Exciting News: Southdown-led partnership wins mental health support services contract in Brighton & Hove
Posted on 16 June 2025
We’re pleased to share that a Southdown-led partnership has been successful in securing the contract to deliver community-based mental health support services in Brighton & Hove for another five years. This means we will continue working alongside local partners to provide support to people across the city, including some of the most marginalised and underserved communities.
The new contract builds on our successful delivery of the Brighton & Hove mental health partnership – UOK – over the past five years and our learnings as we embedded our East Sussex UOK partnership. Our experience and achievements during this time have laid a strong foundation for the next phase of our work, as a part of which, we’ll continue to expand access to support, ensuring that more people know where to go and how to get the help they need, when they need it most.
Our partners
Our new partnership brings together a diverse group of local organisations committed to improving mental health and wellbeing across Brighton & Hove. Alongside Southdown, key partners include:
- Grassroots Suicide Prevention
- Amaze
- Brighton Women’s Centre
- YMCA Downslink Group
- Bridging Change
- Trust for Developing Communities
- Possability People
- Hangleton & Knoll Project
- Allsorts Youth Project
- Carers Centre
- DadLaSoul
- Friends Families and Travellers
- Switchboard
- Impact Initiatives
- Sussex Interpreting Services
- Together Co.
- Qwell
- SEDS Connective
- Rethink Mental Illness
- Money Advice Plus, and
- St Luke’s Advice Service
We will all be working collaboratively to deliver inclusive, joined up, community-focused services. This strong network of voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations enables us to draw on a wide range of expertise and local knowledge, ensuring that the support we provide is responsive to the unique needs of Brighton & Hove communities. Service mobilisation is now underway, with a planned go-live date of 1 October 2025.
While we’re proud of our success in Brighton & Hove, we’re disappointed to share that our bid for the West Sussex mental health support services contract was not successful. We remain committed to collaboration and shared learning across the region.
Emma McDermott, Head of Partnerships at Southdown, says:
“This new partnership brings opportunities to develop how we work and deliver services, helping us better meet the changing needs of the people we serve. It marks the start of an exciting chapter, one where we can deepen our impact, expand our support base, and continue to provide meaningful, accessible, and inclusive support. We look forward to working closely with our partners in delivering this important work.”
We’ll share updates as we get closer to launch. To stay informed, keep an eye on our website or follow us on social media.
