Platfform is the charity for mental health and social change.
10/09/2025
Part of how we find hope and healing when facing difficulties with our mental health is through having our experiences, our traumas, heard and understood. But the label of ‘personality disorder’ ignores how our experiences form the root of our distress. It doesn’t allow people to be heard. We believe the use of this diagnosis needs to stop.
The reasons su***de happens are complex, and to better understand and prevent su***de, we need to see the bigger picture. We need to understand how our society and circumstances contribute to experiences of overwhelm and distress. ***dePreventionDay
We all need community, opportunity, and access to support to feel a sense of safety and belonging including the places we work. But if the systems intended to support us can’t do so finding that safety can be very difficult.
The Welsh Government’s Mental Health Strategy shows the importance of community, and of connection as a mental health intervention, is being heard. If you struggle, you're not 'broken', but reacting to your circumstances. Read more from us about the strategy here: https://platfform.org/community/mental-health-strategy-response/
Su***de is never inevitable. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please remember that support is available, and that talking to someone may offer a new perspective. You can call on 116 123 at any time.
09/09/2025
Wonderfest fun starts this week! An incredible FREE festival for children, young people and their families!
📍13/09 12pm-4pm in Cardiff, Grange Pavillion, Grange Gardens
📍21/09 12pm-4pm in Swansea, National Waterfront Museum
Loads of things happening: 🐕pet therapy, 🎭theatre workshops, 🤹♂️circus skills, 🍳cooking workshops, 🥁drumming, 🧼bath bomb making and much more!
We will also be launching our Children and Young People Manifesto!
Please share far and wide, we would love to see you there ❤️ Link to the website and programme in comments 😊
09/09/2025
Be part of our event next Wednesday at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff for a morning of storytelling, reflections and hope.
We’ll be exploring the challenges in our mental health system and the strength of community-led responses through powerful stories from those at the heart of Platfform’s projects.
There’ll also be exhibitions showcasing how communities have responded to their own unique challenges, plus a chance to connect with others over lunch.
✨Join us on Wed 17 Sept at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff, for a special event exploring the challenges in our mental health system and the strength of community-led responses.
Through powerful and creative storytelling, we’ll look at how together we can shape services that are open access, strengths-based, and rooted in connection and community.
💬 Inspiring talks & storytelling
🎨 Exhibitions
🤝 Space to connect over lunch
Speakers include Dr Jen Daffin and project leads from across Platfform.
Rhian from our will be at Monmouthshire Building Society for a dementia support drop-in session.
📍 John Frost Square branch in Newport
🗓️ Wednesday, September 10
⌚ 10am to 2pm
Rhian will be available to talk with customers, or anyone seeking advice about dementia, and share information on the support services available.
There is no need to book in advance, and the session is open to everyone, not just members of the building society.
03/09/2025
We understand that supporting people can sometimes be tough.
Having safe spaces to reflect helps us keep showing up for the people and communities we work with while looking after ourselves.
Thanks to funding from WCVA CGGC we can offer free wellbeing support to people working or volunteering in safeguarding roles within Welsh organisations. From care homes, sports clubs and schools to charities and voluntary groups.
We currently have September and October dates for workshops around burnout, anxiety and resilience.
We'd love to hear from you - applications close on Monday 18th August 🙂
14/08/2025
Join us for a special event on Wed 17 Sept at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff where you'll hear inspirational stories from those at the heart of Platfform’s projects. We look at the challenges within our mental health system and the strength of community-led responses. Through powerful and creative storytelling, we explore how together we can shape services that are open access, strengths-based, and rooted in connection and community.
An exhibition of individual projects will also be available at the venue to provide a deeper dive into how each community has responded to their own unique challenges.
Speakers: Dr Jen Daffin, Community Clinical Psychologist plus presentations from each of the project leads.
13/08/2025
We are sad to hear about the sudden death of Hefin David MS. Our thoughts and condolences go to the family and friends.
Mr David was always a vocal advocate for people living in his constituency and beyond, who experience mental health challenges, with specific interest in ensuring adequate supported housing was available for people.
We appreciate the time he spent with people being supported by us and the genuine interest he had in their lives.
Hefin David had been Member of the Senedd (MS) for Caerphilly since 2016.
12/08/2025
We are honoured to sit alongside the other charities listed in this article from Dr. Ariel Breaux Torres as trying to take a deep-rooted approach to understanding collective community power and its importance for anti-racism work.
This article is a hugely insightful commentary on the balance of traditional charity structure vs. the need for, and ability to, take transformative action. Charities can’t just be ‘fixers’, no matter how strongly the systems around us are set up to enable only that. Real change requires deeper shifts.
We know that current mainstream understandings and approaches to mental health are part of the problem, and for many they only make things worse. This is why we are excited by the direction the Welsh Government’s 10 year mental health and wellbeing and su***de and self-harm strategies are taking.
We know we are stuck in a harmful system – our CEO Ewan has spoken about this as far back as our initial launch. We must do things differently to achieve the change we need to see racism - and other forms of social or system oppression – be brought to an end.
Equally, we know this takes time, which can be hugely frustrating for everyone involved. We know, too, that blame is the discharge of pain and is the inverse of accountability.
That’s why we are continually trying to figure out how to work best with others, do better, and to achieve the change needed from the inside.
(Charities mentioned include Healing Justice LDN, Black Thrive, National Survivor User Network, NSUN)
Dr. Ariel Breaux Torres is US-licensed clinical and forensic psychologist, abolitionist, and passionate advocate for race equity and racial justice, taking a pro-Black approach to liberation. Prior to relocating to London, Dr. Breaux Torres worked and trained within various correctional and state ho
11/08/2025
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Your views and experiences are needed to help shape future digital mental health support offerings in Wales.
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Platfform is the mental health and social change charity.
We are a platform for connection, transformation and social change.
We have operated in Wales as Gofal for 30 years, as of 24 of July 2019 we are Platfform.
We work with people who are experiencing challenges with their mental health, and with communities who want to create a greater sense of connection, ownership and wellbeing in the places that they live.
We do not believe that people or communities are “broken” or in need of fixing. We are driven by the fundamental belief that a strengths-based approach is the foundation to sustainable wellbeing for everyone.
We take a trauma informed approach to understanding mental health and emotional distress and see the mental health, and wider health, social care and public sector systems, as no longer ‘fit for purpose’. Based on illness and/or deficit models, they deny people the hope and agency to heal.
We are part of a growing social movement working towards a fundamental shift in the way that public services are provided, so that they support people towards sustainable wellbeing and the life of their choice.
See where we’ve come from and where we’re heading. Watch our film.
