In a rare piece of good news for mental health services, the Happy Mums Foundation has secured £70,000 in grants, ensuring its in-person peer support groups for postpartum mental health can continue. The organisation, which supports women across Cumbria, was set up in 2015 and has helped more than 1,000 families. Last month, it warned that funding pressures threatened the groups, but the Postcode Lottery and National Lottery have now come to the rescue with £50,000 and £20,000 respectively.

Director Lucinda Bray said the foundation was "absolutely thrilled" and that the immediate risk of closure had been lifted. "We can keep supporting mums," she said. The alternative - moving support online - was under consideration, but Bray had previously cautioned that losing these real-world safe spaces could worsen the mental health of vulnerable women in the county. She noted that being able to talk about suicidal thinking is "quite a good preventative factor." "If that doesn't have an outlet and you don't have a safe space to talk about those things, where might they go?" she asked, in a sentence that should make us all think about the value of a decent chat.

The grants mean the foundation can not only maintain its current groups but also work on making the organisation more sustainable for the future. So, while the National Lottery might not have made everyone a millionaire, it has at least helped ensure that new mums in Cumbria have somewhere to turn. And that's a win worth more than a scratchcard.