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New wellbeing hub opening in Thatcham to face demand for youth mental health support




A new wellbeing hub is opening in Thatcham to target the “significant gap” in support services for young people struggling with mental health issues.

Increasing demand, long waiting lists and cuts within early preventative services means more young people aren’t getting the support they require, claims Response, a mental health charity based in Oxfordshire.

Response CEO Nicola Leavesley, Newbury MP Lee Dillon and Associate Director of Children, Young People and Families Jamie Douglas standing at the new hub
Response CEO Nicola Leavesley, Newbury MP Lee Dillon and Associate Director of Children, Young People and Families Jamie Douglas standing at the new hub

The charity is now turning its sights to West Berkshire — where it has identified Thatcham as a particular area in need.

Fifty-six per cent of young people in Thatcham rated mental health and wellbeing as an area they are worried about in a West Berkshire Council survey.

Thirty-four per cent of respondents added more needs to be done to support mental health, while 27 per cent said they were worried about self-harm, either for themselves or someone close to them.

Response is currently fundraising for £28,000 to adapt an existing building at Carramar, located in Church Lane, to provide early, preventative care to young people and their families in the area.

The after school drop-in sessions will be on a one-to-one, family and group basis for those aged eight to 25.

Response’s associate director of children, young people and families Jamie Douglas claims the situation confronting young people is “even worse than Covid” and thinks “every town should have a hub.”

Explaining the need for the new service, Mr Douglas, a former secondary school teacher from Newbury, added: “More can be done to support people with mental health issues in West Berkshire.

“What we want to offer is for someone to knock on the door and ask to speak to someone.

“That need is met straightaway, instead of going to your GP, who makes a referral and then it sits on a waiting list, or you don’t get any support at all, because it’s not a high-level need and then that person gets worse and worse.

“There are not many services in Thatcham, but it is a big area with loads of housing and people with young families who don’t know where to go.

“There is a perception that places like Thatcham and Newbury are well-off and middle-class.

“But you’ve also got pockets of mass deprivation and people don’t recognise that.”

Reflecting on the wider impact of the ongoing crisis facing frontline health services, Mr Douglas continued: “The NHS is thinking short term; they’re thinking crisis, and they need to get out of that.

“I understand why they’re doing that, but if they continue, they’ll never meet the demand they’re seeing.

“I think the NHS understands this, but it needs to put more money in preventative support.

“If we put more effort into preventative care, we wouldn’t get to crisis level.

“I think it’s worse than even in Covid, because of a lot of that was hidden.

“With some young people, particularly neurodivergent young people, being at home during Covid was actually ok. Not all of them, but some felt less stressed.

“I think what we’re seeing since is school attendance issues based on mental health needs.

Response CEO Nicola Leavesley with Newbury MP Lee Dillon standing outside the new hub
Response CEO Nicola Leavesley with Newbury MP Lee Dillon standing outside the new hub

Newbury MP Lee Dillon visited the charity’s Thatcham site on Friday, September 27.

“I was surprised it was worse in Thatcham, but it’s great we’ve got a specialist charity working out of Thatcham that can address those concerns,” he told newburytoday.

“There’s clearly a national pressure on CAMHS (child and adolescence mental health services).

“The whole model of the NHS should be about preventing poor health and maintaining good health rather than just being a service that fixes people when they get ill.

“Whatever service it is, the preventative model not only delivers better outcomes for those children but it also saves the taxpayer in the longer term as well.

“If we can address issues early on, it hopefully won’t require those more in depth, expensive services later in their lives.”

But preventative care comes with its own challenges, as Mr Douglas explained: “The other issue with preventative care is it is hard to measure the impact.

“If we pick up someone on the street, speak to them and then off they go, that’s never registering on anyone’s system.

“They’ve not gone on a waiting list, they’ve not been measured or picked up on. We don’t notice that work. Organisations don’t fund that kind of work.”

But Mr Douglas confirmed the charity will also signpost people to further care elsewhere.

Once up and running, the Thatcham site will initially be staffed by a small team of trained paid workers capable of providing six sessions or more depending on each individual’s needs.

The sessions will differ from some other counselling options in the area in that it is not a clinical service.

Instead, it will combine therapeutic approaches with youth work principles.

The fundraiser has already received £1,000 from Thatcham Town Council. Please visit https://shorturl.at/v1rKf to donate.

The hub is expected to open by early next year.

West Berkshire is currently supported by Time2Talk as a service often referred to by GPs, as well as Berkshire Youth offering a provision of youth services.



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