Supporting our children’s mental health
To mark Children’s Mental Health Week the council is raising awareness of some of the key local services that offer support to children and young people in Brighton & Hove.
www.e-wellbeing.co.uk is supported by the council and approved by the NHS. It’s run by YMCA Dialogue. Young people can access the support and information they need around their emotional health and mental wellbeing, in the right place at a time that is right for them.
The Brighton & Hove Wellbeing Service offers local children and young people counselling and therapy to support their mental health and wellbeing:
The city’s Schools Wellbeing Service runs a helpline for parents / carers and professionals who work with children:
- email SWSConsultationLine@brighton-hove.gov.uk or
- phone 01273 293 481.
This offers advice if you are concerned about a young person. It’s open weekdays from 9am to 5pm during lockdown.
Local charity Amaze offers mental health support to children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
The Children's Mental Health Week 2021 website contains a range of activities to help teachers and youth leaders, in both primary and secondary settings, engage children to talk about how they are feeling and facilitate discussions around their mental health.
The deputy chair of Brighton & Hove City Council’s Children, Young People and Skills committee, Elaine Hills, says: “With schools currently closed, we need to reflect more than ever before on the extra help and support children may need at this difficult time.
“In recent years we’ve recruited extra staff into the city’s inclusion support service, to improve mental health services in schools.
“Every primary school, secondary school and college now has a mental health worker attached to it.
“If our children are to cope with the extra mental demands living in a Covid-restricted world has placed on them, we need to make sure they are able to talk about their about mental health as easily as their physical health.”