Who we're here to support
The Northumberland Safe Haven in Ashington
We’re here for people aged 18+ who are experiencing mental health crisis or distress.
Our Northumberland Safe Haven is hosted in The Bothy, a dedicated building in Ashington which also hosts Northumberland Recovery College.
You don’t need to be a local to access support. You might be visiting the area and can still visit us for help.
How we can help
Our team will help to reduce your distress or mental health crisis. You can access support in-person, or virtually via phone or video call.
We will work with you to manage your emotions and find support to tackle practical issues affecting your mental health. These issues might include:
- Financial issues or debt
- Unemployment or issues at work
- Housing issues
- Relationship difficulties
- Social isolation
Support might include a listening ear, arranging appointments, creating a safety plan, or finding support from other organisations.
Get support
The Safe Haven will offer support from 2.00-10.00pm, 365 days a year.
You’ll be able to get support by coming to The Bothy in person, or by joining the virtual waiting room on our website.
You won’t need an appointment, you can just show up!
When you arrive to the Safe Haven, we’ll ask you some brief questions at the door to make sure it’s safe for you to enter. If we’re worried about your or our other visitors’ safety, we might direct you to other local support.
When you come in, we’ll offer you a place to sit and have a drink. We’ll ask you to complete a form which will help us to understand your goals for your visit. We’ll help you to fill in the form if you find it difficult.
We’ll offer you a private one-to-one session to help reduce your mental health crisis, create a safety plan, and meet your goals. You don’t have to have this session, and can spend time in the shared space instead, but we’ll check in on you to see that you’re safe.
At the end of your session, your support worker will agree any actions with you and check in with how you’re feeling compared to when you arrived.
You can leave whenever you like, but our team will continue to support you until you feel the crisis has passed.
Find us
You’ll find The Bothy at:
14 Laburnum Terrace
Ashington
Northumberland
NE63 0XX
We’re located near Ashington High Street and the nearest bus stop is only a couple of minutes walk away, with routes to Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle. You can download the bus timetable to help you plan your journey.
Northumberland residents can access other mental health support without attending the Safe Haven. We’ve worked with our partners to offer these other support options:
The SHOUT crisis text line offers 24/7 mental health crisis support via text message.
To get started, text EVERYTURN to 85258.
Qwell is an online peer support platform which includes professional support if you need it. It’s free for Northumberland residents – to sign up visit Qwell’s website.
If you’re in crisis right now and don’t know where else to turn, you can contact Northumberland & North Tyneside Crisis Team on 0800 652 2861.
The Crisis Team is available 24/7 by phone and offers clinical support for those who need it.
If you’ve done something to harm yourself and need medical attention, get help now. Call 999 or visit your local Emergency Department.
Contact us
If you would like more information, you can call us during our open hours on 01670 336139.
Information for professionals
While people don’t need a referral to access Safe Haven support, professionals can share information with us about people who need support and have been directed to the Safe Haven.
Any professional can refer someone for support – you don’t need to work for the NHS. If you’d like to share information with us about somebody who needs additional mental health crisis support, please complete the Safe Haven referral form (Word, 1MB).
You can send completed forms to etmhltd.safehavennorthumberland@nhs.net. You can also call us on 01670 336139 to discuss someone who needs support.
Also see below for our downloadable information leaflet.
