Children and young people remain at the heart of charitable services

Mental health and trauma recovery support are core services offered by Kids Inspire, who in response to ‘pandemic need’ transformed to ensure service users received therapeutic input from session one.

A spike in referrals quickly followed when schools returned in September 2020 – both in severity and complexity of needs - and the specialist team is braced once again after news announced today around easing of the latest restrictions.

Long focused on the recovery phase of the pandemic, Kids Inspire continues to focus on the children and young people who remain at the heart of the charity that has filled a gap in youth mental health services for 13 years in Essex.

Speaking about services offered and how these were evolved to meet the demand in recent months, Kids Inspire’s Assistant Clinical Director, Dimitra Theodoropoulou, said:

“The pandemic was not ending any time soon and so many young people were feeling paralysed by the ongoing threat of the virus and it's impact on their school, family, and social life. We developed a three-tier system of treatment plans to match the service users’ needs, from early intervention to complex issues and trauma. In some cases, treatment plans were extended from early intervention to slightly more complex  for children and young people who needed enhanced therapeutic support to maximise outcomes and their sustainability.”

One young person who has recently received support said: 

“It's been so important to have somebody outside of my family to talk to who just gets it and doesn't judge me.”

While a child who received a treatment plan of creative therapy, said:

“Talking about my feelings doesn't feel scary anymore.”

Dimitra went on to say:

“We are witnessing daily the ever-rising demand for our services and with many mental health reports having been published, highlighting that we still haven’t seen the full impact of the pandemic, we are concerned but determined to remain in the front line.”

Services at Kids Inspire continue online, and where needed face-to-face. The team remains committed to meeting the ever-growing demand, determined to be available for families seeking support in these difficult times.

Talk Together is open to referrals now.