Tag: Young people

Count Me In!

Young carers call for educational equality and an end to isolation

Thousands of children and young people across the UK will take part in activities today to highlight the need for far more support for young carers from government, schools and local authorities.

The call comes on Young Carers Awareness Day, an annual event led and organised by Carers Trust. The day aims to raise awareness of the pressures experienced by young carers – children who need to look after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol.

Count Me In! Young carers call for educational equality in UK schools

Scottish Government figures estimate the number of young carers in Scotland to be around 29,000. However, further research by Carers Trust shows that as many as one in five secondary school children may be a young carer. For many, the caring journey begins long before they reach secondary school.

But whatever their age, the need to provide care can have a negative impact on the wellbeing, education and future prospects of young carers. Caring responsibilities all too often lead to an inability to complete homework, late arrival at school or even non-attendance.

Research indicates that young carers on average receive lower grade in their public exams than their peers who do not have caring responsibilities at home.

But despite the challenges faced by young carers, far too many remain unidentified and hidden away from support. These problems are less likely to build up if young carers are proactively identified as early as possible.

Once identified, young carers’ circumstances at home can be better understood. This will help schools ensure that young carers are receiving the additional support they need to address their vulnerability to lower than average educational attainment.

This is why Carers Trust has made Count Me In! the theme for this year’s Young Carers Awareness Day.

To ensure as many young carers as possible are identified in future, Carers Trust and young carers are calling on:

  • compulsory education providers to acknowledge their unique position to identify young carers at an early stage so appropriate support can start as soon as possible; and to recognise young carers as a vulnerable group of learners who require additional support so they can engage in their education and go on to lead enjoyable, fulfilled lives.
  • The Scottish Government to monitor implementation of legislation relating to young carers, including how many young carers are identified and supported; and to ensure that local authorities receive appropriate funding so they are able to fulfil their statutory duties to provide young carers and their families with the support they need; and collect attendance and attainment data on all identified young carers in education.

Gareth Howells, Carers Trust CEO, said: ““I know as a former young carer myself that it’s hard enough for young carers to have to juggle all the pressures of school and exams with caring for family members.

“They are often dealing with complex problems which many adults would struggle to deal with – from disability and terminal illness to mental health problems, alcoholism and substance misuse.

“The need to support hundreds of thousands of young carers right across the UK could not be clearer. But far too often the needs of young carers are ignored, leaving them unnoticed and unsupported.

“Our colleagues in local authorities, education and government need to be doing far more to identify young carers at as early a stage as possible so they can achieve their potential at school and lead happy, fulfilled lives.”

Childline prepares to support children through their darkest hours this Christmas

  • Actor and Ambassador for Childline Natalie Dormer joined a night shift
  • NSPCC ‘Light For Every Childhood’ Christmas Appeal shines a light on children needing help in December
  • Hundreds of children in Scotland contact Childline over festive period

Childline is preparing to help hundreds of young people in Scotland across the festive period – day and night – including many struggling to cope with mental health problems.

In 2018/19 the NSPCC service delivered 7,157 counselling sessions across the 12-day period over Christmas and New Year, with nearly 400 sessions being held with children and teenagers in Scotland.

Childline in Glasgow is one of three service bases across the UK that answers calls and contacts throughout the night, and will be during this Christmas period.

Almost 900 of the sessions held with children across the UK over the festive period last year were between midnight and 7am.

And more than half of those seeking support through the night were struggling with mental health issues, self-harm and in the worst cases, suicidal thoughts and feelings.

Helping to shine a light on all the children and young people contacting Childline this Christmas during the darkest hours – and the volunteers who will be supporting them – is Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer.

The actor and ambassador for Childline who recently visited the service at night, said: “The calls that came in, to be quite honest, sideswiped me. Within the first 25 minutes there were two suicide calls with counsellors helping the young people through the reoccurring thoughts that were haunting them.”

More than a hundred children and young people across the UK received counselling for suicidal thoughts and feelings between midnight and 7am during the 12-day period last Christmas and New Year.

Childline is the only service available to children and young people, whatever their worry, 24/7 throughout the Christmas holidays.

One 13-year-old girl who contacted Childline during the night said: “I feel really down tonight. I have a counsellor who I see regularly and who I would usually go to for support but I will not be able to get hold of them because it is the Christmas holidays.

“I was told I could speak to someone at Childline. I have anxiety and find it difficult to cope and have tried to kill myself before. I don’t want to live but don’t want to upset my family.”

Due to demand and a shortage of resources, Childline is only able to help two in every three children that contact them in December and during the rest of the year.

In response, the NSPCC Christmas Appeal ‘Light for Every Childhood’ is calling for donations and more volunteers so Childline can be there around the clock for every child and young person.

Dame Esther Rantzen, Childline founder and President, said: “Christmas is the time of year we think about children, and most of them are happy, excited and loved.

“But many of the young people that contact Childline are unhappy, abused and neglected. One of them told me: ‘Christmas is like looking through a window, seeing happy families warm and loved while you are standing outside in the dark and cold.’

“For some young people, Christmas can be the hardest time of year, when their problems feel magnified, making them even more isolated than ever. At Childline we must be there for every young person that needs us. But to achieve this we urgently need the public’s help, which is why it is vital they support the NSPCC Christmas Appeal ‘Light for Every Childhood’.”

Just £4 pays for Childline to answer a call with a child in need of support, to donate visit the NSPCC website.

View the full film of Natalie Dormer joining one of Childline’s night shifts.

Industry awards for modern apprentices

The hard work and dedication of modern apprentices at the City of Edinburgh Council was recognised this week as 18 young people graduated and were given an industry award.

Modern Apprentices graduating 2019

Among the graduates were three previous participants of Edinburgh Project SEARCH, the highly successful programme for young people with a disability.

Continue reading Industry awards for modern apprentices

‘Transformational change’ needed to tackle child mental health crisis, says SCSC

  • The NHS in Scotland failed to meet a maximum 18-week waiting time target for children and young people to receive treatment from mental health services
  • More than a third are waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.
  • 9 out of 14 health boards failed to meet the 18-week waiting time target: NHS Fife, NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian, NHS Tayside, NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley and NHS Forth Valley
  • 204 children and young people waited more than a year prior to being seen for treatment, double that for the same quarter of last year.
  • More than one in five referrals for treatment are rejected.
  • Figures show only 0.56 per cent of NHS expenditure is spent on CAMHS, less than 7 per cent of the mental health budget.
  • Coalition calls for fundamental rethink and renewed focus on prevention and early intervention, including embedding mental health within education.

 

Latest waiting time figures have reinforced the call by a coalition of leading independent and third sector children and young people’s service providers for dramatically increased investment in mental health services to address the current mental health crisis.

The Scottish Childrens Services Coalition (SCSC) has also called for an urgent need to focus on prevention and early intervention in order to tackle what is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time.

The coalition, which campaigns to improve services for vulnerable children and young people, call comes as the latest waiting time figures from the Information Services Division, part of NHS National Services Scotland, highlight that thousands of children and young people are failing to treated within a Scottish Government waiting time target. 1 With an increasing number of children and young people being identified with mental health problems they also highlight a postcode lottery for mental health treatment across the country.

Covering the quarter July to September 2019, the figures highlight that 3,901 children and young people started treatment at specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in this period. The NHS in Scotland, including 9 of the 14 regional health boards, failed to meet the Scottish Government 18-week waiting time target for children and young people to receive treatment from CAMHS. This target should be delivered for at least 90 per cent of patients.

While 64.5 per cent in the NHS in Scotland are being seen within this 18-week waiting time, still in itself far too long, more than a third (35.5 per cent) are failing to be seen within this period.

Individual health boards failing to meet this target are: NHS Fife (75.2 per cent), NHS Ayrshire & Arran (78.1 per cent), NHS Grampian (50.8 per cent), NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (71.2 per cent), NHS Highland (64.1 per cent), NHS Lanarkshire (51.9 per cent), NHS Lothian (55.9 per cent), NHS Tayside (54.2 per cent) and NHS Forth Valley (63.8 per cent).

The figures also indicate that 204 children and young people in the July to September quarter had been waiting for more than a year prior to being seen for treatment, an increase from 151 in the previous quarter (April to June) and more than double that from the  same quarter of last year (93). 2

 In addition, more than one in five (21.9 per cent) are having their referrals for treatment rejected, with no real understanding of what is happening to them after this.3 

It should be noted that a mere 0.56 per cent of the NHS budget is spent on specialist CAMHS, amounting to £67.248 million.4   In addition to this, only 6.61 per cent of the overall mental health budget is spent on CAMHS.

These very low figures are despite the fact that mental health services are creaking at the seams due to greatly increasing demand, as evidenced by these waiting time figures. Research indicates that 10 per cent of children and young people (aged five to 16) has a clinically diagnosable mental health problem (around three in every classroom), with 50 per cent of mental health problems established by the age of 14 and 75 per cent by the age of 24.5

While acknowledging the great efforts the Scottish Government is making, such as an additional £250 million of funding announced in the Programme for Government of 2018, the SCSC has called for the Scottish Government to greatly increased investment in CAMHS and for a more consistent approach to delivering these services across Scotland. 6

It has also called for a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention for those with mental health problem, reducing the need for referral to under-pressure specialist CAMHS.

This includes embedding mental health within education from an early age in order to strengthen knowledge and awareness of mental health, as well as reducing the stigma associated with mental health. Emotion and resilience classes should be provided to all students from primary one to teach students how to work through their emotions in a healthy way and there should be a whole-school approach, with training for all staff involved in education and providing counselling support.

A spokesperson for the SCSC said: “These latest waiting time figures highlight that fact in this mental health crisis we are continuing to fail thousands of children and young people with mental health problems, with more clearly needing to be done to address this epidemic.

“These newly released figures highlight that the NHS in Scotland, including nine of our health boards, are failing to meet what is already a lengthy waiting time. Yet we know that three children in every classroom has a clinically diagnosable mental health problem.

“There must be a radical transformation of our mental health services, with a focus on preventing such problems arising in the first place and intervening early, especially when we know that half of all mental health problems begin before the age of 14.  This includes embedding mental health within education from an early age as well as providing training for all staff involved in education.

“With mental health and the issues associated with it representing one of the greatest public health challenges of our time, we must ensure that children and young people are able to get the care and support they need, when they need it. This includes investing in greater community support and support at school, reducing the need for referral to specialist CAMHS.”

Scottish Conservative Health Spokesperson, Miles Briggs, didn’t miss the opportunity to comment. The Lothian MSP said: “In Scotland we are facing a child mental health crisis and over 10,000 children and young people are being failed by this SNP government.

“There is a postcode lottery across health boards for whether you child will get mental health support when they need it, with my own region of Lothian being particularly bad.

“I am regularly contacted by parents who are worried about their children and it is heart-breaking for them when they are told their child can’t be seen for over a year.

“A greater focus must be given to prevention and early intervention by having mental health on the curriculum for all schools in Scotland.”

1 NHS Information Services Division, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Waiting Times in Scotland (PDF link), 3rd December 2019, Table 2, p. 7. Available at: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Mental-Health/Publications/2019-12-03/2019-12-03-CAMHS-WaitingTimes-Report.pdf? (accessed 3rrd December 2019).

2 Ibid., Table 1a in background tables, p.6.

3 Ibid., Table 4 in background tables, p.6.

5 Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Statistics: Children and Young People. Available at:  https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-children-and-young-people (accessed 25th January 2016).

6 BBC online, Sturgeon announces boost for mental health services, 4th September. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-45395739 (accessed 5th December).

MYDG’s annual general meeting

MYDG Annual General meeting

Craigroyston Community High School
Wednesday 11th December 4-6pm

To the Muirhouse Community and local Partners …

We would love to invite you along to your annual general meeting. We will also be showing a screening of our Christmas Video production by the MYDG Youth Theatre. There will be hot drinks and sweet treats.

Please come along – all welcome! 😃

 

Old Kirk & Muirhouse Youth Christmas Show

SATURDAY 7th DECEMBER from 5.30 – 8pm

A showcase of young talent as all our youth and young people projects come together to put on a local production for Muirhouse to enjoy.

Come support our young people as we start the festive season together with joy, laughter and the young people of our area!

£1 entry

Greater protection for care leavers welcomed

Measures on preventing homelessness.

Recommendations to improve support for care leavers at risk of homelessness have been welcomed by Housing Minister Kevin Stewart.

A working group, co-ordinated by the A Way Home Scotland coalition, has produced eight recommendations to make support for care leavers simpler and more consistent across Scotland.

A Way Home Scotland is a national coalition committed to ending youth homelessness in Scotland in ten years. The coalition was set-up and launched by the Rock Trust in 2017, and is funded by the Scottish Government.

It brings together organisations and professionals from across Scotland working in the fields of housing, homelessness, education, youth work, families, health and justice to create and implement plans to address youth homelessness in their localities.

Their report recommends:

• that existing legislation is better implemented for those with a legal duty of care to  care leavers to help prevent them from experiencing homelessness at the point of leaving care and later

• that care leavers who experience homelessness are rapidly provided with support which is effectively tailored to their specific needs and circumstances

• that young people are prepared for and supported, with care and sensitivity, through the transition into adulthood

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “This report provides an excellent set of recommendations that provides tangible guidance and solutions to the problems care leavers face finding and keeping a home.

“Young people leaving care are some of the most vulnerable people in our society and we should take all actions possible to prevent them from ever becoming homeless.

“It’s vital housing and children’s services work seamlessly with wider support services to ensure young people’s needs are met.

“We will ensure that we meet the ambitions set out in this report to improve young people’s housing outcomes.”

Tam Baillie, former Children and Young People Commissioner for Scotland and chair of the A Way Home Scotland Coalition, said: “No young person should be homeless and that particularly applies to care experienced young people for whom we have additional responsibilities with legal requirements.

“No parent wants their child to experience homelessness and so it should be for our children in care. We can and should deliver the very best start to their adult life and they have a right to expect we live up to our obligations. Time to make the step-change, here and now.”

Kate Polson from Rock Trust, which assists young people to avoid, survive and move on from homelessness, added: “Scotland has a history of progressive policy and legislation in relation to housing, homelessness and our care system. The recommendations in this report highlight how we implement all of this guidance to prevent young people from entering homelessness.

“The Rock Trust thanks all of the partners who joined us in the A Way Home coalition to write the report and drive forward our work to end youth homelessness in Scotland.”

 

 

 

Fringe auditions with A-Team Productions

A-Team Productions are inviting young people between the ages of 11-18 to audition for two productions in the forthcoming Edinburgh Fringe, Little Shop of Horrors and Rock Musicals: Live on Stage.

Auditions will take place on the 7th December at Boroughmuir High School and 8th December at Broughton High School. The day will run from 9am until 3.30pm and everyone will be auditioning for both shows.  Continue reading Fringe auditions with A-Team Productions