Falmouth marine-based mental health charity Sea Sanctuary has secured £1.7 million in funding for an innovative new project that will put Cornwall on the map for mental health treatment.

After being granted the money in Libor funding in the Chancellor’s autumn statement, the charity expects to open a new project – The Arc wellbeing hub - in 2018. The Arc will specialise in the care of 999 service men and women, service veterans, and vulnerable young people and will aim to support the 999 forces by offering emotional resilience training while also being able to support young individuals in the county who may usually be referred out of Cornwall for presenting with complex mental health problems and in need of emotional support.

The Arc will also work with schools and Cornwall Council to ensure that vulnerable young people and families are able to get the help they need in Cornwall and is a unique and innovative advancement to the county’s current services.

Joe Sabien, founder of Sea Sanctuary, which has Caroline Quentin as a patron, said: "The Arc has been designed to offer a range of facilities and is the next phase of our successful and award-winning models of care in Cornwall. The Arc will offer a much-needed early intervention and crisis-management assessment programme which Cornwall desperately needs as many young people are signposted out of county to get the treatment they need.

"Sea Sanctuary’s programmes have always been designed to take therapy away from clinical environments and use evidence based intervention methods out on the water – which is naturally calming. This purpose built wellbeing hub is another way of taking mental health care out of the office and will make a massive difference in Cornwall to local residents, young people, and the 999 authorities."