Member Article

Hall Green Wellbeing Hub Opens to Offer Much Needed Support to the Local Community

One of Birmingham’s leading mental health organisations – Living Well Consortium – has today opened a dedicated wellbeing hub in Hall Green, Birmingham. grounded. is the second site by the same name in Birmingham, with the maiden project - a wellbeing café in Selly Oak - having launched in 2023. The wellbeing hub offers visitors a safe, accessible and non-intimidating place to discuss mental health options available to them, refer themselves for talking therapies, and attend wellbeing workshops and therapies.

With funding from NHS England, the second addition to Living Well Consortium’s roster of wellbeing hubs, grounded. Hall Green, has officially opened to the public today, Monday 15 January – on what is said to be the gloomiest day of the year, Blue Monday. The hub, which is located at 1043 Stratford Road, Hall Green, will differ slightly from the café model of its successful predecessor, instead acting as an information, education and workshop centre; with activities such as anger management classes, yoga and stress workshops on offer from February.

In addition to these workshops and events, visitors can expect a welcoming, safe place to discuss options for mental health support with a registered therapeutic mentor, all with the key aim of improving mental wellbeing, removing the stigma around mental health and bringing the community together.

Plans for this new wellbeing hub come after the success of Living Well Consortium’s maiden project – grounded. Selly Oak. The first-of-its-kind wellbeing café was launched with the aim of serving the residential population of the local area, offering visitors a place to relax, recover, and recoup. Since launching in September 2023, the wellbeing café has offered students and residents alike much needed mental health support, as well as community spirit and the chance to interact with one another – which they may otherwise not be exposed to.

On the launch of their new wellbeing hub, Ben Howells, Chief Executive Officer at Living Well Consortium, comments:

“According to recent NHS data, Hall Green has some of the lowest numbers of people in mental health care in the region. By opening this site in the heart of the community, we hope to empower the local and wider population with mental health needs and queries to share their concerns, providing them with the right information and signposting in a calming, warm environment.

“Living Well Consortium has always been dedicated to offering the most effective and accessible solutions for mental health support, so with grounded. Hall Green we knew it needed to reflect the people who would be using it. With that in mind we’ve put in a lot of work to ensure that the site is catered directly to the local community and their needs, and really hope that we have another success story on our hands – for the community themselves more than anyone else!”

While Living Well Consortium will be at the helm of the project, the day-to-day operations and clinical aspect of the hub will be led by Birmingham-based CIC, Cognitive Wellness. With the aim to bring communities together, strengthen families, improve emotional and physical wellbeing and increase awareness of social enterprises within communities, Cognitive Wellness offers service users dedicated, individual support in a variety of ways, from talking therapies and support sessions, through to volunteering opportunities and community development.

Saira Jan, Clinical Director at Cognitive Wellness, adds:

“At Cognitive Wellness our core goal is to help people who are struggling with their mental health, providing them with support, resources and education – this project will help us implement that care in a community that is currently lacking crucial mental health offerings. We’re so excited to get stuck in come January and can’t wait to really embed ourselves into the community, helping those who need it most.”

grounded. Hall Green is officially open to the public, Monday - Friday, 9am-5pm. More information can be found via their website.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Claire Bryson .