We understand that emotional development is vital for children's overall growth and happiness. Here, you'll find a range of local and national support services, including counselling, therapy, and community programmes designed to nurture emotional resilience and provide guidance. Explore our resources to discover the tools and support available to help your child thrive emotionally.

Local Support:

Your school may have emotional and mental health wellbeing support available, please check with your individual school for further information.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire 24-hour urgent mental health helpline  Whether you feel your mental health problems have become much worse or are experiencing problems for the first time, you may need help quickly.  You can phone the mental health helpline for urgent advice – Tel: 0808 196 9127 (free phone 24 hrs a day 365 days a year).

The service is available for people of all ages, and accessible to friends and family of someone in distress.

You can also have a look at the sections below to gather more information: 

The Onside Children, Adolescents & Families (CAF) Team support children, young people and their families with a whole range of issues and problems that may be affecting their health and wellbeing. These include low level mental health, family relationships, education & training, health & wellbeing, special education needs & disabilities, and traumatic life events. Support is person-centred and tailored to your individual needs. Please note that a referral is needed to this service - please contact your GP who can make a referral.

 

Onside are working in partnership with GPs and Primary Care Networks across Worcestershire providing their Social Prescribing Services. Social Prescribing: Onside Advocacy, Worcestershire are based within GP practices and link patients with non-medical support to address people’s needs in a holistic way. They can support you to deal with issues including family, wellbeing, health, depression, loneliness etc. The referral can be made by your GP surgery or you can fill in a Self-Referral Form.

 

As a parent, you may find it useful to look at the Mental and emotional wellbeing page, though this isn’t SEND specific. It contains links to organisations who can help and support children and young people with their emotional and mental wellbeing, including self-help guides.

Mental and emotional wellbeing support and resources contains extra support for mental and emotional wellbeing.

ActOnIt  is a local school-based service run by Onside, available in some schools.  It is designed to provide children and young people with the skills and techniques to better manage their own emotional wellbeing and improve their confidence and self-esteem. This can be delivered one to one or in group work through their Blues and Bouncing Back programmes.  All referrals for ActOnIt should come directly from each individual school – please contact your school if you feel your child/young person would benefit from the ActOnIt service.

 

Onside Youth Support offers young people weekly one to one support sessions at specific Worcester locations. Young people have the opportunity to learn skills and techniques to better manage their own emotional wellbeing and improve their confidence and self-esteem, in a confidential safe space. 

 

Herefordshire and Worcestershire CAMHS provides a range of wellbeing and mental health support to children, young people and their families across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

You can visit their website to get more information about the services they offer:

The Reach4Wellbeing team supports and promotes the emotional wellbeing of young people and parent/carers through evidence based interactive online group programmes.

 

The Wellbeing and Emotional Support Teams (WEST) in schools service is designed to help children and young people aged 5-18 years access mental health and wellbeing support early on in educational settings.  Referrals into this service can be made through the mental health lead within the specific education setting, the child or young person can also self-refer via the school staff, who will then discuss it with the Mental Health Lead.  Parents/carers can also refer to the service via the designated Mental Health Lead within the school. Please note that this service is not available in all schools.

 

NHS Herefordshire & Worcestershire Talk Therapie provides a range of free, confidential support to people aged 16 and over across Herefordshire and Worcestershire. All services will have their own specific criteria, so we recommend contacting the service for further information. This includes: 

 

YourSpace is a free access to Mental Health & Wellbeing Hubs across the county for young people aged 11 to 25 years. For those aged 16 and over you can refer yourself or just turn up. Those under 16 will need a parental/professional referral and parental consent. Parent/professional and self-referral forms are available on the Onside website.  Hubs are located in Redditch, Worcester, Droitwich, Evesham and Malvern.

 

Wellbeing Works: Onside Advocacy, Worcestershire reflects an understanding that mental and physical wellness are essential components of work and career readiness.  There is a strong focus on creating a warm, welcoming and supportive environment where young people, aged between 16 and 24, can build trust and confidence in both the service and in themselves. 

They offer 1:1s, group support and peer support. Support is delivered in the heart of communities within youth hubs in Bromsgrove, Malvern and Evesham. 

This service accepts drop ins and you are also able to Self Refer

 

Herefordshire & Worcestershire ICB have commissioned Lumi Nova, a digital therapy platform aimed at CYP aged 7-12 with anxiety and phobia issues. The platform is primarily self-led and/or parent supported. This is an unlimited offer from 1st October 2024 available to anyone living in, or attending a school in, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

 

Worcestershire Here4YOUth is a children and young person’s alcohol and drug service for anyone up to the age of 18 living in Worcestershire. If you are the concerned parent of a young person, please contact them directly – Tel: 0300 303 8200 or email cranstounworcsreferrals@cranstoun.org.uk

 

National Support: 

Along with all the local support there is a variety of national support as well provided below: 

Kooth is an online, mental health and wellbeing service for children and young people. It is free and provides a wide range of therapeutic tools to help children and young people and support their mental wellbeing. The team of accredited counsellors provide safe and effective support to children and young people. Kooth also have a useful guide for parents on supporting your child with mental health concerns.

 

Find Help With How I'm Feeling | Advice For Young People | YoungMinds 

Support and information on services for children and young people up to 25, and their parents and carers. 

The Mix is the UK’s leading support service for young people. They will help you take on any challenge you’re facing - from mental health to money, from homelessness to finding a job, from break-ups to drugs. Talk to them via their online community, on social, through their free, confidential helpline or their counselling service.

Shout is a free, confidential, 24/7 text support service for anyone in the UK who is struggling to cope. To start a conversation, text the word HERE to 85258. Shout's trained volunteers are there to listen at any time of day or night, and messages won't appear on phone bills.

Shout 85258 is a de-escalation, volunteer-driven service. Shout work with people in immediate distress to take them through text conversation to a calmer moment and empower them with support and techniques to take their next steps to feeling better and handle future issues, as well as possibly signposting someone to further support services or their GP so that they can get continuous and long-term support.

There is no limit on the number of text conversations.

Wellbeing image of child with leaves growing as hair