The woman behind a new well-being centre for people with mental health difficulties says she is recording a rising number of visitors week after week.

Tracy Carr, along with the support of volunteers, opened the Talk It Out well-being centre at the Landmark Centre in Deal, at the beginning of April.

The community hub is a meeting place not only for people with mental illness but also those who feel socially excluded. It enables visitors to meet like-minded people and learn computer or craft skills.

Now, more than halfway through the centre’s 12-week trial, Mrs Carr – a former mayoress – is focusing her efforts on securing about £8,000 in funding to ensure it can stay open for a year.

She said: “We started off in the first week with about seven or eight people a day. Then it rose to about 12 or 15. Now we can get up to 30 a day.

“Everybody has to sign in, which is proof of the numbers.

“Members are coming here and forgetting about their problems. I’m passionate about this place and I want people to see how vital it is for people in Deal.”

Mrs Carr is hoping to secure the money, which will cover rent of the room, via a grant from Kent’s police and crime commissioner Matthew Scott.

An application by volunteer Colin Smith has already been submitted, and the response will be known by the end of May.

Mr Scott visited the town last month, and reassured Mrs Carr that changes to police powers should not affect patients in Deal.

In the mean time it is being supported by donations. Last week, reflexologist Maria Flanagan gave Mrs Carr a £155 cheque towards the centre, raised through free taster sessions.

The cafe is also offering support for single dads and people experiencing changes to their benefits.

Jonathon Crawley from Problem Solved? is offering his services for free every Monday from 11am until noon. He can offer limited legal advice and help with form filling.

And Luke Shaw from charity Dad’s House is offering support to fathers seeking access to their children. He is there every Friday from 11am until 1pm.

Janice Burgess, 60, said: “If I hadn’t had legal advice from Jonathon I wouldn’t have known which way to turn. All these people that you phone either say they can’t help or they’ll look in to it but never seem to.

“This place is a lifeline for so many people.”

Conservative Parliamentary candidate Charlie Elphicke is urging Mr Scott to seriously consider the grant application.

He said: “I would really urge Matthew Scott to look at the difference that this has made to people in their daily lives and the way this fills in the major gaps in mental heath provision.

“Tracy and her group have also been powerful advocates to get more investment in mental health care.

“It is because of Tracy and her work that I organised a round table of Kent MPs and mental heath chiefs with the police and crime commissioner to put a real focus on the short comings of mental health care across the county.”

The BBC is filming at the centre throughout the trial as part of an Inside Out documentary, set to air in the summer.

The cafe is based in a separate room within the current Spires Cafe at The Landmark Centre.

It is a free service running from 11am until 1pm, Monday to Friday.