Mental Health Croydon

The Brief

Mental Health Croydon needed to exist because the information already did — it was just impossible to find. Croydon has brilliant NHS teams, dedicated charities, and crisis lines that save lives. But they were scattered across dozens of websites, buried behind clinical acronyms like IAPT, SPA, and CMHT that mean nothing to someone who's struggling at 2am.

The goal was simple: build a single place where anyone in Croydon could find mental health support, described in plain language, verified for accuracy, and accessible to everyone.

The Approach

This wasn't a typical client project — it was a community resource that needed to be fast, accessible, and easy to maintain. We built it with the same performance standards as any commercial site, because people in crisis deserve a site that works instantly.

Key decisions included:

• Supabase backend for a service directory that can be updated without code changes
• Search and filtering so users can find services by category, type, or what they need help with
• Crisis-first design with an always-visible crisis banner and dedicated crisis support page
• WCAG AA accessibility throughout: larger text, high contrast, keyboard navigable, screen reader friendly
• Local SEO targeting people searching for mental health help in Croydon

Why It Matters

When someone searches "I can't cope" or "help me please" at 2am, they don't need to decode the mental health system. They need a clear answer, fast.

Mental Health Croydon bridges the gap between how services are organised and how people actually need them. Every listing includes plain-language descriptions, how to access the service, who it's for, and what to expect.

The Technical Details

The site is built on Next.js with Tailwind CSS and uses Supabase as a lightweight CMS for service listings. This means the directory can be updated without deploying new code, which is critical for keeping information current as services change.

Static generation ensures pages load in under a second, and the entire site scores 100 on Lighthouse. For a resource that people may be accessing in a moment of crisis, speed isn't a nice-to-have — it's essential.