Acacia is an award winning Christian charity which was founded in 2004 by two local mums (Emma Borg and Rachel Gregory) who both experienced postnatal depression and were determined to help other families. We have been supporting families ever since. Our services are free and are available to mums and dads in the Birmingham area who are experiencing pre and postnatal depression and anxiety.
We provide, free of charge, a wide range of individual, group based and peer support services to help you recover from the symptoms associated with pre and postnatal depression and anxiety. Our services are delivered across Birmingham by a team of 40 trained volunteers and a small staff team and they include telephone befriending, individual listening/befriending, CBT based group workshops, telephone support, practical support in your own home and massage therapy for parent and baby. One of the things that makes Acacia unique is that most of our staff and volunteers have experienced maternal mental health or other mental health problems. This helps us to better understand how you are feeling and to show you that this is a temporary illness and that you can get through this.
We work closely where possible with other family members. Postnatal depression affects mums and partners, and we aim to support the entire family.
At Acacia we have a particular focus on creating resources to raise awareness and reduce barriers in our sector for particularly vulnerable groups with regard to perinatal mental health. Dads/partners, young parents and diverse cultural/ethnic communities are our three key target groups for this resource development work, and this awareness raising film is just one of the several free films we have produced to date.
We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
