30/12/2025
Christmas can be a difficult time of year for many people - loneliness, grief and anxieties can all feel heightened against the festive backdrop. Even just feeling like you’re not enjoying yourself as much as you should be can be a source of sadness for some.
If you are struggling, there are services here to support you year-round, including:
- Warm Welcome Spaces – across Hampshire and Isle of Wight there are dozens of community groups, cafes, clubs and libraries that are waiting with open arms to greet you. These spaces are open to all, often completely free and offer a variety of events and activities to help you find kindred spirits and inject a bit of joy into your day. Search ‘Warm Welcome Spaces’ to find the nearest group to you.
- NHS 111 - the mental health triage team provides mental health support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to people of all ages across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
- Shout text service – anyone in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight can text 'HANTS' to 85258 to speak by text with one of Shout's trained volunteers. Shout is a free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. It won’t show up on your phone bill.
- Kooth - an online counselling and emotional well-being support service providing young people aged 11-25 years (up to their 26th birthday) with a safe and secure means of accessing support with their emotional health and wellbeing needs from a professional team of qualified counsellors.
- NHS Talking Therapies (previously iTalk) - a service for adults in Hampshire and Isle of Wight that offers a wide range of treatments, in a wide range of formats.