Time for young people
Invest in early support to help prevent mental health crisis. Children in the UK are facing a profound mental health emergency. Across the country, young people are being left out and let down.
Children are experiencing significantly lower wellbeing
Today, children are experiencing significantly lower wellbeing during their teenage years than they were a decade ago. But what makes today’s experience so unique? The rise of smartphones and social media means that teenagers face over-exposure to global crises, easy access to inappropriate adult material, and images showing levels of perfection that don’t exist. All this is making them feel overwhelmed and inadequate. Criminal exploitation and online grooming are huge and growing dangers for today’s teenagers, with criminals targeting them online to exploit their vulnerabilities and fears.
It is easier to build strong children than repair broken adults.
Frederick Douglass
Time for young people
Children need new tools to navigate a world that feels increasingly uncertain for everyone. At The Children’s Society, we want to help provide these tools and support for every child – without referrals or waiting lists – so that they can take on their futures with confidence.
We want them to have a place they can receive free, timely, expert attention before they reach crisis point.
That’s why we will be establishing a network of early intervention mental health hubs on high streets across the UK called Time for young people. Staffed with trauma-informed youth workers in a supportive and inclusive environment that has been co-designed with children, Time for young people will show them they are not alone.
What will Time for young people offer?
Time for young people will be strategically located in communities where young people live, and where they most need support. We have two dedicated Time hubs already open in Newham, East London and in Leeds, with services operating within existing venues in Gateshead, Torbay, Coventry and Warwickshire. By 2033, we aim to open a further five standalone hubs in areas of high need.
Time for young people
- In addition to walk-in access to trusted professionals, we will provide holistic support that address related issues like abuse, relationship and educational challenges, and social isolation. In this way, we can offer a rounded approach to emotional health that goes beyond rigid therapeutic intervention.
- The support services will host regular workshops that educate young people on how to manage stress, build resilience, and navigate life’s challenges, allowing them to connect with peers experiencing similar issues.
- We will maximise impact in communities by conducting extensive local out reach work, working with schools, libraries, and other local venues to extend our reach to the most marginalised young people. We aim to positively impact the lives of 1,500 children in our first year in Newham.
- The impact of our Newham support space will be evaluated by an independent learning partner, helping us establish robust measurement to understand how Time for young people is benefiting wellbeing at both the individual and community level.
- Each service will be established in consultation with the NHS and other local agencies to uniquely complement existing services.
Preventing crisis has never been more urgent
In the UK there are approximately 1.5 million children aged 8 to 16 with a probable mental health condition. Referrals to the NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have soared by 76% since 2019, and health leaders believe that permanent, lifelong damage is being done to children who can sometimes wait up to three years for professional help. Many of these young people will have challenges that might have been easily treated before escalating to crisis.
Moving towards preventative measures will also reduce suffering for whole families and communities who experience the ripple effects of children being unwell. Yet in recent years, spending on early intervention services (like Sure Start centres, family support services, or services for children) has fallen by more than 45% nationwide, while spending on late intervention (like youth justice, safeguarding, or child protection) has risen by 47%.
Schools, now often relied upon to plug the gap, are overstretched and can be ill-equipped to address the complex challenges many young people are facing. Furthermore, school absence rates have risen, and it is often the children who most need additional help that are missing out.
In 2022/23, 36.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent from school, making interventions outside school even more vital.
Never doubt how much you’re worth Never doubt how much you’re worth
Why The Children’s Society?
The Children’s Society have been there for young people for over 140 years. We are the only UK charity that measures children’s happiness and wellbeing, making us uniquely placed to tackle this challenging landscape.
Our annual Good Childhood Report is an in-depth, UK-wide study that since 2008 has surveyed more than 48,000 children on how they feel about themselves and their lives. We use the information they share with us to design our rapidly growing services. Five years ago, we were directly supporting 12,500 young people each year. Today, we have a proven track record of providing effective, child-centred support to more than 60,000 young people annually, with 92%* of these children telling us the support they received helped or improved their situation.
In May 2024, Children in Need awarded us £1 million to expand our emotional health programmes. This huge endorsement – and Children in Need’s largest ever grant – shows our capacity to take pioneering work to scale. In line with the ethos upon which we were first founded, we will continue to take risks, challenge the status quo, and speak truth to power.
How you can help
Like you, we know that teenagers are children too, and every child in the country has the right to grow up safe, happy, and hopeful. And our Time for young people model is a radical, scalable solution to make this vision a reality.
We’re launching the biggest appeal in our history to reach every young person with the right support at the right time. We would be delighted to arrange a conversation to explore how you can be involved. Join us and make sure children can get the support they need – as soon as they need it.
Contact us
To find out more, please contact the philanthropy team at philanthropy@childrenssociety.org.uk.
