Support from The Pixel Fund will play a key role in the running of YoungMinds Parents Helpline Plus project. YoungMinds Parents Helpline is a free and confidential service, which has been in operation for more than twenty years, and continues to fill a desperately unmet need among families struggling to find help and support for their children. Callers are first listened to and advised by one of their trained volunteers or full-time advisers, then if a caller needs more help for a particularly complex problem, the advisers can arrange a 50-minute call-back with a trained mental health professional, guaranteed within seven days.
Currently, the average maximum waiting time for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services is 6 months for a first appointment, and nearly 10 until the start of treatment. Therefore, the Helpline’s fast access to professional support is nothing short of a lifeline for parents of young people facing more severe mental health problems. In the twenty years that YoungMinds Helpline has been in operation they have continued to see a phenomenal growth in demand, supporting over 6000 families already since January 2019. Not only this, the complexity of enquiries is also intensifying; with 1,615 of these families receiving tier 2 support, and their safeguarding demand currently represents one third of all enquiries.
“When you don’t know where else to turn, it was just a lifeline for me.”
As well as this, YoungMinds online parent advice sessions have helped thousands of parents to access expert advice and insight into some of the biggest parenting challenges, and enabled them to ask their own questions to experts about a range of topics, such as exam stress, self-harm, cyber-bullying and many more. YoungMinds #Take20 resources have continued to support thousands of parents & carers to spend twenty minutes with their child doing a simple activity, and enabling them to check in on their mental health. We know that mental health problems are emerging at an increasingly early age, and as a result, the need for early intervention, really has never been so urgent. The Pixel Fund’s kind donation will vitally help YoungMinds to bring that early support to families from across the UK, providing the reassurance, advice and practical guidance that will help them get the help they need.”
On behalf of YoungMinds