A whopping windfall Lotto grant of £168,200 will help a community-led group to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people, families and older people experiencing isolation and anxiety.

Caring Town in Totnes was founded by Carole Whitty, Frances Northrop, and Bob Alford in 2013 when they realised budget cuts could mean a tougher time for vulnerable members of the community.

The trio invited local statutory and voluntary health and wellbeing services to work together to enable greater communication, collaboration, and ideas-sharing, with the aim of making Totnes an even more ‘caring town.’

Since then, the organisation has formed the Caring Town network of health and wellbeing organisations; created multi-disciplinary working groups to address key issues of homelessness and safeguarding young people; completed a social prescribing trial in local surgeries; and developed a ‘help in hard times’ guide and an online directory of all local services for public use.

It has also staged annual public events to connect local people with local services; developed an adolescent mental health support project called Space to Talk; launched a ‘youth can make a difference’ forum; worked with the CVS (Council for Voluntary Service) to support more people into volunteering; and developed a business plan to hold our work moving forward and support fundraising.

Now, thanks to the grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, Caring Town will build on its enabling work and drive a community-led response, raising awareness across the community around mental health, including collaborative events that aim to demystify and de-stigmatise these issues.

The group will be able to press on with plans to introduce support sessions for the parents and carers of children and young people struggling with their mental health and wellbeing, with the aim of helping them build relationships with others experiencing the same challenges and enable them to develop their own support network.

Carole said: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way.

“The pandemic has reinforced the need for more support for mental health for young people, their families and across the wider community and we know how much that support is needed here.

“Now, thanks to National Lottery players, together with our many fantastic, dynamic local partners we will be able to extend and enhance the current level of support over the next three years. Working in collaboration across our community we will be working hard to make a positive and tangible difference.”

Liz Waterson, licensed lay minister at Totnes Team Ministry and co-ordinator with Totnes Street Pastors said: “The networking and information sharing has proved invaluable both to the work of the street pastors out on the streets on Friday nights and to the pastoral work of Totnes Team within the community.

“Even more important is the sense of cohesion that Caring Town has brought to all those working to improve our community whether in the voluntary or statutory sector.”

Simon Dyer, director of Resilient Lives in Totnes, added: “It’s so exciting that Caring Town has secured this funding, and can now push on with bringing all the amazing organisations in this town together with a common focus on improving the wellbeing of our community.

“We at Resilient Lives are proud to be involved in this project.”