1987 to Present Day
1987
Centred has been around since 1987, although at that time we were called Birchwood. We started out as a charity providing much-needed support to people with mental ill-health. We helped people who were moving back into the community on their journey to recovery.
The key people behind the birth of Birchwood were Derek Bigg, our first chair and a Senior Finance Officer with Local Authority. Other key people included the Highland Health Board, Senior Nurse Alex Wells and Senior Social Worker Malcolm Jack.
The key people behind the birth of Birchwood were Derek Bigg, our first chair and a Senior Finance Officer with Local Authority. Other key people included the Highland Health Board, Senior Nurse Alex Wells and Senior Social Worker Malcolm Jack.
1989
The groundbreaking scheme at Birchwood was a great success, so a second scheme was launched in 1989 in the Kinmylies area of Inverness. An office base at Craig Dunain Hospital was created.
1991
Going from strength to strength, in 1991 another scheme was founded in Fort William at Gharbeinn House, now called Meal na Mara.
1992
We had a major boost in 1992 when the Highland Health Board gifted us some land next to Hilton Hospital to build a property. This was for patients displaced following the closure of a ward at Craig Dunain Hospital. And so, Birchwood House was built (the current home of our Recovery Centre) while a nearby building was converted into flats.
1994
1994 saw another of our schemes established at Invergordon to serve the community of Easter Ross with an office base was at The County Hospital in Invergordon. In the same year, our two Inverness schemes (Birchwood Terrace and Kinmylies) were combined. We changed our name to Birchwood Highland, reflecting the growing reach of our services.
2005
In 2005 Birchwood House was extensively remodelled to ensure it could offer a pioneering new model of care, one that was focused on recovery. Then in 2008, a residential centre to support people was opened and the huge success of this initiative has led to the development of the Recovery Centre as we know it today.
2017
In 2017 due to high demand, we re-established our service in Caithness, (a scheme we previously had to close due to difficulties sustaining the service). This sparked our movement into other areas of care, including the large-scale rollout of Care at Home services which was developed alongside our traditional housing support services for people experiencing mental ill-health.
2020
In 2020 we began to develop our Recovery College. The idea of having a Recovery College in Highland had been part of the NHS strategic plan for 10 years but had never been realised. Centred have made this a reality and launched its Recovery college, now called Discovery College, in 2023. The college was developed with the help of Habitus who have supported the development of Recovery Colleges throughout the world. Our model is based on Canadian and Dutch models of Recovery Colleges.
2025
Due to the success of the Discovery College in Inverness, it was rolled out to a second location in Caithness, one the most isolated and remote regions of the Highlands, in 2025.
