The giving of time, experience and skills is one of the Company’s key values. Many of the excellent charities supported by the Fishmongers’ Company would not be able to operate without committed, trained volunteers. In recent years, the Company has developed a dedicated funding stream for mental health projects. While the high demand for mental health support and treatment on primary care and NHS specialist services is well-documented, many charities play a vital role in providing early-stage intervention or alternatives to clinical care, which can help to prevent mental health crises, or aid long-term recovery. The Company currently supports organisations working with a variety of vulnerable groups. Suicide prevention has been a focus area in recognition of the positive impact that distinct non-clinical interventions, such as listening and befriending, can have on people experiencing suicidal thoughts. Projects involving education around mental health and wellbeing for young people have also received funding on the basis that these can help to support an awareness of wellbeing and encourage young people to look after their mental health and to seek support if they need it.
Further information on some of the organisations currently receiving grants follows below. Several of these, such as the Listening Place and Maytree, regularly run a selection process and training programme for those who are interested in becoming frontline volunteers. Others, such as Caritas Anchor House and Body & Soul, rely on volunteer support for a variety of functions from operations to communications and fundraising. All the charities listed are always grateful to receive one-off or regular donations or to be the beneficiary of a fundraising event or sporting challenge. To find out more, please contact any of the charities directly or the Philanthropy & Grants team at grants@fishmongers.org.uk.
A Listening Place visitor
www.listeningplace.org.uk/The Listening Place was set up in 2016 by a group of people with experience in supporting the suicidal who recognised that there was a lack of ongoing, face-to-face support available for people with persistent suicidal feelings. They believed that, with extensive training and professional supervision, volunteers could deliver some of this support.
Today, the charity sees more than 2,000 suicidal people (referred to as visitors) a year from its sites at Meade Mews in Pimlico and at Hunter Street near King’s Cross. All referrals are responded to within 24 hours and offered a first appointment within the week. Visitors are able to receive fortnightly support from the same Listening Volunteer, usually for up to three months.
Making this unique service accessible to every person who needs it in London is a current major objective. The charity is supported in this by a number of funders, including the Fishmongers’ Company, which is helping fund the operational costs of establishing new sites. However, the Listening Volunteers and Helping Volunteers (supporting the delivery of the service) are the most vital ingredient, and the Listening Place is always in need of compassionate and non-judgemental people with time to give.
www.caritasanchorhouse.org.uk/
Caritas Anchor House is a homelessness charity based in Newham, London. Established as Anchor House in 1962, the charity’s original purpose was to provide temporary accommodation for out-of-work seafarers. In the early 2000s, the charity expanded its remit to become a residential and life skills centre focused on tackling the root causes of homelessness and helping residents return to independent living. With 140 bed spaces, Caritas Anchor House is one of the largest hostel services in the country and the charity plans to increase capacity in response to a growing need for hostel accommodation.
Besides homelessness, the main presenting issue among incoming residents is poor mental health. In 2020, the Fishmongers’ Company awarded Caritas Anchor House a multi-year grant for a peer-led recovery programme, facilitated by the charity’s Mental Health lead. The programme aims to cover a range of subjects, from stress management to building healthy relationships. Anticipated outcomes include self-reported improved mental health, motivation and personal agency.
As well as funding, Caritas Anchor House relies on volunteers to help deliver its services, both as part of frontline teams and as operational support.
Islington Mind, an independent charity affiliated to National Mind, aims to improve the quality of life of Islington residents who experience mental distress. As well as short-term counselling and psychotherapy, the charity offers a variety of services including open-access day centres, a crisis café, therapeutic creative arts, as well as practical advice and support.
In 2020, the Fishmongers’ Company awarded a multi-year grant towards the Welfare Benefits Clinic, helping people with complex mental health needs to navigate and manage the process of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payments (PIP) benefits. The service was established in 2017 in response to feedback from Islington Mind clients that they could not find financial support that was sensitive to their needs, and that anxiety relating to benefits claims and appeals processes exacerbated their poor mental health. The service is run by a mental health professional and expert in welfare benefits along with a team of five trained and supervised volunteers.
Islington Mind regularly advertises for committed volunteers to fulfil a range of roles, from day centre helpers to music tutors, as well as for help with fundraising.
https://www.lambethandsouthwarkmind.org.uk/
Lambeth & Southwark Mind, an independent charity affiliated to National Mind, provides free, innovative, long-term services that empower and support people experiencing a mental health problem in the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. The charity runs general psychotherapy services as well as a variety of specialist services and support groups, including a psychosis therapy service, the South East London Suicide Bereavement Service, a Women’s Forum and a Hearing Voices group.
Earlier this year, the Fishmongers’ Company agreed a multiyear grant for three years towards Black River Counselling, a free service offering people of Black African/African-Caribbean heritage counselling with black counsellors and psychotherapists. The service was initiated during the Covid-19 pandemic in response to the impact of the pandemic on the black community, and in recognition of the fact that that, historically, this community had been less likely to access preventative mental health services and talking therapies. The charity reports a high level of demand for this service which is delivered by a team of four qualified professionals with experience of providing culturally specific counselling.
Lambeth & Southwark Mind greatly values the support provided by volunteers. It regularly recruits trainee counsellors and psychotherapists on placement and welcomes support with fundraising.
Shoreditch Trust supports people who experience health, economic and social inequality in Hackney and the surrounding area to improve their health and wellbeing, develop social networks and build skills and opportunities for meaningful employment. The charity offers a variety of activities in the community including weekly groups for stroke survivors, and pregnant women and mothers with babies, as well as for special interest activities, such as cookery and community activism.
In 2020, the Fishmongers’ Company gave a multiyear grant towards the cost of a part-time member of staff to support the development of the ‘We Connect’ peer support and befriending service offered over the phone and face-to-face to people with pre-existing mental health issues and those experiencing loneliness and isolation. We Connect volunteers also help to deliver a number of the charity’s regular sessions, such as the Calm & Connect wellbeing group and Walking for Wellbeing.
The Trust regularly recruits volunteers from within the local community and seeks ongoing support to raise funds for its Covid-19 response programme.
Future Men supports boys and men to develop their social, mental and physical health and become the best versions of themselves they can be. The charity addresses some of the biggest societal issues affecting young men – low educational attainment, poor mental health and youth violence – by helping adolescent boys to develop emotional literacy, supporting fathers to enhance their parenting skills, and by interrogating problematic stereotypes around masculinity and promoting the positive influence of active and responsible fatherhood.
The Fishmongers’ Company has agreed a provisional multiyear grant for Future Men to support the expansion of its Boys’ Development Programme in Southwark schools. Working with boys in the final years of primary school and at varying stages of secondary school, the programme takes place during a critical transitional period when boys are most likely to disengage from education and other positive influences, impairing their prospects. Boys and young men are referred for support by their schools and take part in group sessions as well as one-to-one mentoring, both structured around seven characteristics that contribute to positive masculinity: resilience, inclusiveness, reflectiveness, empathy, resourcefulness, curiosity and non-violence.
Future Men’s programmes are run by qualified and experienced youth workers, but the charity is always seeking to engage new supporters.
James’ Place exists to make sure that help is available for every man facing a suicidal crisis and to support them to find hope for the future. The charity was set up by the family of James Wentworth Stanley, who died by suicide in 2006 aged 21 after experiencing a sudden-onset mental health crisis. James attended A&E, but no immediate referral options were available and he died days later. The first James’ Place centre opened in Liverpool in 2018.
The charity offers free one-to-one suicide-prevention counselling in non-clinical surroundings. James’ Place’s model uses clear, everyday language as the vocabulary and setting of more traditional therapy are believed to discourage men from seeking support. Counsellors help clients to understand how they have reached a crisis, what is keeping it going, and how they can develop new ways of coping.
After successfully piloting the programme in Liverpool, and following consultation with the East London NHS Foundation Trust, the charity established a London centre in 2020. In response to Covid-19, the charity decided to begin by rolling out a virtual service and plans to open a permanent physical site in east London in early 2022. In 2021, the Fishmongers’ Company agreed a multiyear grant towards the running costs of the London service.
Since the beginning, James’ Place has relied on passionate and committed fundraisers to realise the charity’s vision. James’ family and friends and others affected by suicide, or just supportive of the cause, have undertaken extraordinary feats of endurance, from rowing across the Atlantic to ultra-marathons. The James’ Place team would love to hear from anyone interested in taking on a challenge to raise funds.
Maytree was established in 2002 to address a gap in provision between crisis support and hospital admission for people experiencing suicidal feelings. The founders acquired a property in Finsbury Park where they could welcome people for a residential stay of 5 days and 4 nights in a calm and safe environment, supported by staff and trained befriending volunteers.
A stay at Maytree is designed to be an intervention that can support a reduction in suicidal feelings and a lasting change in mindset. The space to talk at length with a trained volunteer who is neither a friend nor family can de-stigmatise frightening feelings and help people to realise that they are valued, and that they may have more options than they had otherwise thought. The charity has recently received a multi-year grant from the Fishmongers’ Company to support an outreach worker who will raise awareness of the service among groups who have a higher incidence of suicide.
Maytree’s house is only able to stay open thanks to the contribution of volunteer befrienders who engage with potential guests by phone and email, and also offer a warm welcome and listening ear to those who come to stay. The charity acknowledges that volunteering with Maytree can be a challenging role, although one that is profoundly rewarding.
Body & Soul was established in 1996 to support families, children and young people affected by HIV. Through this work, the charity developed a trauma-informed, therapeutic model of care to support vulnerable people. The charity continues to support HIV positive people and their families today but has also expanded its remit to include other groups impacted by trauma, such as adults affected by violent relationships, anxiety and depression or debt or financial hardship amongst other issues, and children and young people who have spent time in care.
Recently, Body & Soul was awarded a multiyear grant from the Fishmongers’ Company to enable the charity to expand You Are Not Alone, a programme of group dialectical behavioural therapy and ongoing professional and peer support for young people who have attempted suicide and/or self-harm.
Volunteers are an essential part of the Body & Soul community and roles span from frontline programmes to operations, to communications and fundraising. The charity also looks for specialist volunteers with qualifications and experience in social work, law, creative arts, nutrition and complementary therapies.
© The Fishmongers’ Company 2025
