Making a Difference to Children’s Mental Health

Two charities from the Daughters of Charity Services family, St Vincent’s Family Project (SVFP) and Out There, are putting a spotlight on children’s mental health after seeing a surge of requests for support. Their aim to raise awareness coincides with Children’s Mental Health Week, which takes place this week from 1-7 February and aims to raise vital funds to help young people get the emotional support they need.

Both charities work with young families and have seen a growing demand for mental health support since the beginning of the pandemic. As the end of the third UK lockdown remains unclear, the challenges and unsettlement on children only intensifies.

The charities have praised parents, carers and teachers for being observant to changes in young people’s emotions and behaviours. Irritability, low mood and a change in appetite and sleep can all be signs of poor mental health in a child.

CEO at SVFP, Andrew Varley, says stressful family dynamics, uncertainty, poverty and isolation have been contributing factors to the increase in young people’s anxiety, stress and depression. The charity has been supporting children as young as three-years-old who live in pressured family environments and have fraught relationships with their parents. Pre-lockdown, families were experiencing positive results with the charity’s face-to-face family therapy, but the latest restrictions have made it difficult for some children to continue.

“Many families benefit from physically visiting the charity because they have limited toys, tools and space at home to let off steam. By now children have exhausted the resources they have at home to keep them occupied and stimulated, so fears of further deterioration in children’s mental health are high with no loosening of restrictions in sight,” Andrew said.

“Schools are under a lot of pressure and are trying really hard to support children's mental health. Our student and fully qualified therapists are working closely with local schools to offer online therapy to those who need it,” he added.

Digital poverty is another issue the charities have been responding to. While both charities continue to offer young families support and therapy online, some families have limited or no access to the internet. Through fundraising and local partnership opportunities, the charities have been able to provide laptops and tablets to young families who need them.

“There has rightly been a big focus during the pandemic on children’s access to laptops and computers at home. This is not only crucial for home schooling but also other online activities including the creative and wellbeing activities we provide at Out There,” says Mark Turnbull, CEO at Out There.

Both charities encourage adults to seek support if they are concerned for a child’s mental well-being. For more information and resources, please visit the NHS website.