On Sunday 21st September Sally Arnold, Dimitri Antonio, Katherine Binner, Amanda Cherry, Aaron Matthews, Chris Reeve, and Agata Zlobicka will be abseiling down the Broadgate Tower in aid of Place2Be.

Place2Be do excellent work in providing emotional and therapeutic services to kids in both primary and secondary schools, building resilience through talking, creative work and play. They currently reach 80,000 children, helping them to cope with wide-ranging and often complex social issues including bullying, bereavement, domestic violence, family breakdown, neglect and trauma.

Why should you donate?

·         Some of the team are seriously terrified – please help make the tears, sleepless nights and general trauma worth it!

·         We will do it in fancy dress! 

Why should you actually donate?

A wealth of evidence points to a significant need for early mental health support:

·         One in ten children aged between 5 and 16 years (three in every classroom) has a mental health problem, and many continue to have these problems into adulthood. Half of those with lifetime mental health problems first experience symptoms by the age of 14.

·         Among teenagers, rates of depression and anxiety have increased by 70% in the past 25 years.

·         One in five children have symptoms of depression and almost a third of the 16-25-year olds surveyed had thought about or attempted suicide.

·         Ten years ago, detailed estimates put the costs of mental health problems in England at £77 billion, including costs of lost productivity and the wider impacts on well-being. More recent estimates suggest the costs may be closer to £105 billion.

·         Children are less likely to suffer from serious mental health difficulties in later life if they receive support at an early age, providing a cost saving to adult mental health services.