Wandsworth Care Alliance

Addressing violence and abuse against children and young people

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Children and young people are the most vulnerable members of our society, yet many continue to suffer in silence from various forms of violence and abuse.

This topic requires urgent attention and action from individuals and communities. By shedding light on this problem and working together to address it’s root causes, we can create safer environments where children and young people can thrive.

Violence and abuse against children and young people can take many forms, including physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse, as well as neglect.

The impact

According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated one billion children aged 2-17 worldwide are affected by violence each year. These experiences can have long-lasting and devastating effects on their physical health, mental well-being, and overall development.

Survivors of violence and abuse may experience mental health problems and without the appropriate support the problems can affect many aspects of their lives such as relationships, education, careers, and overall quality of life.

Prevention

Having appropriate systems and procedures in place can help massively in addressing the issue.The right education and awareness on children’s rights, healthy relationships can allow children to spot signs and report any concerns. Also creating supportive environments for children in schools, communities and homes is also important to allow them to feel comfortable to seek help or advice.

Support

There are various organisations that provide support, guidance, and a safe space to speak about any concerns you have.

The Cassandra Centre – they provide advice, support and counselling services for young people and families who are directly or indirectly involved in abusive relationships.

Britebox, Richmond Women’s Hub – provide support to women to enable them to thrive after experiencing domestic violence.

S.T.O.R.M Family Centre – they provide free counselling services art therapy and sensory therapy. Even if you are not a sufferer or survivor of domestic abuse, they can help with any issues you may be experiencing.

Do you have more resources to share on this article? Please email us on communications@wandcareall.org.uk to share resources.

What movement does for Dominic’s well-being

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I’m Dominic and I’ve been working at Wandsworth Care Alliance as a Mental Health Project Manager since September 2022. Mental Health Awareness Week is on 13th -19th May and has a theme of movement so I wanted to speak about enhancing mental well-being through physical activity and connections.

I have experienced challenges in my life, just like many others, and this has led to stress and anxiety at times, but what has helped me cope better is my exercise routine.

I found that for me physical activity isn’t just about building muscles or losing weight; it’s a tool for nurturing my mental health and well-being. I can say it’s provided me with mental clarity, is an excellent way to de-stress, relax, get some fresh air and an associated dopamine boost on my Monday night football sessions.

My sessions are more than just about playing sport and getting fit, it’s a chance to bond (depending on who won), offer escapism, and to have light hearted discussions about what’s happening in our lives, as well as any concerns we’re facing.

Meeting with other people who are going through the same or similar challenges puts things into perspective, and being distracted for a couple of hours is a great way for me and the others to leave those problems behind. At first, people from Monday night football might not pick up the phone and say, ‘Can we meet and talk’? but over time they feel more comfortable talking after a game of football.

Regular physical activity has become part of my routine, whether it’s a brisk walk in the morning to work, a gym session in the evening, or a swim on the weekend, each activity helps ease stress and anxiety.

Physical activity has been a companion on my journey towards mental well-being. As I get older it has taught me the importance of listening to my body, nurturing my mind, and honouring my connection between physical and mental health. Football is my way of maintaining human connection through sport, but it doesn’t have to be yours.

There are so many activities you can do like walking and exploring the great outdoors, swimming, yoga or even martial arts. There’s a wide range of activities you can take part in both independently and as part of a group whether that’s with new people, friends, or family.

Remember, just take one step at a time!

Take a look at our social post.

Resources:

For tips, advice and ways to get active near you click here.

Do you have more resources to share on this article? Please email us on communications@wandcareall.org.uk to share resources.

Mental health: support and events

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Mental health enables people to cope with everyday life. Our mental health is important to handle stress, ability to learn, work, and contribute to our community. It’s an integral part of health and well-being and impacts the ability to make decisions, build relationships and can shape the world we live in. Having positive mental health or access to resources to help improve our mental health should be a basic human right as it impacts us personally, socially, our community and our development.  
 
Each person has different degrees of difficulty and distress. People may have disorders and psychosocial disabilities or experience significant distress, impairment in functioning, suicidal thoughts, or self-harm.  
 
It is essential that we all work together to destigmatise conversations around mental health, creating a safe place for all individuals to feel empowered to seek help without the fear of judgment or discrimination.

World Bipolar Day is on 30th March 2024. Bipolar UK is a great organisation that provides peer support services to empower people affected by bipolar to live well. Learn more about their services here.

Healthwatch Wandsworth has written a report on mental health and homelessness which shares the community in Wandsworth stories and lived experiences of mental health and homelessness and much more. 

Read the report.

Resources: 
 
Wandsworth Wellbeing Hub: This is a great resource sharing various health and wellbeing services in the Wandsworth Borough.  
To learn more click here.
 
Portus: This organisation is a safe space for understanding self-harm allowing young people to get the right support to help with the difficulties they are facing. 
Learn more here.  
 
Ethnicity and Mental Health Improvement Project(EMHIP): Is an attempt to reduce ethnic inequalities in access, experience and outcome of mental health care.   
Learn more here.  
 
Mind: Mind in Brent, Wandsworth and Westminster. Mind works in the community to provide support, advice and information to empower anyone who may be experiencing a mental health problem.  
Learn more.  
 
Sound Minds: They are a charity helping improve the lives of people who are overcoming mental health issues, particularly from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.  
Learn more.

 
Events: 
 
Wandsworth Warm Spaces: They offer sanctuary to those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. Learn more here.  


 
Walk Wandsworth: An event hosted by Enable offering a free walk led by volunteers, guiding and encouraging people to build up their physical activity at a pace that suits them. Learn more here.

Home Instead, Sunflower Café: A café that runs every Wednesday from 2-4pm. A free and friendly informal group for over 65’s and their carers to enjoy tea, cakes, and activities. Learn more.

Do you have more resources to share on this article on mental health? Email communications@wandcareall.org.uk so we can share resources and support one another.



 

Better mental health support for Mums in Wandsworth

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Having children is celebrated as a joyful time full of celebration, but for many, becoming a parent can be destabilising, lonely, and even life-threatening. MBRRACE’s recent report shows that 40% of all maternal deaths (occurring between six weeks and a year after the end of pregnancy) are from mental health related causes. Maternal suicide is the biggest cause of perinatal deaths.

At Wandsworth Care Alliance we’ve been doing health studies and talking to local community organisations to find out more about these issues since 2022. We aim to start a bigger conversation about mental health support for mums and birthing parents, connecting people with the support services they need. For the last 2 years we have been building a healthwatch report on the impact of perinatal mental health, and the way parents access mental health services during this time.

When we spoke to 13 birthing parents from ethnically diverse backgrounds, we found that many didn’t ask for help with their mental health. Issues included not feeling safe to open up with healthcare professionals, experiences of discrimination, and not knowing who to turn to.

Read the latest report

A range of factors affected parents during this time, like having a partner for support, having a positive relationship with maternity staff, and 50% of participants claimed that poor housing negatively affected their mental health.

What next?

There is local mental health support available for parents. However, we’re finding out that people might not know where to find it or how to access it.

Talking to the NHS about working together on discussing this issue as part of maternity services will be key over the coming months but there is also action we can take together to make sure that people know where to get support.

Here are 3 support links you can use or share with parents.

Family support

Little Village story

“When having a baby you need a lot of stuff,” Jen, the Tooting baby bank manager. Jen first found the baby bank Little Village when she was looking to donate items her child had grown out of. She started volunteering and fell in love with the cause.

Not everybody has everything they need as a parent and Little Village offers free support bundles to Mums in need, with clothes, toys, bassinets and more, available to be delivered, or picked out in their shop experience.

Little Village pride themselves in giving more than just things, with a creche, space to talk and a signposting team. They often hear shocking stories of adversity from local Mums. This Winter, they’ve had more emergency calls from St. George’s Hospital for Mums who can’t be discharged from hospital because they have nothing for the baby to wear or sleep in. Little Village always needs donations and volunteers to deliver this vital work.

Volunteer

Donate

Free Events & Support for Mums

  • Breathe Melodies know that mental health makes a difference and offer informal Mother and Child singing sessions which are a great way to build bonds and share culture too. Find out more
  • Enable offer free fitness classes for Mums every week
  • Estate Arts are holding a free Baby & Me morning on 3rd February with life support training
  • The NHS are promoting early learning and development activity ideas on the Better Start for Life website. Click here

Do you have more resources to share on this story for local Mums? Email communications@wandcareall.org.uk so we can feel each other’s support.

What is Kooth? The free mental health service for young people

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What is Kooth? 4 young people sat against a red background holding paper speech bubbles over their faces

What is Kooth?

Kooth is a free, safe, anonymous online mental health service for young people that is accessible 24/7, 365 days of the year and provides access to chat sessions with BACP-accredited counsellors and qualified emotional wellbeing practitioners.

All our chat sessions are text-based conversations that take place on the Kooth website, and last up to an hour. Chat is available from 12pm – 10pm Monday through Friday, and 6pm – 10pm Saturday and Sunday, providing a much needed ‘out of hours’ service.

Kooth is accessible from any device.

koothplc.com

Are you able to see all content on the site?

There are restrictions in place to ensure that when using Kooth, you only see what is age appropriate for you. This also helps us to ensure you find the content that is most useful to you.

Any comments are pre-moderated to ensure that only relevant comments are posted and visible.

Can you create content on Kooth?

You can submit content and post on the discussion boards to share your experiences and to support others within the Kooth community.

We also encourage you to give us feedback by sharing your views of how we deliver our service.

This will help us to keep improving Kooth.

Can you message other young people on Kooth?

The safety of our users on Kooth is really important to us.

Therefore, you cannot add friends or directly message other young people on the site in the same way you can on gaming platforms or social media sites.

This is because we are an anonymous service and we need to make sure everyone using the site is safe.

When can you talk to someone?

The Kooth team are available to chat 7 days a week, 365* days of the year. You can access the magazine, discussion boards and any other online content whenever you like, from wherever you are.

Our friendly online team are available to chat during the following times:

From 12 noon until 10pm weekdays.

From 6pm until 10pm weekends.

To make sure we can support as many of you as possible, we do have a chat queue.

How long you will have to wait in the chat queue depends on how busy the site is so please be patient with us.

You can send a message to the team at any time and it will be responded to during service working hours. Our counsellors are employed by us and are fully qualified with the BACP or equivalent.

Do you need to be referred by a GP?

You do not need to be referred to Kooth to access the service.

You are invited and welcome to join as long as you fall within the age of 10-25.

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