Our story...
Pentreath is a Cornish charity providing support and guidance to people across the county experiencing and recovering from mental ill health.
We were formed by Cornwall and Isles of Scilly health authority in 1991 as part of the care in the community shake-up which saw the of deinstitutionalisation of mental health care in the UK.
The NHS’s industrial therapy provision in Cornwall was spun off into a standalone charity and Pentreath was born, initially continuing to provide training and employment through in house social enterprises including a nursery and wood working workshop for former patients suffering from severe and enduring mental ill health.
A raft of new initiatives and projects followed, offering support to a wider range of people, including those suffering from depression and anxiety.
Since 1998 more than 25,000 people in Cornwall have been referred to us here at Pentreath with countless positive outcomes including mental wellbeing improvements, qualifications achieved, and voluntary and paid employment secured.
We have continually evolved over the years to suit our client’s needs, however our core aim of promoting good mental health through personal development, education and employment has never changed.
Today we employ 135 staff who continue to support those aged 14 or over anywhere in Cornwall who require their services to help to build confidence, self-esteem, skills with the goal of accessing further training or employment.
Each year Pentreath receives around 2,000 referrals and in order to provide the best support, we offer a variety of projects to our client group. The funding streams vary for these but is generally made possible by funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, European Social Funding and NHS funding, amongst others.
We pride ourselves on delivering 1;1 support to participants and providing a friendly, welcoming service to allow the process of achieving personal goals to go as smoothly as possible.
The values of Pentreath are clear once you meet the staff and also speak to the people of Cornwall about the charity’s reputation. Approachable, knowledgeable, inspiring and people centred are just some of them. The vibe in the company shows all of this and staff are brilliant at knowledge sharing and attending training to ensure the information they need to know is up to date.
Pentreath continue to look for ways that we can work in partnership with other organisations. At present we have staff working in the local job centres and doctors surgeries, as well as being integrated within the community mental health teams. We have many projects at present that can help people move forward in life and achieve their personal goals and we have the capacity to take on more referrals and help more people.
We want to be clear that Pentreath is a frontline service and we are here to support people, we are open for referrals.
You do not need to be referred by a specialist provision, just complete a referral form and send it back.
Once we receive that referral we will be in contact as soon as we can.
