How the pandemic has impacted children's mental health

The last year has not been easy and has affected a high majority of the population, with it being reported that vulnerable people and children have experienced a sharp increase in poor mental health and wellbeing.
With lockdown restrictions slowly lifting across the UK, it is crucial more than ever that support is readily available for those who desperately need it to enhance their quality of life.
Over the past year, children and young people have experienced vast amounts of chaos and instability, which is likely to have increased their anxiety levels and feelings of worry.
The pandemic has also resulted in:
- Approximately 700,000 people being plunged into poverty due to COVID-19, taking the number of people living with food insecurity to 15 million. Out of this 15 million, approximately 4.2 million are children living in food poverty.
- An increase in childhood isolation, especially from younger children who have little to no access to technology to keep in touch with friends. This has resulted in young children experiencing long-term sadness and anxiety.
- Children’s education being significantly impacted upon due to their parents/carers having little experience in home educating their children as well as not being able to access support and guidance.
- Unable to move on from loved ones becoming unwell and/or passing away due to feeling guilty that they may have bought the virus home with them or not being able to say their goodbyes to family members who passed away during the pandemic.
plus more.
As a small children’s charity, we saw a 173% increase during April 2021 in children and young people being referred to our services due to mental health concerns. These concerns are predominantly children and young people being referred due to displaying early signs of poor mental health or being referred due to them experiencing and/or witnessing their parent(s)/carer(s) struggling with their mental ill-health.
The beauty of our mentoring programmes is that they can be tailored to suit the needs of the child or young person. Our one-to-one mentoring programme builds resilience, confidence and self-esteem so that children and young people can better cope, however, we require more volunteer and financial support so that we can provide children and young people with immediate support and guaranteed mentoring sessions.
How can you help:
Volunteer
We urgently need to recruit more volunteer mentors, who can each act as positive role models for a vulnerable child in need. Volunteering is flexible around your commitments and is 52 weeks long. No experience is needed as full training will be provided. Please click here to find out more about volunteering with us.
Make a donation
One of the easiest ways that you can support our mentoring programme is by sending us a donation. Your donations help us to guarantee mentoring sessions which costs £15 per child per week. You can pledge a one-off donation or set up a standing order. Whatever way you choose to support us would be greatly appreciated.
Poor mental health amongst children and young people is continuing to grow year-on-year, this week marks Mental Health Week where we will be sharing tips and advice on how you can support children and young people experiencing mental ill-health. Check out our blog regularly to keep updated or follow us on Facebook , Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter to read our posts.



