Jane Alrø Sørensen, Secretary General of Bedre Psykiatri (Better Psychiatry), was very grateful when she received the news that Sol og Strand and Sol og Strand Foundation had decided to support the organization's work with a donation of DKK 200,000.

"We are delighted and very grateful, because this donation will enable us to offer personal counseling to more relatives. This is important at a time when the need to strengthen and support relatives has never been greater," says Jane Alrø Sørensen.

The organization is the only one in Denmark that specializes in helping relatives of people with mental illness. The counselors, who all have backgrounds in psychology, health, and social work, provide advice and guidance by phone, email, and digitally, and the need is growing, says Jane Alrø Sørensen.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of psychiatric patients, but the number of staff has not kept pace. As a result, we are seeing an extremely strained psychiatric system that is close to collapse, and in the midst of it all are the relatives, who are becoming increasingly desperate because they feel powerless, says Jane Alrø Sørensen, adding that Bedre Psykiatri has never before experienced such high demand for counseling as it is seeing now.

– In the first six months of 2023, nearly 600 relatives sought help from our counseling service. We are being contacted by an increasing number of parents of children under the age of 13 who are suicidal and who cannot get help from psychiatric services. We talk to relatives of mentally ill spouses who are sent home from psychiatric wards after just a day or two.

The demand for support for relatives is evident from the popularity of courses on the subject. According to Jane Alrø Sørensen, there is a waiting list of 1,000 people to participate in one of the courses for relatives, which are held in the five regions.

"We have just offered three courses in the capital region, and one of them was fully booked after just 45 minutes, which says something about the desperation among drivers. Our hope is to be able to hold 50 courses next year and at least twice that number in the following years," she says.

A dream come true

In 1979, Margit and Kjeld Andersen established Sol og Strand A/S. The couple has now transferred ownership to a foundation based on a desire to preserve and develop the company in Danish hands and to support charitable and local causes.

"With this fund, we have secured the future of Sol og Strand , which we have always referred to as our 'third child', and we have realized our dream of helping to make a difference for others," says Kjeld Andersen.

"It is rewarding for us to be able to support Bedre Psykiatri, which is experiencing an enormous need for support for relatives. There is no doubt that it is exhausting to be a relative of someone with a mental illness, but hopefully our donation can help ensure that more people receive the necessary guidance and advice," says Margit Andersen.

In total, the fund has donated just under three million kroner this year, and this amount is expected to increase in the future.

"The fund is a guiding star for the employees of Sol og Strand A/S, and we want to make a difference in the world around us by supporting local and charitable causes. The better we do at Sol og Strand, the greater the impact on the foundation and its work, says Per Dam, CEO of Sol og Strand A/S.