The Mental Health and Money Advice service, delivered by Mental Health UK in combination with four mental health organisations, Rethink Mental Illness, Hafal, Support in Mind Scotland and MindWise, will also help those where money problems are affecting their mental health.

Recent research with over 1,500 professionals and people affected by poor mental health highlighted the need for specialist support. Of those surveyed nearly nine out of ten (87%) wanted answers to mental health and money questions. A further eight out of ten (78%) wanted this information provided on a website while half of respondents (49%) wanted to speak to a trained member of staff over the phone.

The Mental Health and Money Advice service website provides information, practical advice and tools such as template letters and calculators, tailored to individual parts of the UK. The website also has real world case studies, plus an advice line that charities and debt organisations can use to refer people for specialist support.

The launch of the service has been backed with £3m of fundraising from Lloyds Banking Group as part of its two year charity partnership with Mental Health UK. The group also launched a dedicated cancer service for its customers earlier this year.

Brian Dow, managing director of Mental Health UK, said: “Money problems and mental health issues like anxiety and depression can create a vicious cycle where problems can spiral. At its worst this can lead to debt, family breakdown and even homelessness. This service will provide some of the eight million people who are affected with somewhere to turn to… This new service will be able to help someone with schizophrenia who needs support managing their money and accessing welfare benefits, and someone struggling to pay their debts and bills whose mental health is deteriorating as a result.”