Launch of new-look TeenTalk – Melksham charity helps young people’s mental health

LOCAL charity, Young Melksham, has relaunched their Early Help and Counselling service, TeenTalk, following a significant increase in demand over the past 12 months.

The service, first launched by the charity when it was formed nine years ago, has seen a constant demand over the years but the charity’s chair, Jon Hubbard, says that this has dramatically increased in the past year.

“Over the past 12 months we have seen the number of requests for help increase, with the level of need often being more extreme,” he said.

“Emotional disorders, particularly anxiety and depression are on the rise. We are just beginning to understand how the increasing prevalence of social media is negatively impacting young people’s emotional health.

“Earlier this year we made the decision to increase the provision we have available and doubled the number of counselling sessions we were offering. As a service that is entirely dependent on grants and donations this was a challenging decision, but we felt it was the right one as no young person should go without the support they need.”

During the Covid-19 emergency, TeenTalk launched a dedicated phone line for young people to be able to call and chat with one of their counselling team about how they were coping with lockdown. 

Feedback from young people to TeenTalk shows that anxiety levels for young people are higher than ever, with the issues relating to this year’s exam results having a significant impact – more so than Covid-19 itself.

“What’s interesting”, claimed Jon Hubbard, “is that we have seen evidence of as much anxiety from young people due to take their exams next year, or even the year after, than we have from those who have been directly impacted this year.  Young People are scared of the impact this will have on them, and on their future. 

“As we see the schools returning, but with ever changing conditions and rules surrounding how this will happen, again we are seeing concerns being expressed by young people.  We are anticipating a spike in demand during the later parts of September and October as young people start dealing with the pressures of returning to school and all of the changes enforced on them through social distancing and having to work in ‘bubbles’.”

Figures released by the Local Government Association (LGA) show that at least one in eight children and young people have a diagnosable mental health condition with, by the age of 17, a quarter of young women having a mental health disorder. Shockingly, half of these young women report having self-harmed or attempting to take their own lives.

Overall, over half of all mental health disorders, of all ages, start before the age of 14, with 75 percent by 24 years of age.

According to the Bright Futures report “Struggling with Mental Health” published by the LGA, “Children and young people are more likely to have poor mental health if they experience some form of adversity, such as living in poverty, parental separation or financial crisis”.

However, at the same time, specialist services are turning away one in four of the children referred to them by their GPs or teachers for treatment. In 2017 more than 338,000 children were referred to CAMHS (the NHS specialist Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service), but less than a third received treatment within the year. 

“That’s why we offer a free-to-access counselling service,” explains Young Melksham chair, Jon, “We recognise that often money is the limiting factor in being able to access the support these young people so desperately need. For many young people just admitting that they have a challenge and need to seek help is a massive, hugely challenging step. To then have to ask parents who are struggling to financially cope to pay for expensive therapy can prove to be an insurmountable hurdle. 

“Our service will work with any young person aged 10 to 25. Making a referral into TeenTalk is really easy, just visit our new website at teentalk.org.uk and complete the simple online form. We will get back to you and explain the process and let you know when we will be able to start. If there is a delay before we can start your dedicated one-to-one sessions, then one of our team will keep in contact with you regularly to see how things are going. 

“Whether you are on our waiting list or not, anyone is welcome to call our TeenTalk line on 01225 667328 and have one of our team give you a call back for a simple chat.”

Young Melksham is a charity based at The Canberra Centre on Spa Road in Melksham and is funded entirely by grants, donations and fundraising activities. To support the charity’s work with children and young people’s mental health please visit http:// teentalk.org.uk/donate . To find our more about Young Melksham you can visit their main website at http:// youngmelksham.org.uk.