We are CALMtown.

Connecting the people of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, to develop a community-led approach to mental health.

Our story.

CALMtown began as a result of a premature death in the town. This death, as with all deaths, touched many lives, and our story begins with how a church minister, a pub landlord and the prospective Mayor choose to respond.

Each individually, had links with the young man who had taken his own life and each was also able to draw on their own experience of the challenges we all face in life. They decided it was time to act.

Matt Finch, the minister, was already in contact with CALM, (Campaign Against Living Miserably) and over coffee with Tim Drye, the Mayor of St Ives, an idea was hatched to become a 'CALMtown', the first in the country.

Phil Pope, the landlord, was on-board straightaway, with a vision to help change the world, one step at a time, with the focus on building outwards from our local communities.

And so, through conversation, spontaneous meetings and simple ideas, a movement in the town began to develop. It quickly became clear that there is real appetite, energy and enthusiasm to help make a difference.

Together we want St Ives to be a place where people feel able to talk about their feelings. Life can be challenging, and this affects us all in different ways, but if we all do our bit, looking out for ourselves and each other, then together we can make an extraordinary difference.

The original three, the minister, the landlord and the Mayor are thrilled to see how so many have taken up the reins. We hope that the people of St Ives will be all the better for it, and that we can inspire other towns and communities to join us in the mission to make a difference too.

Our mission.

To connect the people of St Ives to develop a community–led approach to mental health.

Life can be challenging, and this affects us all in different ways. If we all do our bit, looking out for ourselves and each other, then together we can make an extraordinary difference.

Our objectives.

To empower people to build links to strengthen their community.
To raise awareness about wellbeing and mental health in the town.
To as act as signpost to existing organisations, resources and services.

Our goals.

To use all forms of local media, as well as established health and wellbeing centres (doctors’ surgeries), and all schools in St Ives, to create awareness of the CALMtown movement.
To create a resource packed website, offering a range of ideas to inspire individuals to arrange their own community activities.
To be the ‘go-to’ website for the population of St Ives if they need direction to professional organisations at times of mental health crisis.
To train 100 individuals to be Mental Health First Aiders in St Ives in 2020.

Disclaimer.

CALMtown is a small organisation run by volunteers who wish to make a positive difference to the mental wellbeing of the people of St Ives.

CALMtown is not responsible for the content or reliability of any of the websites to which it is linked and any link from this website should not be considered as an endorsement of any kind.

CALMtown encourages others to take the initiative themselves and make a difference in their own lives and communities, by connecting with others. The ideas for ways to connect that are shown on this website are ideas only, not templates, and any individuals inspired to conduct their own events, do so at their own risk.

No liability will be accepted by CALMtown.