The charity started a two-year pilot programme last year which focused on a proactive and preventative support for the whole community including, but not limited to, those living and working on the Sandringham estate.
It is hoped the project could become a blueprint for other rural estates across the UK looking to invest in their communities.
Prince William comforted businessman Paul Gannon, who came close to tears when discussing the invaluable support he had received for about four years.
“My experience is that Mind have become a sort of family,” he told the prince.
“I’m very isolated up here, my family are elsewhere and, yes, they’ve been very useful.
“I’ve had PTSD issues which have really come back to haunt me and it’s good to be able to talk, not just go on to anti-depressants and things like that, to actually [talk] to real people, caring people and people you trust.”
Kayleigh Armager, the rural mental health co-ordinator for the project, said it could be difficult for people living and working in rural areas to get access to mental health support.
“There’s also a stigma – that can be a generational thing – of ‘how could I possibly go and talk about that to somebody else?’,” she explained.
“That’s why I’m here, based in such a safe space in these communities where people feel safe and can come and have those difficult conversations if they feel they want to.”
She said the project had already seen an “incredible” amount of people and had “massive” results – whether that was integrating people into further services, supporting them with counselling or other groups within the charity.
