A CAFE tackling mental health issues opens its doors for the first time tomorrow (Friday).

Keep The Heid Mental Health Cafe will be available each Friday evening and offers people the chance to talk over a cuppa and cake.

Emma Jackson is behind the cafe, which meets in Haddington’s Trinity Centre from 7pm.

She outlined the stark statistics involving mental health and said: “One in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year.

“There were 833 suicides in Scotland in 2019.

“Keep The Heid is designed as a safe place to talk for people in and around Haddington living with mental health issues. It is kind of like Alcoholics Anonymous but for depression.”

The cafe will provide a safe space to talk about mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression.

Each session will start with a guided meditation led by a professional facilitator.

Anyone attending will then be given the chance to talk or just listen if they prefer.

Emma, who lives in the town, stressed it was not an advice service but simply a chance for people to share their mental health experiences and provide peer support for each other.

She highlighted that the NHS did great work but was stretched and groups like this could help people with their mental health.

Forty-five-year-old Emma said: “It came about during lockdown and partly because there is a coffee morning I used to go to in Pencaitland on a Thursday. It is a really good group of women and I made a lot of friends from that. We all discussed our mental health and for people who have not got that support network it would be really useful.”

And she added: “With Alcoholics Anonymous, you have got hundreds of meetings you can go to but there is not anything like that for people with depression.”

Rosalie Monod de Froideville will facilitate the sessions.

She said: “While there is more dialogue about mental health now, there is still some stigma attached to discussing how it affects people and those closest to them.

“Keep The Heid cafe will encourage people to share their experiences in a supportive environment.

“The sessions are completely free and anyone over 16 is welcome.”

For more details, email KeepTheHeidCafe@gmail.com or search for Keep The Heid on Facebook.