WE NEED TO ACT NOW

We have seen a 116% increase in referrals to our services from January 2021 to June 2021. We're hearing from children, young people and their families about how the covid-19 pandemic has led to them feeling stressed, worried and low in mood, with big drops in their confidence and self-esteem.

Children's mental health services were stretched before the pandemic and now they can only help the children who are most unwell. At Lancashire Mind, we can help to relieve the pressure on these services and reach children before their mental health worsens but we need your help.

7 out of 10 children and young people who experience a mental health condition have not had appropriate support at an early enough age. Providing support now, when so many children have been affected by the pandemic, is vital. We can show children and young people how to look after their mental health now, and as they grow older, meaning they are at a far lower risk of developing a mental health condition later in life.

£10,000 will enable us to reach at least 40 children, if we can raise more then we can reach more so every penny counts! Your donation will help us to continue to change the lives of children across Lancashire.

Watch the Appeal video here

James's* Story Watch James's Story here

James, aged 14, and his family caught Covid-19 early on in the pandemic. When it came to the return to school in January, James was worried about the virus because he didn't want his family to get sick again.

He'd experienced severe headaches on his return to school after the first lockdown and was worried this would happen again. James became very anxious; he was concerned about his health but also about the amount of time he'd missed from school. He had exams coming up and wanted to do well but didn't feel able to cope with them.

James's mum became increasingly worried about him and decided to contact Lancashire Mind after being recommended to do so by his school nurse who had seen the difference that wellbeing coaching could make.

James was reluctant at first but after meeting his Wellbeing Coach who explained that lots of people were experiencing similar emotions and worries linked to the virus, he decided to see how the Coach could help him. Together they set some goals for things that James wanted to achieve.

James completed six one-to-one coaching sessions and, over time, started to feel calmer and less worried. "I feel I've achieved my goals, I've learned lots of different ways to cope with how I was feeling. I take things slowly and use the breathing exercises my coach showed me. I talk to my family about my worries now, which I didn't do before."

Beth's* Story Watch Beth's Story here

11-year-old Beth found lockdown extremely challenging. Beth's mother experiences poor mental health, which worsened during the pandemic. Beth struggled being at home through the pandemic and not being able to access support for her mum, causing her own mental health to deteriorate.

Beth's school contacted Lancashire Mind in the hope that we would be able to quickly arrange the right support for Beth because her local mental health service was oversubscribed with long wait times.

Within a couple of weeks, Beth had her first one-to-one session with a Lancashire Mind Wellbeing Coach. After six sessions of coaching, Beth had developed a clear understanding of her emotions and feelings and how this had negatively affected her self-worth. "I feel more settled at home now. I've told my mum about the different exercises I did with the coach and we now do them together so its helping mum too. I feel much better about myself."

How You Can Help

Lancashire Mind have never seen the demand for support for children and young people as high as it is currently. With 50% of mental health conditions developing before the age of 14 we must ACT NOW - but we cant do this alone.

Can you help us to reach more children? Help us to give more children like James and Beth the support they deserve - it could be life changing.

£5 could answer a call to a parent, carer or teacher, providing support and signposting to local services

£20 could provide 30 minutes of one-to-one support for a child

£50 could deliver a coaching session for a small group of children

£100 could deliver a workshop for a local school, teaching children simple daily activities for looking after their mental health

£250 could provide six sessions of one-to-one coaching for a child

We want every child in Lancashire to be able to get the support they need, when they need it. Every pound you donate will help towards providing that support.

PLEASE DONATE NOW

*Names have been changed but stories are real.