The Richmond Fellowship

Society (India) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental (NGO), national level secular organization, working in mental health. Registered under the Societies Registration Act (1860), it has four branches in India – in Bengaluru, Delhi, Lucknow and Sidlaghatta (Karnataka). Donations are exempt under 80G of the Income Tax Act 1961.

RFS follows the Therapeutic Community approach for treatment of persons living with mental illnesses (PMIs) which is a group-based participatory approach to healing from long term mental illnesses.

Social stigma and discrimination make mental health problems worse and stop people and their families from getting help they need. Addressing stigma associated with mental health is very challenging. Fear and misunderstanding often lead to prejudice against people with mental illnesses. It’s one of the main reasons why many people don’t consider it a real health issue. This prejudice and discrimination leads to feelings of hopelessness and shame in those struggling to cope with their situation, creating a serious barrier to diagnosis and treatment. Stigma profoundly changes how people feel about themselves and the way others see them.

Advocacy for mental health aims to create an enabling environment at the community level and with policy makers & implementors for greater resources and policy implementation. For creating awareness and knowledge, planning effective communication strategies is very important for getting desired impact.

RFS Delhi branch, started in 2000, with limited resources has a rehab facility in Greater Noida. It has a residential facility for 20 persons for Halfway home/ Long stay and Day care. Creating mental health awareness through community outreach and training of youth as mental health ambassadors are ongoing activities of the organization.

Volunteers have been giving their precious time and energy mobilizing resources for continuous and uninterrupted services to the residents, persons living with severe mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder, who need close care and monitoring under the supervision of psychiatrists and counsellors. The turnover rate of counsellors is high because we are unable to match their remunerations with the market rate. This poses a big challenge to the management that is struggling for survival for a much-needed rehab facility for mental patients. Our plans for growth and expansion to serve the needs of PMIs and their families are on hold due to resource crunch.

Addressing stigma related to mental health and giving visibility to RFS through social media is very much needed. We need resources for the same to optimize our efforts. Media support can go a long way in making the dreams of our founder members turn into reality