access to free support for a wide range of legal problems and issues.

  Please contact the Outreach Advocacy service on 0117 9800376 if you would like to help with a legal problem. We will support you to access the Law Clinic. 

• Hate crime service If you have been a victim of, or have witnessed a hate crime, please report it and make your community safer! Report to:  Bristol Hate Crime Service Freephone:  0800 171 2271 Email: [email protected] In an emergency, please call the police:  999

• Advocacy in hospital It can be hard to tell people you are concerned about your treatment while you are in hospital or while using any other mental health service.

  Advocacy gives you the opportunity talk things through with an independent person. 

• Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) provides an independent advocate to support and represent people facing certain significant decisions. These decisions will normally relate to long-term accommodation moves or serious medical treatment.
• Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) Bristol Mind provides this service to people detained under the Mental Health Act in Bristol, or those who are subject to its powers under Community Treatment Orders or Guardianship.
• DOLS Service Bristol Mind provides the Paid Representative role for all people, placed by Bristol City Council, who are under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards in Bristol and have no representative.
• BME Advocacy this service will provide inpatient and community based advocacy to people from Black and/or Minority Ethnic communities. The service is specifically aimed at people from BME communities who are experiencing severe and enduring mental/emotional distress.

Information services

• Information and signposting service
• Useful information – webpages

Wellbeing services

• MindLine helpline 0808 808 0330  (Wed-Sun, 8pm to midnight)
• MindLine Trans+ 0300 330 5468 (Mon and Fri, 8pm to midnight)
• MindLine/Mothers for Mothers – REACH peri-natal support helpline  0117 935 9366 (Sat and Sun, 8pm to midnight)
• Mind Without Borders  is an ongoing commitment by Bristol Mind to reach out to wider communities living here in our city. We celebrate difference and see that others whose background and culture may not be the same as ours, can enhance our life and own experiences by being alongside each other. We recognise that many have come in need of refuge, and our aim is to help those people’s mental wellbeing in whatever way we can.
  

Bristol Mind are pleased to host the following groups:

• Battle Against Tranquillisers Wednesday 6pm to 7.30pm
• Bristol Adults with ADHD second Friday of the month, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
• Bristol Survivors’ Network  last Thursday of the month 6.30pm to 8.30 pm
• Social Anxiety Bristol  two Thursdays a month at 7pm
• SISH – Self Injury Self Help Men’s and Women’s Group (18+) meets Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:00 PM

Counselling

Please note that we unfortunately have no sessions currently available within our general counselling service or our LGBTQ+ counselling service at this time.

If you would like to explore other counselling services in the area, please click on the link below

With a limited number of affordable counselling services available and waiting lists increasing, Bristol Mind are pleased to be able to offer a reduced fee counselling service to residents of the Bristol area.

Our team of therapists and trainee counsellors provide one-to-one therapy for adults over the age of 18 at an affordable rate dependent on disposable household income.  We offer up to 16 weeks (4 months) of counselling, with some scope to extend this where appropriate and following discussion with your counsellor.

Find out about our Meetings Minds counselling service

Find out about our Meeting Minds LGBTQ+ counselling service

For other/specialist counselling, please see our pages of other counselling services

We recognise that each individual is a resource for their own recovery. Many of our workers, volunteers and trustees have themselves experienced  the impact of emotional and mental distress.

Volunteer

Help promote our services

Download our MindLine Trans+ or MindLine flyers and stick them up in your local library, pub, GP, public notice board… anything you can do to help promote MindLine will only help to get the word out to more people who may need that extra space to talk and the emotional support the helpline can bring.

Volunteer for us

You can volunteer to work on our MindLine telephone helpline, or on our MindLine Trans+, or as an advocate helping people get their views heard, or in our office dealing with enquiries. We could not provide our services without the continued commitment of volunteers.

Please see here for more details

Work for us

Please see here for details of current vacancies

Fundraising

Bristol Mind wouldn’t be able to continue to advance with our mission to raise awareness, reduce stigma and promote positive emotional wellbeing if it weren’t for the generous donations that we receive. With the help of fundraising our projects are able to continue to educate, support and encourage better understanding of mental health conditions.

We recognise all the effort that our fundraisers make in supporting Bristol Mind and on behalf of staff, volunteers and trustees we say THANK YOU!

Looking for inspiration? Our Fundraising Pack has information about Bristol Mind, ways the donations we receive are used as well as fundraising ideas.

If you are fundraising for Bristol Mind and are happy for us to spread the word, please send us your story, pictures and details of the event so that we can post it on our website. This can be sent to [email protected] 

Community Trail