SOMEONE TO TALK TO
– OUR CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMME

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The importance of children’s mental health

According to the NHS there is an average of an 18 week waiting time for referrals to be seen by a mental health professional. In the last two years these waiting times have dramatically increased because of the pressure on the NHS from the COVID-19 Pandemic.   Our partners have found that these wait times can be too long for children and can only increase the deterioration of their mental health meaning that waiting for 18 weeks or more to see a mental health professional can have a lasting impact on children.  

Between April and December 2020, there was a total of 193 likely child suicides in the UK, self-harm rate in children aged between nine and twelve has doubled in the last six years and a survey of secondary school children by Place2Be, a charity that offers counselling in schools, shows self-harm reports rose 77%.

Our Someone To Talk To mental health programme funds counselling sessions that are free for children

We want to ensure that children and young people get the support they need. By funding mental health support services, we know that our mental health programme is providing much needed mental health services to children around the UK.

Little Lives UK funds and works closely with our partners and other support giving organisations to make sure that children around the UK can receive professional mental health support, such as free one-to-one counselling, when they need it.

Every child deserves the best start in life filled with happiness, laughter fun and joy.

Support our programme

A kid talking to an adult about her thoughts and feelings

Children have benefited
from free mental health
sessions through
Someone To Talk To

A kid receiving mental health counselling

Funding 40 therapy sessions for Tiny Tim’s Children Centre

Our donation to Tiny Tim’s Children Centre ensured that 40 children from low-income families could receive free counselling sessions. The main beneficiaries of Tiny Tim’s are children who suffer from muscular disabilities, respiratory problems, behavioural issues, sensory/physical impairment, and incurable conditions.

Counselling sessions are an invaluable way to improve their quality of life by boosting self-esteem and reducing pain.

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‘Someone To Talk To’
mental health programme partners

ReWellness Counselling Adults & Children

Rewellness are a children and family counselling service based in Poole who provide one-to-one and group sessions to children who are in need of guidance and mental health support.

Their aim is to support as many children and families in the area as possible by providing a confidential, professional and caring service that help to address any mental health concerns they may have.

Dorset Mind

The work of Dorset Mind is vital in ensuring that young people do have someone to talk to when they need help with their mental health. Especially as the cases of poor mental health are now rising, Dorset Mind’s job has never been harder or more needed.

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December 2021 – We are pleased to announce our support and donation of £1,500 to Dorset Mind, through our Child Community Support Programme. The money donated will ensure that six children will have access to one-to-one wellbeing support, once a week for 26 weeks. The sessions will include face to face counselling to support their wellbeing and to talk about any issues they may be facing.

During the last two years and during the pandemic, the number of cases of anxiety and mental health issues has steadily risen. According to a survey carried out by Dorset Mind, 87% of respondents felt lonely or isolated with no one to talk to during the pandemic and 40% who had not previously suffered with mental health issues now are.
The sessions that Little Lives UK have contributed towards have been set up in direct response to the worsening state of mental health of young people because of the pandemic in the UK.

Teens In Crisis+

Teens In Crisis+ is a charity that was founded in 1993 to help support, maintain and better the mental wellbeing of those in the area that are struggling or are at risk of struggling with mental health concerns.
They are in important link to vital services in a largely rural area that is often neglected when it comes to funding and support for mental health services.

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Little Lives UK is delighted to announce a donation of £1,500 to TIC+ for free counselling sessions for young people in the local area. The project is called the Free Access Counselling Service. Here young people who are struggling with their mental health can access professionals either face to face or over Zoom to talk about ways to manage their concerns. This is done through series of workshops, coping mechanisms and face to face counselling sessions.
The donation of £1,500 from us will be able to fund 25 sessions for young people in Gloucestershire.

The young people who access this come with a variety of mental health concerns that include addictions, domestic violence, bullying, sexual abuse, physical disability, death and loss. Because of various reasons such as lack of transport, lack of early intervention and the correct social services, some children and young people of the area slip through the net and their mental health is not discussed and supported as it should be.

The above reasons are exactly why TIC+ is such a vital service in the area. We are proud to be supporting them and all he hard but amazing work they do.

Shine21

Based in Haxby in Yorkshire, Shine21 are doing some amazing work in supporting families who have a child who has Down’s Syndrome.

Shine21 believe that parents are pivotal to their child’s development and work closely with parents and carers to offer advice, support, reassurance and to ensure they are well prepared to help their child reach their potential.

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Shine21 use the services of outsourced Speech and Language Therapists for sessions with the children and their families. We are excited to announce that we have donated £1,500 towards these sessions to help to support at least 35 children who are being supported by Shine21.

The sessions follow a personalised curriculum which provides regular and bespoke developmental resources for effective speech and language therapy. Their approach is critical in its success as it ensures that the children are given a bespoke and personal service from the therapists, with the maximum number of children in each session being only 4, the sessions offer personal time between the therapist and the children and a chance for social interaction between the children.

The sessions hope to achieve a baseline knowledge for all children in communication but also to ensure that the children learn how to effectively communicate with each other, learn some literacy and numeracy skills and set them up in a place that means they are able to commence with school and learn life-long skills.

Children Heard and Seen

Children Heard and Seen work closely with children whose parent or parents are in prison and offer one-to-one sessions with them to ensure that their needs are being met. The sessions are run to improve their self-esteem and their confidence, improve their mental wellbeing, give them a chance to talk about their feelings in a safe space and help to alleviate any issues they may have.

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Across the UK there are thousands of children who have got a parent in prison. This can leave the child with a sense of isolation because of the limited time they can see their parents.

Not only does this cause an issue with their socialisation with other children their age, nationally speaking, 65% of boys with a parent in prison will go on to offend themselves later in life. Intervention for children with a parent in prison is vital in ensuring that the child feels safe themselves but also, they are given the tools to lead a happy and healthy life instead of becoming involved in criminal activity.

We are pleased to announce that we have donated £1,500 through our Someone To Talk To campaign towards these sessions. 10 children who have a parent in prison can receive one-to-one support from a professional case worker. The children will be able to gain access to intensive courses weekly for 5 weeks.

Charities like CHAS are so vital in helping these children, from over the 500 children that they have helped, only 2 have gone on to offend themselves. Many of the children that they have supported have seem an increased school attendance rate and higher achievements despite the potential barriers they face.

Via Wings

Via Wings are a Northern Ireland based charity that aims to support those in their community who are living with disability, at risk of exclusion, have or may potentially have mental health concerns and those who are risk of social isolation. They work with local community leaders and other charities and organisations to ensure that everyone in society is helped in a non-judgemental way.

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Little Lives UK are proud to announce a £1,500 donation towards the funding of a one-to-one play therapy specialist who over the course of 12 months is hoping to deliver 125 sessions for disadvantaged primary school children.

The sessions will encourage the children to explore their creativity, express themselves using play, painting, water and clay, puppetry, poetry, movement and music. The sessions aim to help children overcome traumatic experiences through learning techniques that help to facilitate the expressions of emotions, encourage the development of positive decision making, learn problem solving, develop better social skills and help to improve their communication skills. The outcomes of the sessions is to see a reduction in anxiety, a raising in self-esteem and the teaching of new skills that will help improve the children’s quality of life.

The Maze Academy

Maze Org CIC are the charitable arm of the Maze Academy in Cricklewood, London. Here, they aim to support every child with the learning, regardless of background. 75% of the families who contact the academy are from a low-income household and are not able to afford paid intervention. Maze Org CIC helps these families to gain access to intervention services.

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We are pleased to announce a donation of £1,495 to the Maze Org Inc to help fund 24 one-to-one early intervention sessions for children.

The sessions will concentrate on strategies and tools to help the children regulate their emotions and prepare them for learning again. MOC’s services are currently in high demand in a number of schools and have good relationships with schools across a number of 3 north London Boroughs. Through using tools such as ‘Zones of Regulation’ and ‘Social Stories’ they provide children with skills to appropriately respond to their environment, tools to manage their thoughts, feelings, behaviour and cognition, alternative ways to problem solve and successfully resolve new arising situations, ways to understand social norms and how to react appropriately and the teaching of effective communication skills.

The Mentor Link

The Mentor Link in Stourport on Severn provides one to one social and emotional support to distressed, disadvantaged and vulnerable children by providing them with a mentor. There is a broad spectrum of issues and challenges that ML help children overcome and manage each day.

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Waiting times with the NHS and CAMHS has risen dramatically and those in need are at risk of not receiving any help, especially those who are deemed to have ‘smaller issues’.

This is why Little Lives UK are proud to announce a donation of £1,500 towards a specialist counsellor to help children who are at risk of self-harming or are currently self-harming. The funding will be put towards 30 counselling sessions which would support up to 5 children across the year.

Mentees are often referred to the ML from local schools after they have been recognised to have poor mental health or are self-harming. The sessions will teach children how to manage their mental health in a safe way and to help overcome any mental health issues they may have.

Mindstars

Based in North Shields, Mindstars (NE) CIC support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people by working with local schools, parents, carers and the community to deliver a full-circle approach. MS use proactive early education to help reduce the long-term effects of mental health issues win adulthood by working and focusing on children at primary school age. Learning how to manage mental wellbeing at a young age is essential and will improve the future potential for young children.

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Through our Someone To Talk To campaign, we are delighted to announce a donation of £1,500 to help fund 10 mental health sessions for 15 children. In these sessions the children will learn how to manage their mental wellbeing with coping mechanisms and wellbeing techniques. Through the funding, the sessions and equipment will be covered.

The aims of the sessions are to improve mental health of children, give access to safe space where children can have a voice, reduce the need for mental health crisis support and help give the children a better quality of life.

Cruse Bereavement Scotland

Cruse Scotland is a charity based in Edinburgh who are dedicated to supporting those dealing with bereavement and the loss of a loved one. They are the only organisation delivery a range of free grief counselling, support and information across the country. Every year CS support 5,000 bereaved individuals in Scotland get their lives back on track by offering, counselling, advice, a helpline service and web chat service.

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  We are proud to announce that we have donated £2,000 to Cruse Scotland to help to run their Glasgow Bereavement Support for Children sessions. The funding will go towards 40 counselling sessions for young people aged 6-14 who have lost a loved one.  The counselling and support sessions will help the young people come to terms with their loss, help them to manage their feeling and emotions, and give them someone impartial to talk to.

Cells Project CIO

We are pleased to announce a donation of £2,200 to CELLS Project CIO for mentoring sessions for ten disadvantaged children and young people aged 11-17 for 20 weeks.

The weekly sessions will be one to one and will support them in overcoming behavioural issues that stem from injurious home lives, exploitation and exploitation from gangs.

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CELLS Project CIO are based in Liverpool and aim to educate children and young people about the serious consequences of crime. Their aim is to team children and young people about this in the hope that they won’t offend or reoffend. The children they work with are suffering from highest rates of poverty, deprivation and NEET (not in education, employment or education) in England. Because of this they are often targeted by gangs who exploit them, CELLS Project CIO work with the children and young people to ensure this doesn’t happen.

Family Journeys

Based in Edinburgh in Scotland, Family Journeys are a mental health charity that have supported vulnerable families in Scotland since the early 1980s. They support families whose parents are struggling with addiction, complex family conflict, separation and divorce; all which can have a devastating effect on young people and children. Family Journeys provide consistent non-judgemental children’s contact centres, children’s groups, mediation and support for the families.

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  We are proud to announce that we have donated £2,000 to Cruse Scotland to help to run their Glasgow Bereavement Support for Children sessions. The funding will go towards 40 counselling sessions for young people aged 6-14 who have lost a loved one.  The counselling and support sessions will help the young people come to terms with their loss, help them to manage their feeling and emotions, and give them someone impartial to talk to.

The Listening Ear

Their mission is to provide a professional and confidential service to the children and young people in our community; empowering them to manage stress and anxiety; and therefore, develop an improved quality of life.

The Listening Ear service has been acknowledged by both the BCP council and local schools to be an effective support for mental health and well-being.

Hey! The Mental Health Charity

With a £2,200 donation from Little Lives UK, Hey! The Mental Health Charity For Children and Young People will be able to continue running their Hey! Let’s Talk project, which will see that 12 young people between the ages of 5 and 25 years old and their families are supported with specialist counselling over a six week period.

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There has been a recent spike in referrals at HTMHC and an increase of 46% since 2020 of people seeking help or being referred, they are now supporting approximately 300 young people with their mental health concerns each week in Barnsley. The support is helping those in the area those who are living with mental health concerns which have been reported to stem from abuse, volatile home environments, substance abuse or from ASD/ADHD.

We are proud to be supporting such a great organisation who are doing so much for young people in their community.

SAYiT

SAYiT based in Sheffield have been supporting people from the LGBTQ+ community since 1999 with the core aim to transform the lives of young people who are LGBTQ+ or who are affected by HIV through supportive group work, youth action, education and influence.

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71% of the young people attending SAYiT have SEND needs or are neuro diverse and often experience bullying which then causes disengagement from formal education. This causes a detrimental impact on their mental health and on their future prospects and choices.

We are proud to be supporting SAYiT with a donation of £1,525 to fund the purchase of sensory room equipment that includes bean bags, noise cancelling earphones, sensory lamps and touch sensitive lighting. The equipment will be used in their Spectrum Snug and act as a safe space for the young people who attend the sessions that SAYiT hold.

The Family Haven

The Family Haven in Gloucestershire support families in the area who are homeless, living in unsuitable accommodation or are stuck in poverty as a result of their economic and social circumstances. They aim to empower families, broaden life experiences, improve mental health of parents and children, improve opportunities and encourage development of new skills for parents and children.

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We are pleased to announce a £2,200 donation to The Family Haven to fund a Nursery Practitioner who will provide one to one sessions for six months to improve educational opportunities for young children of vulnerable families. The aims of the sessions are to improve communication, numeracy skills, improve self-confidence, improve social skills and to give young people the start in education which is so vital for their progression.

London Children’s Practice

Based in South West London, the London Children’s Practice have been supporting children and young people in London since 2009. They work as a multidisciplinary clinic that offers comprehensive assessments, diagnostics and intervention services for families and children who are in need of support.

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Little Lives UK have previously worked with the LCP by providing funding for free therapy and counselling for counsellors to visit London colleges and schools and give free one to one sessions for children who need them but cannot afford private sessions.

The counsellors are trained to help young people and children with an array of concerns that range from anxiety, bereavement, depression to autism, dyslexia and development coordination disorder. The aim of the sessions given by the LCP are to encourage children to speak out about whatever concerns they have and also to find the best solutions to them.

U-evolve

U-evolve are based in Edinburgh and are a grassroots mental health charity that support children and young people with 1-to-1 sessions and group support. They specialise in supporting children with multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). A lot of the young people that are supported by U-evolve are offending in the community, taking great risks and withdrawing from positive influences.

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We are proud to be supporting U-evolve with a donation of £2,200 to support 95 hours of weekly 1-to-1 support for young people who are experiencing mental health concerns. The donation will mean that 8 young people a week will receive weekly sessions for a whole school term. The young people will also be able to benefit from group sessions and therapeutic coaching from the team at U-evolve. The sessions aim to teach the young people about how to manage their emptions and gives them back control of their futures.

Treasure Basket Association

The TBA were founded to help the local community to break the cycle of poor mental health, low educational achievement and poverty affecting children. The TBA are running free one-to-one sessions with a therapist and group play with a play practitioner at Neywood Junior School.

The Rising Sun Domestic Violence & Abuse service

The Rising Sun Domestic Violence & Abuse service in Kent addresses domestic violence and provides services, for adults, children and families. Children living with domestic abuse are at increased risk of experiencing emotional, physical and sexual abuse, and of developing emotional and behaviour problems.

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There are almost 1,500 domestic abuse incidents recorded each month in Kent alone, where children may have witnessed abuse.

We are pleased to have donated £2,000 towards their children and young person’s counselling service which will give children and young people access to trained specialists who will listen, encourage and mentor them. Children will have access to a safe space to explore their experiences and be given tools to help them heal and move forward.

Life and Soul Youth Work

NHS figures show that the number of under-18s in contact with NHS mental health services in England increased by nearly 30% in the last year. Life and Soul Youth Work of Tunbridge Wells work with children and young people aged 9-18 years.

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They provide group-based self-esteem and wellbeing sessions. These sessions are free of charge to young people in local primary and secondary schools within the Borough of Tunbridge Wells. We are honoured to be able to support them with a donation of £2,200 towards counselling sessions for children in need of mental health support.

With increasing pressures on schools and with the recent pandemic continuing to have a significant impact on children and young people’s mental health, these sessions are vital to those in need of mental health and wellbeing support.

Ways to support ‘Someone to talk to’
mental health programme

Donate Funds

You can donate funds easily on our website. Any donation guarantees that more children in need can gain access to vital mental health services.

Fundraise for us

Raise money to support our campaign and help your community by contributing to our mental health programme which gives children access to the mental health services they need.

Partner with us

If you run a charity, organisation or a company and want to make a lasting difference, then we want to partner with you. Partnering with Little Lives UK means that by working together, our mental health campaign can be supported over a longer term and more children can be helped.

Recommend our campaign

By letting people know about the work we do for children, we can have the potential to work with more mental health professionals and support as many children as possible.

Talk about our work

One of the simplest ways to support us is to share the work we do. Share our campaign on social media, on your blogs and mention us on your website to tell people about the work we do for children around the UK and help us to reach more people.

Support us with your friends

Do you or the people you work or live with want to be involved in working with us to further our work and support children with their mental health? You and your friends can help to support us by fundraising, volunteering or simply telling people about our campaign.

SOMEONE TO TALK TO– OUR CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMME