Our history

The Times published an anonymous article by John Pringle in which he wrote about his experience of caring for his son who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and the ways in which that diagnosis affected the family.  This opened up conversations around the country and began a movement of changing the way mental health was spoken about.

John Pringle formed the Schizophrenia Fellowship, which became the National Schizophrenia Fellowship (NSF) in 1974, bringing together four nations across the UK with a single mission – to be a voice for individuals and their families/carers who are suffering/affected by serious mental illness.

Dr Dafydd Alun Jones established the North Wales Alcohol Council, after setting up a dedicated unit to treat alcoholism at Denbigh mental hospital in 1968. The North Wales Alcohol Council became CAIS (Cygnor Alcohol Information Service) in 1992.

Alan Douglas founded The Alcohol Advice Centre above a small outfitters shop in Swansea to be able to provide counselling services for individuals affected by alcohol issues in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend. The organisation grew and them became the Welsh Centre for Addiction and Dependency (WCADA).

The NSF in Wales becomes Hafal – an independent Welsh charity supporting carers and families with severe mental illness. In 2010, Hafal campaigned successfully for new Mental Health legislation for Wales, now known as the Mental Health Measure with service users and carers at the heart of the campaign.

A Welsh Government Peer Mentoring service was funded, to be delivered by people with lived experience. CAIS, Hafal and WCADA began working together in partnership.

The original four nations from the UK-wide NSF came back together after 14 years to form Mental Health UK. At the same time, CAIS, Hafal and WCADA start working together to form Adferiad, a charity created as a partnership with the goal of delivering co-occurring services across Wales.

Former Chairs of Hafal, Elin Jones becomes Life President to represent the charity at local and national level, and campaign on behalf of its members for improved services and support.

CAIS, Hafal and WCADA decide to deepen their partnership and merge creating Adferiad as we know it today. Combining the skills, knowledge, and expertise in the fields of substance use, mental health, housing, criminal justice, veterans, carers, gambling and employment and support, their aim was to meet the needs of the people who need it most, with a unified approach to delivering quality services.

Adferiad and Diverse Cymru decided to merge, preserving their longstanding history of collaboration and committing to empowering services that enable our clients to thrive.