Per Mertesacker with service users at the new centre in Lowther Road, Holloway

A FORMER Gunners captain and World Cup winner opened a new mental health centre.

Per Mertesacker, the Arsenal Academy manager, told the launch about how he had worked in a mental health hospital in Germany before becoming a football star. The new centre in Lowther Road, Holloway, has a range of mental and physical health services under one roof, along with a community café.

Mr Mertesacker said: “This is an issue that is close to my heart. As a young man in Germany, I spent a year working in a mental health hospital, and the experience was both humbling and life shaping.

“Our mental wellbeing is just as important as our physical wellbeing. That’s something we work on every day at our club, whether that’s giving our young Gunners in the academy the tools and confidence they need to learn and grow, or whether it’s our community team, who are providing essential support and care to some of the most vulnerable people in our area.

“I’m proud I can share in this moment to deliver a first-class facility right in the heart of our community, that will play a major role in to supporting both patients and staff for years to come.”

At 1 Lowther Road it will be the new centre for Islington residents who need help with complex depression, anxiety, trauma, personality disorders and rehabilitation. It is also the new home of the Islington Clozapine and Depot Clinic.

The building is part of the North London Mental Health Partnership’s St Pancras Transformation Programme, an NHS project to move services out of St Pancras Hospital and into modern facilities “in the community”.

Jinjer Kandola MBE, chief executive of NLMHP – formerly Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust – said she was “delighted to welcome Per to Lowther Road”, adding: “The cutting-edge design of Lowther Road was developed with input from service users, carers, our staff, and the local community, and can be adapted as our needs change over time.”

Johnny Valavanis, an Islington resident who participated in the design of Lowther Road through the Patients’ Council, said: “The centre will be invaluable to any person who needs mental health support and will hopefully help to provide early intervention to avoid the need for someone to be admitted to hospital. It will also be a valuable place for those in the community whose lives are impacted by mental health challenges and need extra support to help them live independently.”