After the most challenging of times for us all, the urgent and growing mental health needs of children and young people has been well documented.
The Youth Trust, the Island’s largest independent charity dedicated to supporting Island children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, is experiencing record numbers of referrals for its services.
Pause in 18-25 referrals
Effective immediately, referrals for young Islanders aged 18-25 seeking one-to-one counselling support will be temporarily paused to enable the Trust to safely manage their waiting list.
Youth Trust support services for those aged 5-17 remain unaffected and those aged 18-25 will still be able to access support from the Youth Trust through their group Wellbeing Programme.
Unprecedented demand
The demand for Youth Trust services in 2023 has been unprecedented, with an average of 132 Island children and young people reaching out to them for support each month – in 2022 the average was 80.
Meghann Ayres, Isle of Wight Youth Trust Clinical Lead explains:
“Pausing referrals for one-to-one counselling support for 18-25-year-olds is not a decision we have taken lightly. We understand the very real challenges our young people are facing, but we have reached a critical juncture where we must ensure we can safely support those waiting to access our services.”
Support options
All those aged 18-25 who are already on the Youth Trust waiting list will be contacted directly by a member of the Youth Trust team to discuss the support options available to them.
Those aged 18-25 currently in sessions with a member of the Youth Trust team will be unaffected.
Committed to reinstating 18-25 one-to-one counselling support asap
The Youth Trust are committed to reinstating their 18-25 one-to-one counselling support as soon as possible, further details about their group Wellbeing Programmes can be found on the Youth Trust website, alongside further sources of support for young Islanders including contact details for the Isle-Talk Talking Therapies service, Isorropia Foundation and Kooth.
News shared by Michelle on behalf of IW Youth Trust. Ed
Image: Andrew Neel under CC BY 2.0
