A message from our CEO, Mike Burns, as we reflect on and celebrate 40 years of Penumbra Mental Health.
Penumbra Mental Health has been walking alongside people across Scotland who are experiencing mental health challenges for more than 40 years.
We’re taking a moment to reflect on our journey, how far we have come, and what continues to matter most as we look to the future. We also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been part of our story. The people we support, our staff and volunteers – without whom none of what we do would be possible – and the families, communities, and partners who stand alongside us.
Penumbra Mental Health was founded in 1985 – a time when mental health was often hidden from view.
From the very beginning, the organisation chose to centre respect, compassion, and the belief that people are experts in their own lives. That belief remains at the heart of our work and continues to guide us today.
Across four decades, our programmes and services have evolved because we have listened carefully to people with lived and living experience. We now have the largest mental health peer support workforce in Scotland, reflecting our long-standing commitment to valuing lived and living experience as expertise.
Peer colleagues play a vital role in building trust, connection, and hope, reaching people in different ways to support them on their journey.
Our work has always responded to changing needs. We continuously work to evolve and develop new approaches that help us offer more responsive support. We meet people where they are, responding to what they need, when they need it.
In the late 80s and early 90s, we opened supported accommodation in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Stornoway, and launched the UK’s first mental health respite care project.
Over the years, we’ve continued to ask questions.
What needs to change? What would really help people? What more can we do?
That curiosity sparked some of the work we’re still proud of today. From pioneering support for young people and person-centred care at home, to services for people living with alcohol related brain damage.
In the 2000s, the organisation took a deeper focus on recovery and lived experience. We helped to shape anti-stigma campaigning, developed self-harm services, and launched the Scottish Recovery Network, which promotes and supports mental health recovery.
We also support those who have been bereaved by suicide, through our Suicide Bereavement Support Service. The process of grief can be difficult and confusing, so our team are there to listen to those who have been bereaved by suicide, providing compassionate and personal support based on their needs.
We have moved through the years with the belief that people can find their own way forward, and it’s our job to walk on their journey alongside them.
We know it’s important to listen to people when they talk about their mental health, and that support should be personal, flexible, and built on real experience.
Beyond the milestones, what this anniversary has been about is the people and stories. Stories of resilience, strength in the face of challenges, and finding connection and hope in the small, everyday moments.
Today, we support thousands of people across Scotland, with mental health crisis centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, and Edinburgh, for people experiencing thoughts of suicide or reaching a point of emotional distress or overwhelm.
We’re part of communities across Scotland, from Aberdeen to the Borders, the Islands, to our city centres. We’ve learned that no two journeys are the same, because no two people are the same.
We have a number of partnerships that are helping us strengthen the impact of our work. Collaborations with organisations such as JP Morgan, the University of Glasgow and the University of Roehampton are helping us to explore and develop innovative services to increase our reach.
As we move into our fifth decade, we remain focussed on delivering high quality, person-centred support for people across Scotland. We’re proud of what we have achieved throughout the last 40 years, and grateful to everyone who has been part of that journey.
Together, we will continue to shape a future where mental health support is grounded in understanding, compassion, and hope. To everyone who has trusted us, challenged us, grown with us or supported us – thank you for walking with us.
Here’s to the next chapter, and the many journeys still to come.