What We Do
Response Team
Our trained response volunteers provide street outreach in teams of two or three. We wear easily identifiable uniform – blue hi-vis vests with Hope Against Suicide on the back – and each team includes a lead responder in a blue tactical vest marked Mental Health Responder.
By day, we’re a calm and caring presence in the heart of Bristol’s busy shopping district, and by night, we walk the areas filled with nightlife, offering a visible, approachable team that people can come to open up, or who can gently reach out when someone looks like they’re struggling.
Our regular patrol areas include Bristol Broadmead, Cabot Circus, The Harbourside, Park Street and the surrounding areas. We are currently on shift on Tuesdays from 10:30am to 1:30pm and on Friday and Saturday evenings from 7:30pm to 10:30pm.
Our Mental Health Street Outreach Teams are specially trained to:
Offer immediate, compassionate support to anyone battling poor mental health
Identify and engage those showing early signs of mental health decline and suicide intent
Respond appropriately to people in visible distress or crisis
We are not a replacement for formal mental health services, but to meet people where they are, in the moment they most need to feel seen, heard, and supported. We exist to fill a gap, providing emotional triage, listening without judgement, and acting as a bridge to further help.
Our presence in public spaces means fewer people suffer alone. Over 60% of suicides occur in public places, so early, face-to-face support can make a life-saving difference.
Our teams also provide an added layer of vigilance, often able to spot someone in a high-risk situation before others notice. Sadly, this happens more often than many realise. That’s why we walk these streets: to offer early, compassionate support before someone reaches crisis point.
Our goal is simple: to be there when it matters most.
Listening Hubs
Our Listening Hubs are safe, non-judgemental spaces where individuals can speak openly about their struggles. Staffed by trained listeners, the Hubs offer empathy, presence and time in a welcoming home-from-home atmosphere.
Our original Hub in The Arcade is currently open Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10:15am to 2:30pm on a drop-in or appointment basis. Our second Hub will be opening in Cabot Circus in August 2026 – keep your eyes peeled for updates across our social media channels!
Signposting & Advocacy Support
We’re here to be reactive and proactive. This includes not leaving support at an initial one-off conversation if more is needed. We connect individuals with the right services for long-term care and make referrals for those who feel overwhelmed by the process of vital referrals, helping them to seek help without feeling burdened.
Aftercare Team
Our Aftercare Team supports individuals encountered by our Response Team during patrols—because we know that what happens after the moment of contact matters just as much as the first response.
When there’s a particular concern for someone’s safety or wellbeing, the Aftercare Team steps in with follow-up check-in calls and gentle support, helping that person feel remembered and cared for beyond the street interaction.
They also play a vital role in caring for our own volunteers. After facing challenging or emotionally charged situations, our frontline teams are given space to debrief, reflect, and process, because caring for those who care is just as important to us as the work we do on the streets.
Why We’re Different
We bring support to people not the other way around.
We offer human connection in real time
We run a unique model of mental health support, not replicated in other UK city as yet.
Our teams meet people exactly where they are, no appointments, no waiting, no pressure to make a call. We don’t wait for people to come to us. We go to them, in their everyday environments, without judgment, without pressure, and without paperwork. We offer human connection in real time, at the moment someone might need it most. This immediacy, presence, and compassion form the core of what makes us different.