APCMH Merton and Sutton was established as APCMH Merton in 1991, and has been running its befriending scheme for almost 30 years. It is affiliated to the national APCMH (Being Alongside), founded in 1986.
It is run by a committee of volunteers. Election to the Committee is open to both befrienders and those that they befriend. We are funded by donations and by grants from charitable bodies. At time of writing in 2020, there are approximately 40 ongoing befriending relationships which were established by APCMH.
Although initially founded by members of the Christian community, we are an open organisation and actively encourage participation of members from any religious group, or indeed those without any religious affiliation. This is also representative of our current group of befrienders and befriendees.