History
'Friend' started life in 1981 as a Society for Mental Health in
Weston-super-Mare following pressure from the local Community Health
Council, who felt that there were insufficient resources available to
meet the needs of the community. Their reasoning was that
Action coincided with the setting-up of psychiatric services in Weston, and an increase in the interest of rehabilitation in the community for some long-stay patients from Mendip Hospital. This resulted in the placement of vulnerable people into minimum-support homes and small hotels in Weston; people who had mostly long since lost contact with their families and friends and now found themselves living in a totally alien community. The aims of 'Friend' were to promote, safeguard and preserve mental health, and to bring relief to sufferers and their families.
To achieve the aims as set out above, the initial two tasks for the Society were to open a Day Centre and start a Family Support Group. By these means 'Friend' would provide fellowship, activities and stimulation for people in distress, raise awareness within the community of the realities of mental health, encourage community involvement and a positive attitude to mental illness, those suffering from it and those caring for them.
'Friend' very speedily achieved charitable status, and in 1982 a
Day Centre was established at the Wadham Street Baptist Church Hall.
Two-hourly sessions were held there in the mornings and afternoons of
Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Four years later, a Government 'Care in the Community' policy meant an
increase in the numbers of people within the community who required the
'person-centred' approach that the Society offered. 'Friend became a
Registered Company Limited by Guarantee and the name was changed to
'Friend' (Weston-super-Mare) Limited: administrative offices were
opened in a Portakabin located behind the Royal Hospital, and the Day
Centre was transferred to 'The Chalet', located behind the Registry
Office on Boulevard, whilst efforts were made to find a more permanent
base within the town.
Two floors above the Britannic Assurance office in Oxford Street
were found that were available to rent, which would allow the Day
Centre and administrative offices to be under the same roof and be a
more flexible, permanent base. The move was made to 39A/39B Oxford
Street in January 1987, and 'Friend' has been located at this address
ever since.
However, in the summer of 2001, Britannic Assurance decided to close
its branch offices and sell the buildings they owned. This left
'Friend' with only two options - either find alternative accommodation
or try to purchase the building. Alternative accommodation that met
'Friend's needs proved extremely difficult to find, which left the
option of buying the building as the only feasible course. Following
intense negotiation - and the unprecedented step of commitment to a
loan! - the purchase was completed in October 2001, securing 'Friend's
base and providing an asset, albeit one in need of much repair.