A community organisation is launching a mental health scheme due to a rise in sufferers seeking its help.

The Sikh Community Care Project is raising money for its workshop, called the social care and community project, which will support affected people and their families.

Jasbir Sanger, the group’s project manager, said: “More and more people are coming in with depression and a lot of [other] mental health conditions and stress-related conditions.

“The numbers have risen over the past two years and are getting higher and higher. More people are at least acknowledging it.”

In the past the SCCP has targeted Sikh and Hindu communities to make congregations “more aware” of the services it provides.

Sikh temple Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha Karamsar, in High Road, has been targeted by the SCCP in recent months.

The organisation, based in Argyle Road, Ilford, has also been visited by people whose families will not accept that they have mental health conditions.

One such visitor was a young woman with bipolar disorder, whose family did not want to acknowledge her illness.

Mrs Sanger said: “They got her married and now it is affecting her married life, because the family don’t understand what is wrong with her.

“That is why we thought it was important to do this now; we are trying to get people to understand that support is out there so [they] don’t let it get worse.”

As well as attending the workshops, people will be able to visit outside them to receive support.

The organisation, which began in 1992, primarily supports elderly and disabled people, women and young people.

It provides help in areas such as health and crime and organises a range of projects and self-help programmes.

The group kicked off its fundraising by hosting a charity dinner and dance on Friday (June 6) in Romford.

For more information on the Sikh Community Care Project or its mental health scheme, email Mrs Sanger on sccpredbridge@yahoo.co.uk or call 020 8554 3377.