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Former England player Martin Keown opens Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub
20/07/2023
Experts will be available so people can just drop into the Hub when they need it
Former Arsenal and England defender and football pundit Martin Keown was in Banbury this lunchtime to open a new mental health facility in the Castle Quay Shopping Centre.
The Keystone Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub will offer adults experiencing mental health challenges the opportunity to draw on support from the hub. NHS mental health professionals, third-sector mental health services and Peers Support workers, who have their own experience of mental health challenges, will be on hand to offer support.
After opening the Hub Martin Keown told Banbury FM: “It’s in a perfect position in the shopping centre. If you think about mental health care in the past it was always behind a big wall or in a huge building. Now it’s on the High Street.
“I think it’s perfect to take that first step to go in and make yourself well again.”
The Hub has links to local GP surgeries and has been developed with adults who use mental health services in Banbury.
It’s hoped the hub will make it easier for people in the community to access mental health care conveniently when they need it most.
Debbie Walton from Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust said: “We know from everything that we hear at the moment – everything that’s going on globally, the recession and people having problems with money and housing – all those things impact on your mental health.
“You may not think ‘I’ve got a mental illness’ and you may not, but actually sometimes you just need somebody to help support you in dealing with some of those issues so you can get on with your life. We’re here for that as well. It’s also about well-being.”
The Hub will be open Monday to Friday between 10am and 2pm. It’s one of a series of Keystone Mental Health & Wellbeing Hubs opening up in town centres and communities across Oxfordshire.
Our interview with Martin Keown is here:
Our interview with Debbie Walton is here:
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam