Out and About Spring 2021

MENTAL HEALTH Time to Talk West Berkshire provides mental health support to young people. Chairwoman GEORGINA PUNTER explains how they continued through lockdown and about the charity’s new service to provide practical strategies to parents Out&About wellbeing

T he coronavirus pandemic is having a huge impact on young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Whether it’s exams being cancelled, having to adapt to home schooling or being isolated from friends and family, it’s hardly surprising that lockdown has exacerbated feelings of depression and anxiety among many. There has never been a more important time for young people to know they have somewhere – and someone – they can talk to in confidence. Luckily, help is at hand. Time to Talk West Berkshire is an independent charity that provides mental health support to more than 500 young people each year through 5,000 free counselling sessions. The charity has seen referrals to its service increase by more than 50 per

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If it is difficult to come to a facility or you feel you wish to stay anonymous, these mediums can enable young people to step forward in a potentially less intimidating way. It has also meant we

cent in the past two years and this figure is expected to continue to rise throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. Such is the demand for its services at the moment, it has another 70 on the waiting list. But despite the huge rise, there are still many young people who are too afraid to ask for help. Despite the fact we are all talking about mental health at the moment, which is obviously a good thing, it still takes a lot of courage for someone to open up about how they feel. We just want you to know we are here if you want to talk. No matter how you feel, you aren’t alone and there are ways we can help support you. The charity is on a mission to make sure it offers support to as many people as it can. The challenge, especially when current restrictions are in place, is how? During lockdown, Time to Talk adapted its services to be able to continue to provide much-needed support in the form of telephone and online counselling, which has proved to be a big success. Where some young people will prefer face-to-face, others have felt very comfortable to access our services via these other two mediums.

We just want you to know we are here if you want to talk. No matter how you feel, you aren’t alone and there are ways we can help support you.

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have been able to assist more young people throughout this time when social distancing has been very important. Time to Talk also runs courses and assemblies

in local schools and in the community on the subject of mindfulness, handling stress and “being me”, a series of workshops developing young peoples’ self-awareness and self-esteem. Most recently it launched the Time to Talk Parent Talk Series, which is designed to increase understanding and knowledge, as well as provide some practical strategies for those living with or supporting a child or young person.

For further information about the services that Time to Talk offer or to find out more about how to access free counselling, visit www.t2twb.org

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O&A SPRING 2021