Walk-in mental health services have “significant advantages”, John Swinney has said, but he was unable to say how much the Government will invest in them.
The First Minister was speaking during a visit to the Nook in Glasgow, an innovative project run by Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) which allows people to seek mental health treatment without a referral.
The charity has plans to expand, hoping to open another centre in Aberdeen this month and in Edinburgh early next year, but speaking to the Press Association from the Glasgow facility, the First Minister was unable to say how much money the Government would stump up to support them.
The SNP manifesto for last month’s election pledged £10 million for SAMH over three years to expand the service.
“Supporting people with their mental health challenges is a vital part of the Government’s programme and SAMH is taking forward a really interesting drop-in centre model, which provides instant access for individuals to mental wellbeing support,” he said.
“I’m here to understand and to listen to the explanation about the benefits of that service, because I can see significant advantages in incorporating such a service in our provision across the country, because it means that people will get immediate and early intervention where they face mental health challenges.
First Minister @JohnSwinney visited one of Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH)’s drop-in mental health hubs in #Glasgow.
He highlighted @ScotGov’s plans to expand on SAMH's work as part of the Government's continued focus on providing community-based mental health support. pic.twitter.com/weF8RhxajK
— First Minister (@ScotGovFM) June 3, 2026
“One of the big themes of my Government is going to be about shifting more and more of our public service activity into early intervention, so that people get the support when they need it the most and at the earliest opportunity.”
But when asked how much the Government is looking to spend in helping the expansion, the First Minster said: “The Government is going to work with SAMH on how we take forward the development of their ideas.
“I want the Government to be supportive, we’re not in a position yet to make financial commitments about the programme and SAMH have got a programme that they’ve fundraised for and are taking forward, but I want the Government to work closely with them to make sure that we make as much progress as we can on this important development.”