A building in Balfour Court, Leyland has been turned into a community hub for the Mind charity to provide mental health services for adults, children and young people.
More than 20 businesses and organisations donated materials, skills, goods and cash worth over £100,000 to allow for a new home for the charity, led by construction company Eric Wright Group.
There was over 50 special guests who attended the opening event, which included former Burnley, Preston and Blackpoll centre-half, Clarke Carlisle, opening the building as an ambassador at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Read more: Worden Park’s historic walled garden reaches crowdfunding target for restoration
He said: “Being a Leyland lad and knowing retrospectively how much my life would have changed if I had visibility and access to the services that are being delivered by the team here.
“It’s all here to deliver those services on the ground that are changing lives. This hub will transform lives in our communities. So yeah, let’s cut the ribbon, but let’s go and shout loud and proud about what’s on offer here.”
Read more: Worden Park’s historic walled garden reaches crowdfunding target for restoration
Clarke also shared his pride for 19-year-old Annie Roberts, who shared her inspiring story and gave credit to Lancashire Mind for saving her life.
He said: “I have so much admiration for you and I’m so delighted that you are on that upward trajectory.
“What I know I needed in my life was that hope. And the fact that Lancashire Mind gave you hope is amazing.
“And you’re now one year free of suicide attempt. I’m nine years free and I want to encourage you in that. It all comes one day at a time, and we don’t do it on our own.”
This comes as a much needed move from the previous combined two terraced houses in Chorley which the group had outgrown due to increased demand.
David Dunwell, CEO of Lancashire Mind, said: “Thanks to the overwhelming kindness of our business community, we’ve been able to move from an outdated office into one which has meeting rooms, training rooms and space for therapy.
“It represents Lancashire Mind and our vision as a charity; a place where we can connect, support and change minds.
“We’ll be forever in debt to our Patron partners who made this possible with their generosity, skills and hard work.
“We’re excited to begin this new era for Lancashire Mind, which will enable us to change lives for even more people across Lancashire.”
The Eric Wright Charitable Trust already supports the group through funding resilience lessons in schools, delivered by Lancashire Mind staff, but wanted to go a step further by supporting this construction.
Chief executive, Jeremy Hartley, said: “At Eric Wright Group we have a unique partnership between our commercial and charitable interests.
“100 per cent owned by the Eric Wright Charitable Trust we generate profit for a genuine purpose, with all profits either reinvested in the growth of the Group or directed by the Trust to support charitable activities across our region.
“The Eric Wright Charitable Trust has been a long supporter of Lancashire Mind, supporting the Bounce Forward project since 2019.
“The innovative programme helps children to improve their resilience and wellbeing, impacting many children’s daily lives as well as their future outlook.
“Across the Group we’ve also been working with Lancashire Mind to facilitate and support our workplace wellbeing, from training to our employee packages and wellbeing policies.
“This ongoing relationship created a natural fit to support Lancashire Mind’s office refurbishment, which we jumped at.
“With our ethos of connecting and supporting communities at the heart of what we do we used our expertise, skill and resources to support the project and are delighted with the tremendous joint effort and proud to be part of the end result.”
