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The Mental Health Forum serves the Southern Health & Social Care Trust area of Northern Ireland, and has its office base in Newry.

Our charity was established in 1993 as a means of communicating mental health service user opinion to service providers and receiving information from service providers. Since that time the Forum has become the official voice of the service user community within the Southern Health & Social Care Trust. We provide advice, information and signposting for service users, carers, professionals and the general public in relation to mental health services throughout the Trust area. We engage directly with service providers in planning, delivering and monitoring mental health services both locally and regionally.

We are leaders in:

• Promoting awareness of mental health issues
• Challenging stigma and discrimination
• Promoting recovery orientated practice and initiatives
• Developing opportunities for those experiencing mental ill health and those who care for them
• Working in coproduction to improve mental health services
• Capacity building for coproduction activity
• Providing access to advocacy support services

The voice of service users

The Mental Health Forum is the service user voice in seeking to improve mental health services and in supporting individuals to improve their quality of life.

“I find the Forum very valuable from the point of view of keeping up with initiatives in the trust and mental health generally and also being able to contribute to discussions about how to resolve issues with service provision."

"I joined for the peer support but soon realized there was so much more. Forum activities have helped boost my confidence and it feels great to be doing something worthwhile."