Securing the future of a rural mental health charity

More than a safe space

Caithness Mental Health Support Group provides a unique and essential service within one of the most remote communities in Scotland. Operating from welcoming hubs in Thurso and Wick, they offer more than just a safe space. They provide structure, purpose, and a sense of belonging to those facing mental health challenges and social isolation.

For many people, visiting the centres each day is the difference between stability and decline. The organisation offers routine, meaningful connection, peer support, structured activities, signposting to services, and the kind of emotional support that is often hard to find elsewhere. Open 365 days a year, what truly sets them apart is the sense of family and community.

When we began working together, the charity was entering a new phase of leadership while navigating the ripple effects of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Funding was precarious, and the organisation needed support to rethink how it operated and generated income to survive.

Challenges

Rural and remote communities face particular challenges when it comes to mental health support. People may live far from services, public transport is limited, and the isolation that comes with rural life can compound mental health difficulties.

Caithness Mental Health Support Group understood these challenges deeply, but the organisation needed support to translate its grassroots knowledge into a sustainable model. Without a clear strategy and stable funding, there was a real risk the charity would have to close its doors.

What we did

Over 14 months, we worked alongside the board, staff, and service users to deliver a strategic sustainability programme.

Income generation: We wrote and secured just over £300,000 of new income through successful grant applications, more than doubling their annual funding. We supported the team with reporting back to funders and mentored staff on strategic grant writing for future fundraising.

Strategy and sustainability: We delivered a strategy and sustainability report, held focus groups with staff at both sites, and worked with existing and potential new service users to co-develop ideas and solutions. A big part of our work was making sure the organisation was building itself not just for those already accessing services, but for future needs, complexity, and issues too. We developed outcome tools for capturing the impact of services, created a community and partner engagement plan, and reviewed and modelled financials to inform future possibilities.

Change management and leadership support: We supported the onboarding of the new leadership team, developed workplans, and provided fortnightly (then monthly) strategy coaching and mentoring sessions. We helped the team learn how to be more operationally stable, make the manager role financially sustainable, and build for succession planning. We also created deeper connections with three partner organisations across the Highlands.

Designing innovative projects: Working with managers, we developed new community-driven projects to meet emerging needs, including a Recovery Outreach Worker role employing someone with lived experience of substance use to provide one-to-one support and harm reduction planning; "Weekenders: Wellness when you need it" offering enriched support at weekends through art sessions and recreational therapy in the community; and "Community Top-Up Sessions" providing daily lunchtime drop-ins with access to mental health workers, benefits advice, warm spaces, hot meals, food bank referrals, peer support, and connections to employment and volunteering.

"They built rapport, empathy and trust with the utmost of ease. They were mindful of our needs and limitations, and extremely perceptive as our working relationship developed." — Manager, Caithness Mental Health Support Group

How we made a difference

It was a close call, but the organisation is now set up for the future. By combining strategy development with practical income generation support, we helped the charity move from uncertainty to stability.

The new projects reflect the realities of rural life in Caithness, meeting people where they are and responding to the increased pressures of the cost of living crisis. We helped increase staff salaries in line with cost of living and skill profiles, and developed a business plan to guide the organisation forward.

Our goal is always to leave organisations stronger and more confident once we leave. There is now a real sense of people across the community wanting to help the organisation succeed.

"Without them, I genuinely feel that I would not only have struggled with the successful delivery of these projects, but dare I say, they kept me sane by showing me there was a clear way of doing things and that everything would be okay." — Manager, Caithness Mental Health Support Group

Results

The charity secured just over £300,000 in new funding, more than doubling their annual income and providing breathing space to plan for the future. The team now has a clear strategy, new services designed to meet community needs, and the confidence to continue their vital work.

Most importantly, Caithness Mental Health Support Group can keep its doors open for the community that depends on it.

Manager, Caithness Mental Health Support Group: “Above all, they far exceeded my expectations in regard to the amount of grant funding that they successfully got for our organisation. Their support was not only professional, polite and efficient, but more importantly, personal, friendly and timely. I never felt that I was on my own. They taught me a great deal of how things worked. Thank you.”

Habitus has a track record of helping grassroots organisations secure their futures through strategy development, income generation, and leadership support. If you are a small charity facing uncertain funding, navigating leadership change, or looking to develop new services to meet community needs, get in touch.