It is with regret that the ISU Management Team along with Meridian East Trustees has agreed that ISU should close on 9 th May 2008.

There have been a number of concerns about the continued sustainability of ISU and it is important that we do clarify the more significant ones to all stakeholders.
These are outlined below:

• To continue to offer a service user representation to all the strategic board throughout the county is becoming increasingly difficult. Those people who have experienced the service are less interested in becoming volunteers in this role and as a consequence there is an over reliance on a decreasing (albeit enthusiastic) group of individuals to perform this role (external employment pressures within the benefits system are an increasingly significant influence on this trend).

• ISU lost about 20% funding 2008-2009 from Great Yarmouth PCT and this alone renders the ISU activity for the next financial year as not viable.
  Already there has been a cost cutting exercise without this very significant reduction in resource.

• ISU is heavily subsidised by both Meridian East and Julian Housing by support and back office function and to impose further demands on these two organisations and other individuals who contribute on a pro bono basis, is not realistic.

• The above issues do contribute to increasing pressures on ISU staff.  With the necessary and ongoing support required for all stakeholders involved in ISU activity, to attempt to sustain it with new level of demand is in itself not a viable proposition.

We believe that ISU has played a key role in offering service users a wide range of opportunities to have their say on the development of local mental health services. We feel that this experience and knowledge base should not be lost and the Director Liz Righton will be compiling an End of Term Report which we hope will be an important contribution to the ongoing debate how the views of those who have experienced the service should be accessed.  Also with the incoming LINKS activity, we are keen that the ISU experience can contribute to its development.

ISU wishes to thank its supporters for their past involvement and encouragement, and to thank them also for their contribution to the development of more meaningful and person centred mental health services in Norfolk.