The Youth Counselling Project believes that every child and young person should be able to access professional help for their mental health and was developed in 2017 to offer specialist counselling to students in primary and secondary education within Seaford, East Sussex.

Incidents of anxiety, depression, eating disorders and self-harm in children have been increasing over the years, especially since the pandemic, and many young people struggle to access the professional help they need at a critical time in their lives.

“Around 18% of children aged 7-16 had a probable mental health condition in 2021, up from 12% in 2017” House of Commons Report 2023

We pay professionally qualified, experienced counsellors to provide 10 weekly sessions to children in a safe, private space within the school where they can open up about their problems without shame or discrimination. By understanding their situation better, they can see a way forward enabling them to live life with a more positive attitude and greater self-esteem.

Here are some anonymous quotes from children….

- I have found this very supportive. I have high anxiety and have found out a bit more about how I can cope. It’s been a good place for me to feel listened to, this doesn’t happen very often.

-This support has been really great. I am going through unusual issues that my friends don’t understand and I needed a place to go and talk about them. It’s also helped me with some issues around exams this year. I think all my friends need a (counsellors name) to talk to!

In the last academic year over 90 children directly benefitted from our service at a cost of £500 per child.