New Mental Health Crisis Text Service – ‘CALMER’ to 85258

A new free, confidential mental health crisis text service is now available across the North East and North Cumbria. Anyone feeling anxious, stressed, isolated, or struggling can text ‘CALMER’ to 85258 for 24/7 support from trained mental health professionals via Shout.

This service is for all ages and complements existing NHS services.

Once you send the text, you’ll get four automated messages. You’ll be connected with a mental health professional as soon as one is free.
- They will send you a message to introduce themselves and ask how you’re feeling. You will then message each other back and forth, silently and privately. You can tell them about anything that might be upsetting you and only need to share what you want.

- The mental health professional will listen to how you’re feeling, talk to you about it and help you make a plan for after the chat ends, once you feel calmer and safer. Conversations with Shout usually last between 45 minutesand one hour.

- Your conversation will be saved in your messages if you ever need to look back and Shout is here 24/7 if you ever want to text again.

Published on 23 May 2025