A Kingston mental health charity has hit out at the council for telling them to vacate their premises without any notice or consultation.

Kay Harris, CEO of The Fircroft Trust, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the charity was told to leave its premises in Ditton Road, Surbiton, during the middle of the pandemic in July last year.

The charity had to suspend its face-to-face work during the first lockdown in March and staff have not been able to return to collect their possessions since.

They are now desperately trying to find new premises.

Ms Harris said it was “a complete shock” to be told to leave without any notice after leasing the building from the council for more than 40 years.

“The whole country, the whole world, is talking about mental health and mental ill-health, and how the pandemic is going to affect people’s mental health. And yet we’ve got the perfect place where we could have even expanded and supported even more of Kingston’s residents,” she said.

“We’ve tried to reassure people as much as possible that we will find another place and that there will be another Fircroft. At the moment we’re providing telephone support and some outdoor support where we can, but obviously that’s not ideal, that’s not the Fircroft that people have grown to rely on.”

Ms Harris said the council has offered some alternative sites but these have so far been “totally unsuitable.”

“The Fircroft building is a big old Edwardian house and what they’ve offered us has been a few two bedroom caretaker houses, which is totally unsuitable and not big enough.

“The other thing that we need is something that is accessible by means of disability accessibility and also public transport. With Ditton Road there is a bus stop at the end of the road,” she said.

“I think the council has behaved badly, they didn’t manage this in the way that they could have done and, in my opinion, should have done.

“If they wanted the building back they should have given us notice in the proper way, and given us the opportunity to find an alternative and suitable site.

“We still have all our belongings in there and we’re waiting for them to give us the OK to go in and access the building because they’re saying they have concerns over the fabric of the building.

“But we’ve had our own surveys and while we all acknowledge that the building needs some work done, we have actually offered to pay for it or make a substantial contribution towards it, but we’re not really getting very far with that. I think they just want the building back.

“We’ve accepted that they want the building back and we need to find an alternative, but that’s not particularly easy at the moment.”

A spokesperson for Kingston Council said they “really value” the work The Fircroft does in the community.

They added: “Unfortunately their building can’t be used at the moment because the property isn’t safe and we are actively investigating the structural problems there.

“We want The Fircroft Trust to continue to thrive and are actively working with them to find them alternative accommodation for their immediate needs which they feel is suitable.

“We are working hard with Fircroft to find a solution and will continue to do so. In the meantime we continue to commission The Fircroft Trust to work with Kingston residents with mental health needs and have commissioned extra services in recent months.

“The mental health crisis which COVID-19 has caused means their work is needed more than ever. Because of the COVID-19 crisis the Trust, like other organisations, is currently providing its services digitally.”