Mental health difficulties can affect each and every one of us.

Health is physical and mental. We need to look after both.

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It helps determine how we handle stress and everyday life, how we relate to others and make choices.

Sometimes all we need is someone to talk to.

We have come a long way to preserve and protect the good mental health Vietnamese community in the UK. Today we need your help.

WHO WE ARE

The Vietnamese Mental Health Service (VMHS) is a charity which advocates for and supports the mental health needs of people from the Vietnamese community.

It was set up in 1989, as the result of a two-year research programme into mental needs among refugees from Vietnam who were forced to settle in London and UK wide. The organisation has developed considerably, and now employs 8 members of staff and provides a range of services to people from Vietnam with mental health difficulties as well as their families.

The break-up of families as people fled into exile or became victims of trafficking, and the difficulties of life in this country, have led to a breakdown of traditional structure. It is not surprising that some two thirds of the patients identified by the VMHS suffer from schizophrenia, PTSD or depression.

WHAT WE DO

The charity provides culturally appropriate support to over 350 people a year so they can lead active and fulfilled lives through offering counselling, workshops, training, consultations and community events. VMHS offers the only bilingual Vietnamese counselling service in the UK and is highly valued by partner organisations in both the NHS and local authorities.

There is no other service like the VMHS which provides outreach and home visits to ensure physical and mental health are well monitored.

"If one day the organisation disappears, I know for sure that my family would change and turn a lot darker" L. Service user

FUNDING CUTS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO

Small charities are the grassroots of society and can offer unique services to specific ethnic minority communities. However, they have been hit by changes to how services are funded and by significant cuts.

Research has shown that disproportionately few people of Vietnamese origin are referred to mainstream talking therapy services. If the VMHS close, all Vietnamese mental health service users will have to rely heavily on mainstream service providers, which have struggled in the past to meet their needs, causing significant risk of social isolation and decline in well-being, including a high risk of relapse.

Instead of receiving bilingual support from staff with knowledge of mental health, they will be forced to use interpreting services which may be inconsistent. As a result service users may feel unable to express emotional feelings to unfamiliar interpreters.

In the long term, it would cost the NHS more than the savings being made.

WE ARE RAISING £100,000 TO BE ABLE TO:

-Continue preserving the mental health of people with Vietnamese heritage

- To enable us to innovate and grow to provide essential well-being support to the Vietnamese community as a whole. This includes extending our services to promote physical well-being as well as mental health

-Develop new projects like tackling isolated Vietnamese elderly people and the second generation of Vietnamese youth

We would greatly appreciate your support to allow the work of VMHS to grow and continue. Any contribution will make a big difference.

www.vmhs.org.uk

Vietnamese Mental Health Services Registered charity number 1001991