Anchoring Minds is an emotional wellbeing service within Solent Mind providing support in the community to Royal Navy and Royal Marine families in Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport and the Isle of Wight, in partnership with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and Solent NHS Trust. 

We want to ensure families of serving personnel know how and where to access wellbeing and mental health support when they need it. We understand that living with a partner, child or parent in the Royal Navy or Royal Marines creates a unique set of challenges, that can at times put pressure on your mental health or wellbeing. With frequent moving, stress around deployment and loneliness to contend with, families can sometimes need some extra support.

From the 86 people we spoke to 63% reported loneliness as one of the greatest challenges of being part of a serving family, 70% reported deployment was one of the greatest challenges and 74% reported having experienced poor mental health or well-being.

Anchoring Minds can help you:

• Access the support you need.
• Offer a friendly chat with someone who understands what you are going through.
• Provide access to peer support groups for you to join
• Offer free courses to improve your wellbeing or longer term support.

The service is run by Lucy, whose partner is serving in the Royal Navy, and we are in constant discussions with the military family community to ensure this service is as relevant as possible.