As we approach the Christmas period and many services take a short and well deserved break. Space to Breathe will be closing down today for a short time and reopening on 2nd January. We wish you all a very Happy Christmas.

As we do close, we are aware that this can be a worrying time if you need a service or support to help your wellbeing, physical or mental health, safety or have practical needs over this time. So this post is to summarise everything that’s available and open during the Christmas period.

To summarise, many of the major national helplines like Samaritans are open. Similarly local support lines like IDAS for domestic abuse support are also available. Key services like the City Council Emergency Housing Repairs are also functioning. Many of the services you’re not able to access for a short time are voluntary and local services and one to one support. Most of the services, including our own, will restart on 2nd January.

Most importantly, if you are in crisis, you need urgent support or someone is in danger/risk use 111 or 999 as at any other time. Remember that you can select 111 option 2 for Mental Health support. A full list compiled by our friends at SOAR is below.