Mental health and wellbeing support

Support for parents and carers

It’s really important as parents/carers that we look after ourselves so that we can best support those that we care for. This isn’t always easy and sometimes we need some support and guidance to look after our own mental health as well as learning about how to best support others.  Here you will find a list of services, charities and resources that can help:

Support for young people

Young people can improve their mental health by staying physically active, learning about mental health and wellbeing, tracking their own mood, learning good coping strategies, how to manage stress, how to manage difficult feelings and reaching our for specialist help when they need it. Below is a list of useful resources for young people:

Support for children

Children can improve their mental health by staying physically active, learning to notice and talk about their feelings and to connect with other people. It can help them to know about where to get help and to reach out for help if they are feeling sad or worried about something. Below is a list of useful resources for children:

Bereavement support

The loss of a loved one is hard for anyone but for children and young people it can be overwhelming.  There are a number of support offers for children and young people who have experienced loss or who will face loss because someone close to them is dying.

Self Harm – parent help in Cambridgeshire

In recent years, Pinpoint has helped parents whose children and young people have been self-harming.  Our monthly support group is no longer running but we are working with other charities and county partners to develop a co-ordinated approach to supporting families affected by self harm.

We support the ‘Listen’ group that runs in Huntingdon every month.

We also have resources to share, including some useful tips and strategies.

How I coped – Mark’s story

“Pinpoint gave me the confidence not to give up when things were tough – and a year on, the turnaround for my son has been massive. That experience and the journey we’ve been on inspired me to set up a new support group for parents where they can be open, chat and not worry about being judged in any way.”

Parent Mark gave up his career when his son’s self-harming began to escalate. Now, he’s back to helping others but this time he’s supporting other parents at Listen*, a new Huntingdon group he set up last autumn.

Read Mark’s story in full

 

NESSie – new free support service for parent carers – Positively Supporting Self -Harming Behaviours

NESSie is funded to support parents/carers of children and young people who self-harm to explore and develop a positive and more confident approach to keeping young people safe and offer a chance to identify useful strategies and resources.

Free online and face-to-face workshops
Parent Support line Tel: 07932 651319 (open Wednesdays 9 am – 12 pm or by appointment)
A private moderated Facebook support group
Cambridge support group for parents of children/young people that self-harm
1-1 support and advice sessions
Peer support groups

For more information go to NESSie’s website.

Qwell

Qwell offer free, safe and anonymous mental health and wellbeing support.

You can watch a video about the support available here.

Qwell Digital Fact Leaflet

Bullying – Where to find advice and support

“Bullying is the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. It leads to an outcome which is always painful and/or distresses.”

Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA)

Bullying can happen to any child, but children with special educational needs or a disability (SEND) are more likely to be bullied. However, it is important to remember that not all children experience bullying.

You can find help an advice to support your and your child on the following websites:

Cambridgeshire County Council 

Contact a Family 

NSPCC

National Bullying Helpline 

Anti Bullying Alliance

Childline

Trauma