🌱 The Hidden Power of Community Centres for Mental Health

Toynbee Hall, World Mental Health Day 2025

When we think about mental health support, we often picture clinics, counselling sessions, or helplines. These services are vital but for many, especially older people, mental wellbeing is nurtured in quieter, more familiar places. Places where you can take an exercise class, have a cup of tea, share your day, or learn something new.

Places like Toynbee Hall.

This World Mental Health Day, we want to shine a light on the hidden but powerful role of community centres in supporting mental health especially for those over 50, who often face unique challenges that go unnoticed.

“Before I came, I was very depressed…”

Rochae has been coming to Toynbee Hall every day since 2015. Before she joined, she struggled with depression and chronic health issues.

“I still have those health issues,” she says, “but exercise has helped my mental and physical health. All of my friends are here. I didn’t have confidence before, now I’m making social media content and sharing my story.”

Through sewing, IT classes, and therapy workshops, Rochae has built skills, friendships and self-worth, all under one roof.

This kind of everyday, human support is the foundation of good mental health. But it’s often undervalued.

The crisis of loneliness in later life

Mental health doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s shaped by loneliness, mobility issues, loss of identity after retirement, bereavement, and financial stress. All of which disproportionately affect older adults.

Community centres offer something precious: structure, connection, and purpose.

Yvonne, who joined on her physiotherapist’s recommendation, says:

“The best thing is the regularity. I like the schedule. It gets me out the door otherwise I’d just be sitting on the sofa at home.”

Having a reason to leave the house, people who know your name, and activities that feel worthwhile, these things matter. They help people stay well before they reach crisis point.

Activities are healthcare, too

Exercise classes, singing groups, art workshops: These may not look like healthcare on the surface, but they have a profound impact on physical and mental wellbeing.

“I’ve fallen four times before, and been in hospital,” Yvonne says. “Since joining the classes at Toynbee Hall, I can walk a bit more every week.”

“My mental health has improved,” says Primla, who’s attended for 15 years. “I feel less stressed. And I’ve tried new things, like starring in a film!”

These everyday activities provide joy, confidence, and social bonds. They keep people moving and moving forward.

Community care is cost-effective care

What’s striking in these stories is how many people say they’d be happy to pay for classes if they had to.

“It’s so convenient, and so valuable,” says Yvonne. “I would pay.”

But they shouldn’t have to.

With rising costs and reduced funding, many community organisations are struggling to sustain the very programmes that keep people out of GP surgeries, hospitals, and isolation. This is false economy.

Investing in grassroots, community-based support like Toynbee Hall is preventative care. It’s mental health support that meets people where they are, before things spiral.

A call to rethink what mental health support looks like.

We need to expand our understanding of mental health care. It’s not only about talking therapies or medication, it’s also about:

• Being greeted by name
• Having friends to talk to
• Building skills and confidence
• Feeling useful and proud
• Having somewhere to go every day

“This place is a large part of my life,” Rochae says. “I feel very proud to be a part of it.”

As we mark World Mental Health Day, let’s remember that community centres like Toynbee Hall are not optional extras, they are vital parts of the mental health ecosystem.

And they need support to keep doing what they do best: creating spaces of dignity, joy, and belonging.

If you’d like to support our work or join our over-50s programmes, get in touch: https://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/donate/ https://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/linkage-plus/

#MentalHealthMatters #ToynbeeWellbeing #StrongerTogether #Over50AndThriving