The future of some community mental health services is under threat after £4m of contracts to provide care across Kent were awarded to two charities.

Kent County Council and the county’s seven clinical commissioning groups awarded four area contracts worth £4,143,000 a year to Shaw Trust and Porchlight.

Tonbridge-based Shaw Trust is now responsible for providing community services in west Kent (£754,109) and Ashford, Canterbury and Coastal (£848,263).

Porchlight was awarded the two contracts for Thanet and South Kent coast (£1,413,699) and Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley and Swale (DGSS – £1,026,930). A provider for a second NHS contract for DGSS is yet to be found.

Both providers will take over in April and will further contract out services within their areas.

Community services in Maidstone and Mid Kent are currently provided by MMK Mind, which, along with around 50 other organisations is given annual funding by KCC to provide care.

From April, MMK Mind will stop providing 11 services, including its Winter Warmers Social Café, Mindful Social Group and Gardening Project.

It is not known whether equivalent services will be offered or whether MMK Mind will be approached to run them.

Jenny Walsh, CEO of MMK Mind, met with The Shaw Trust yesterday.

She said: “The meeting was very positive. It’s early days but they may ask us to deliver some services which may take on a new shape and clearly won’t be as extensive as everyone’s budget has been cut.”

Mrs Walsh said KCC’s approach was a sign of the times, adding: “There is so much strain on services. People don’t like it but they have to do what is necessary.”

But she added it was not all doom and gloom and while MMK Mind, which relies solely on donations, tenders and grants and is associated but not funded by the national Mind charity, may have to look at restructuring and cost saving she was not worried about their future at all.

“There is so much strain on services. People don’t like it but they have to do what is necessary” — Jenny Walsh

The charity’s counselling service and six projects which are not funded by KCC, including the self harm programme and young persons mental health support programme, will continue.

Despite concerns that some community mental health services will be cut as a result of the restructuring of care provision, KCC insists there is no reduction in funding.

However, money has been allocated differently, meaning areas with a greater need, such as Thanet, have been given more.

KCC says since June 2014, it has been in discussions about how best to provide community mental health services, with organisations including MMK Mind saying annual grants wasn’t working and a longer term approach was needed.

As a result of this KCC tendered for four five-year contracts, with the option to extend for an additional two years, between April and December, with 19 organisations bidding.

A spokesman for KCC said: “Historically mental health and wellbeing services have always been provided through grants to the voluntary and community sector, the county council has not delivered these services directly.

"It is hoped The Shaw Trust and Porchlight’s expertise in mental health will lead to a more streamlined approach to delivering services. KCC expects the service will become more self-sustaining and not reliant on one funding stream.”