FAQs

We offer a range of services including counselling, support groups, peer support, life skills courses, physical activity and creative groups. We work on three themes:

Prevention

We provide a variety of mental health training including mental health training in the workplace, along with awareness talks in the community including organisations and schools.

Social Support

To reduce social isolation we provide a range of social groups including: art and craft, creative writing, music, drama, peer support, men’s groups, women’s groups, young people’s groups and more.

Recovery

We offer a range of services to support with recovery including: counselling, life skills courses which are CBT based courses on how to manage anxiety, depression, anger and self esteem. We have also recently launched a project called Get Set to Go with National Mind. This project offers 12 week physical activity courses including yoga, swimming, cycling, football and Nordic walking to help people get back into exercise to not only improve their physical health but their mental health.

We understand that everyone is different and provide person-centred support to ensure your recovery is supported your way. We aim to give you the tools to help you build the resilience and confidence to improve your wellbeing.

We are a Local Mind Association (LMA) that is affiliated to the national charity Mind. This means we are financially independent of national Mind and other LMAs. We do receive some money from national Mind but this is project-specific. We are primarily funded by donations from local businesses, organisations, community groups and individuals as well as external grants, such as local councils and Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust on a variety of projects including social support groups. We carry Mind branding and we are the proud owners of a Mind Quality Mark (MQM) which means we offer quality services and facilities.

To access our services you will have to fill out a support form. You can fill one out on our website, have one posted to you (please request by phone or email) or meet one of our access workers at an event or job centre who can complete the form with you. You can self-refer or refer someone else.

We will then process your referral; this will take about 3 weeks. Once we have processed your form we will contact you to arrange an assessment with a Project Officer – this is just a one-to-one chat about how we can support you. After this you are free and welcome to attend any of the services you have agreed to with the Project officer.

St Albans

Social support services are based on the ground floor and we can accommodate counselling on the ground floor if you are not able to use the stairs. Please do notify us before your session so we can accommodate you.

Stevenage

Unfortunately our services are all upstairs, however we offer an outreach programme in North Herts so we can come and meet you in the community at a café or community space.

Hertford

Our office in Hertford again has stairs with no access to a lift, however we offer services in Sele Farm Community Centre every Wednesday which is disabled friendly.

Welwyn Garden City

We are located on the third floor but there are lifts and disabled toilets within Campus West.

Currently we support anyone who is aged 16 and above – there is no upper age limit.

We would like you to be open and honest about your criminal convictions. We will assess your suitability for our services through our initial assessment. We do not automatically turn people away for having a criminal conviction.

We will always respect your personal information and privacy. For more detail about confidentiality please read our Privacy Policy.

Yes. You are more than welcome to access services such as the NHS IAPT Wellbeing Team alongside Mind in Mid Herts. If you are under the care of HPFT’s mental health services we just require a further risk assessment before you can access our services.

Many of our services are ongoing. You can access a variety of services whether you would like short term or long term support.

We never allow finance to be a barrier to access. Groups typically cost £2 per session. Life Skills costs £20 for a 6 week course. Counselling costs depend on your annual income. You can discuss financial arrangements with a Project Officer during your initial assessment.

You can phone any of our centres, you can find the numbers for each centre under the ‘Support for you’ tab. We recommend calling either our St Albans or Stevenage office as they have dedicated administrative staff and are open Monday – Friday.
For general enquiries you can also email: [email protected]

We have centres in St Albans on Hatfield road, Stevenage near the Bus Station, Campus West in Welwyn Garden City and in the Seed Warehouse in Hertford.

We would love for you to volunteer with us! There are lots of different roles you can take on as well, for more information, click here.

Your donations help us provide our services and help more people across Hertfordshire. For further information about how to donate or fundraise for us, take a look at our pages.

You can keep track of everything we do via our social media. We have accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so join us and spread the word!

Keep an eye on this website for more information, blogs and latest news.