Improved mental health hub reopens to support people in Dover

People in Dover will benefit from improved mental health services closer to home following the reopening of Coleman House after a 6-month refurbishment.

The building, which has supported the Dover community since the early 1990s, is home to a range of services supporting people at different stages of their mental health journey. These include Mental Health Together (MHT), which provides community-based mental health support; the Memory Assessment Service (MAS), which assesses and supports people experiencing memory problems; and Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP), which supports people experiencing their first episode of psychosis. Coleman House also provides perinatal mental health and mental health services for people with learning disabilities.

The investment is particularly important in Dover, where communities experience some of the greatest health inequalities in Kent and Medway. Dover is one of five areas in Kent and Medway within the 30% most deprived local authority areas in England.

Improving access to high-quality mental health support within local communities is a key part of the trust’s ambition to help people live and stay well.

Coleman House also brings together mental health teams and community partners, helping local people access a wider range of support closer to where they live. Teams work alongside organisations including Invicta Health, Porchlight and Shaw Trust to help people get the support they need.

The reopening was marked by a visit from Town Mayor Councillor Bekah Dawes, who joined colleagues, people who use the service and community partners to see the improvements.

The refurbishment has created a brighter, more comfortable and welcoming environment for people receiving care, their carers and colleagues.

Julie Kirby, Acting Chief Nurse at Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, said: “People in Dover deserve to be able to access high-quality mental health support in a setting that is welcoming, safe and close to home. That is particularly important in communities experiencing greater health inequalities, where people can face additional barriers to getting the support they need.

“Coleman House brings together a range of mental health services and community partners, helping people access more joined-up support locally.

“This investment is about more than improving a building. It is about creating an environment that reflects the importance of the care provided here and gives local people and our colleagues a better place in which to receive and deliver support.”

The reopening also celebrated Coleman House’s long-standing connection with the Dover community. As part of the refurbishment, photographs donated by former trust colleague Gill Ashington are now displayed throughout the building.

Gill worked for Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust for many years and now uses services at Coleman House. She has early-onset dementia, and photography has become an important way for her to capture places, nature and everyday scenes that are meaningful to her, including photographs from around Dover.

Gill said: “Coleman House is a place that has a special meaning for me because it’s a place I’ve been coming to for a long time. I wanted my photographs to help the building become a more welcoming place for people to get the help that they need.”

The reopening marks a new chapter for Coleman House, building on its long history of supporting people in Dover and the surrounding area.