A LOCAL charity which supports people with mental health problems is seeking the help of the public to be able to fund a permanent base.

The Little Box of Distractions is a charity which provides people with mental health problems with a box of things proven to distract people in mental distress from acting on impulses and causing them harm. In the past 11 and a half months, they have helped over 600 people and over 100 of those were in Ayrshire.

They will celebrate their first birthday on October 8 and founder Kerry Elliot is keen for them to move to the next step.

Kerry said: “We now have received charitable status for our project which has celebrated its first birthday on October 8. We have been planning to open up a drop-in centre for people with mental health problems in Ayrshire. A place where people can come, relax, make friends, learn new skills or receive peer support 1-2-1s.

“We are currently looking at a property but it is going to cost around £300pcm which we won't be able to afford long term. We are looking to see if people would like to donate to us or run fundraisers for us to help us raise at least £1,800 which covers the drop in for six months. After the drop in is established it will be up to the service users to continue to help raise funds to keep it running.

“We have a fundraising website at gofund.me/LBpremises and more can be found at our websites www.littleboxofdistractions.co.uk.