LAST week the Monmouthshire Self Help and Friendship Group (MSHFG) was celebrating more than just World Mental Health Day as they received a free laptop.

A laptop was donated to the group from Ian Martin from Martin Computers who has provided used laptops to a number of charity groups.

The laptop will go a long way to helping the MSHFG which has been running for three years now and supports anywhere from 10 to 20 people a week.

Jennie Morgan from MSHFG said: “This is  massive, it is huge. I am constantly filling in application forms for funding, I spend my life looking for funding because obviously we have to pay for accommodation here, it is over £1,000 a year and I don’t want to ever have to say to the guys I’m sorry we won’t be here next week.

“So somebody like Ian who so kindly offered this is great, because that is money saved from our very precious funding so I am really grateful for that.”

For Mr Morgan, it is helping out a good cause with something that might otherwise go into the garbage.

He said: “I try to help out where I can. I run a computer business and very often people come to me when their machine starts to get a little bit too slow for them or has problems and they say what do we do with the old machine.

“I say, if you allow me to take it away, I will clear all the data off and make sure it is in working order because it will allow somebody else to use it.

“I’m saving a lot of machines from going to landfill and they go to good causes similar to this one.”

The donation was made on World Mental Health Day (Tuesday, 10th October) which not only highlights how common mental health problems are but how important groups like MSHFG are.

Jennie Morgan said: “The thing is now, two in every three people at some point in there lives will have some form of mental health condition whether it be anxiety or depression or more serious psychiatric conditions.

“So any publicity we can get for the public to say it could be you next week, it’s for the greater good of the community.

“We are the only group like this in the area. We help people now who come through the Forest of Dean because there is nothing over there, we also help people from Abergavenny.”

“Unfortunately with mental health services stretched to their limit what the MSHFG offers is even more important.”

Jennie Morgan said: “Unfortunately mental health services are very poor, you have months and months of waiting to go and see a counsellor, that’s for six weeks for 40 minutes, that’s your slot then you’re off again. So a lot of people we pick up are waiting to see somebody or they have been to see somebody.

“The thing is with a group like ours, it is completely confidential, whatever is said in the room has to stay in the room. People with mental health issues can’t talk to their families very often, because they are too close or they might not understand.

“We help with housing we help with benefits, we signpost people as much as we can, so it not just a case of people come in and just go, we are actually very proactive in the background.”

To contact MSHFG email [email protected]