Bipolar UK responds to the impact of lockdown on mental health, thanks to National Lottery COVID-19 funding

• Bipolar UK has been awarded nearly £100,000 in National Lottery funding to support people affected by bipolar disorder across London
• The national charity offers specialist services and support to individuals and families affected by bipolar
• Research by the charity suggests nearly 60% of people living with bipolar might now need additional support due to the COVID-19 lockdown^[1]

Bipolar UK, the only national charity that focuses on empowering people and families affected by bipolar disorder, has been awarded nearly £100,000 of National Lottery funding to cope with the effect lockdown has had on mental health.

Bipolar disorder is a severe mental condition which is characterised by extreme highs that can result in mania, psychosis, hospitalisation and depressive lows that can lead to suicide. Research by the charity suggests nearly 3 in 5 (60%) people living with bipolar might now need additional support due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Thanks to a grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, the charity can respond to and support people in London who have the disorder and whose mental health has been negatively impacted due to lockdown restrictions.

Bipolar UK looks to help the 1.3 million people living with bipolar on the UK and the 3 million family and friends impacted by it. The charity will use the National Lottery funding to extend its online peer support service, eCommunity, which currently has over 5,000 users, on Zoom and through telephone check-ins. The Bipolar support groups in London previously relied on face-face sessions with volunteers, which is no longer taking place under lockdown measures.

Simon Kitchen, CEO at Bipolar UK says: “The Covid-19 crisis has had a massive impact on the people we support, with anxiety and social distancing triggering relapses that could result in suicide, mania and psychosis.

“Thanks to this National Lottery funding, we are able to extend our peer support and check-in system online and ensure that people living with bipolar have access to our vital services, at a time when they are needed more than ever.”

One person affected by bipolar who lives in London and is receiving support from Bipolar UK during the lockdown, said: “Having bipolar in these times is more difficult than ever. My head’s spinning around constantly trying to keep track of what and how to do everything. If this is stressing people in general, then imagine how it’s affecting people who struggle daily!”

Helen Bushell, Head of Funding for the South of England at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “The National Lottery is playing a critical role in supporting people, projects and communities during these challenging times. Charities such as Bipolar UK are making an amazing contribution to the community-level response. We’re incredibly grateful for their dedication and the hard work of thousands of projects across the UK – we’re humbled by their efforts and delighted that our funding is able to help.”

The National Lottery grant for Bipolar UK was made though The London Community Response – a group of more than 50 funders coordinating to support groups responding to the needs of the capital's communities.

Across all of the National Lottery distributors, £600 million has been made available to support communities throughout the UK during the coronavirus outbreak. Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for the UK’s good causes, and £41 billion has been distributed to 565,000 good causes across the UK since 1994.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk

^[i]From The Impact of the Covid-19 crisis on people affected by Bipolar, Bipolar UK, June 2020

The findings suggest a marked deterioration in people’s mental health over this period. The number of respondents rating their mood as stable before lockdown more than halved, dropping from 35% to 16%. The number reporting being in the balanced mood range decreased from 69% to 42%. This suggests that around 58% of people living with bipolar might now be unwell and require additional support. Put another way, 351,000 more people living with bipolar could currently be at risk of relapse and hospitalisation.