---
title: "People First: How NAViGO  Are Redefining Mental Health and Community Leadership in North East Lincolnshire"
description: NAViGO transforms mental health care in North East Lincolnshire with a holistic, community-focused approach, led by Simon Beeton's impactful leadership and partnerships through Our Future.
image: https://pages.our-future.io/hubfs/Simon%20Beeton.png
---

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 Jul 2, 2025, 1:41:46 PM

# People First: How NAViGO  Are Redefining Mental Health and Community Leadership in North East Lincolnshire

![Picture of Jose Davies](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/b673f5ad9e6bd5feec8549253794cc78) [Jose Davies](https://pages.our-future.io/communitynews/author/jose-davies)

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Mental health is more than a clinical diagnosis. It’s about where you live, what you do, and who’s around you.

That belief sits at the heart of **NAViGO**—a pioneering mental health service in North East Lincolnshire—and it’s embodied by its CEO, **Simon Beeton**.

This is the story of how a **social enterprise** is reshaping what care can look like, and how a civic leader found renewed purpose and partnership through **Our Future**.

**A Social Enterprise with a Social Heart**

NAViGO is far from your typical NHS mental health provider. Formed in 2011 as a not-for-profit social enterprise, it emerged from the local NHS trust to operate with greater freedom, creativity, and community focus.

NAViGO still delivers NHS-commissioned mental health services—from talking therapies to crisis response and inpatient care—but its model goes far beyond traditional service delivery.

As Simon Beeton explains:

> “We don’t just diagnose, treat, and discharge people. We help people find somewhere to live, something to do, and someone to love.”

That holistic philosophy underpins everything NAViGO does.

**Support That Starts With Dignity**

NAViGO’s approach blends clinical excellence with wraparound support rooted in the realities of daily life. Thanks to a blended funding model combining NHS and local authority investment, the organisation has the flexibility to respond to people’s needs in real, tangible ways.

**Housing:** NAViGO owns and manages supported housing, providing stability and safety for people in recovery.

**Employment:** They offer meaningful employment across catering, cleaning, horticulture, and more—often hiring people with lived experience.

**Enterprise:** Grimsby Garden Centre, owned and operated by NAViGO, doubles as a thriving retail space and a therapeutic environment where staff, volunteers, and service users contribute and connect.

The result? A community model that sees individuals not just as patients, but as people with potential.

**Changing the Conversation on Mental Health**

NAViGO isn’t just delivering services—it’s changing the narrative. **Mental health** isn’t something to be siloed or hidden away. It’s part of everyday life, and recovery thrives when people are supported with dignity, purpose, and opportunity.

Simon and his team are committed to challenging stigma, investing in relational care, and shaping a system that prioritises **inclusion** and **aspiration** over labels and limitations.

**Enter Our Future: The Power of Civic Connection**

Simon’s relationship with **Our Future** began with a simple invitation—to a Home Wins gathering, then an Our Future event. What followed was something deeper.

> “I didn’t expect it to grab me the way it did,” Simon recalls. “But the energy in the room was infectious. People genuinely wanted to make a difference.”

For Simon, who had worked with many local leaders individually, being in a shared space where civic-minded people could connect and collaborate felt transformative.

**From Inspiration to Action**

Those early connections quickly turned into tangible projects:

- Working with **Lucy from Horizon Youth Zone**, Simon began shaping how mental health support could be embedded naturally into the youth centre—making it part of the culture, not a service hidden behind closed doors.
- Collaborating with **Ann-Marie from Children’s Services**, he helped develop a plan to open a new children’s home—one that, through introductions made via Our Future, attracted national funders. Today, that vision has grown, with the potential for three new homes for vulnerable young people.

Through Our Future retreats and gatherings, Simon also reconnected with national leaders—some of whom were once part of the Big Society movement. It cemented a sense that something important was happening in Grimsby.

> “It made me think—this matters. This is what transformation looks like.”

**Leadership Rooted in Trust**

At the Sidney Sussex Leadership Retreat, Simon explored what it means to lead with openness, trust, and shared purpose. For him, the most powerful moments didn’t come from a title or strategy document—they came from connection.

> “We don’t need to control the space. Just bring the right people together and trust that good things will grow.”

When he and Ann-Marie shared their children’s home vision with the group, the response was immediate and emotional. What they thought was a good idea between two colleagues became something everyone in the room recognised as vital and urgent.

**Looking Ahead: Building the Future, Together**

Today, Simon is a member of the **Civic Entrepreneur Leadership Group**, a space Our Future has created for changemakers across North East Lincolnshire to meet, reflect, collaborate, and grow.

For Simon, that group—and the wider Our Future network—represents more than professional development. It’s a **community of action**.

> “When we open the door to that first children’s home—bring a vulnerable child back near their family, their school, their community—that’s the moment I’ll think: This is what it was all for.”

And his advice to other leaders wondering whether to get involved?

> “Just do it. Jump in. If you care about your place, this is where you need to be.”

**Why This Story Matters**

At **Our Future**, we believe the most powerful change comes from people who care deeply about their place—and are willing to roll up their sleeves and build something better.

**Simon Beeton** and **NAViGO** are living proof that with the right support, the right mindset, and the right relationships, real systems change is not only possible—it’s already happening.

We’re proud to work alongside organisations like **NAViGO** and leaders like **Simon** to help create a future that puts people first.

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