Rollout Strategy
Timeline and approach for nationwide expansion.
The Arcadia Partnership speeds up establishment, from pilots to full network, ensuring centres thrive in communities. We form consortia for tenders, blending public funds with private investment for local impact - targeting opportunities like the Plan for Neighbourhoods (£1.5bn) or UK Shared Prosperity Fund (£2.6bn) to seed pilots in deprived areas, transitioning to self-sustaining models that embed transformative mental health within vibrant community life.
Development Timeline
Stage One: Exploration
National partners join advisory boards, shape models, identify pilots, and gain branding - open to all interested.
Stage Two: Pilot Development
Secure governance seats, finalise tenders, provide sector expertise for initial centres.
Stage Three: Pilot Implementation
Guide rollout, support local businesses, deliver contracts - one organisation/consortium per sector per pilot.
Stage Four: Consolidation
Permanent directors, shares, and equity stakes nationwide for lasting influence.
Details on contributions available upon contact.
Current Engagements
We are currently engaging diverse national stakeholders including the Department for Culture, Media & Sport on the Civil Society Covenant, Department for Work and Pensions to drive economic activation, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to integrate mental and physical health services, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to align with regeneration efforts, organisations like City & Guilds for vocational education, and third-sector leaders like NCVO and Volunteering Matters to embed community connectors. These engagements, alongside those with private partners eg in fitness, game rooms, hospitality, and co-working, are establishing a strong foundation for the Arcadia Partnership.
History and Development
Arcadia began as a vision initiated together with Dr. Joseph H. Berke, a pioneering psychiatrist, to integrate community life with supportive wellbeing - in his memory, we honour this legacy. Evolving through consultations with advisors like Dr. Ben Sunkel-Laing and Professor Kate Miriam Loewenthal, and influenced by global models like Soteria, Arbours, and Trieste, recent milestones include the Soteria group's partnership to weave in Soteria houses. From early explorations in 2004 on community dislocation, through 2016 mentorship and the 2018 "Wellbeing Centres" paper co-authored with Berke, Arcadia is poised for pilot developments in 2026, advancing Sense Future's ethos to activate communities and to transform mental health by embedding it in community.