Support Services

Health Services in Schools (HSIS) is a confidential drop-in service for young people aged 11 to 18 years in Wirral secondary schools, sixth form or colleges.

Each school/college has a Youth Worker and alongside the school nurse, you can receive confidential support and information on a range of things, such as:

• Drugs and alcohol

• Relationships and sexual health

• Emotional health and wellbeing

• Improving confidence, self-esteem and resilience

• Stopping smoking

• Healthy eating and lifestyle

Parental support is required for this service and there is around a four-week waitlist.

Who is this service for? 11-18-year-olds.

When? Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

How long is the wait? The current wait is between 0-6 weeks.

Is parent consent needed? No. You do not need consent from your parent or carer.

Where can I find out more?HSIS | zillo

Response is a confidential support service for young people aged 13-19. We have two teams of specialist workers. One Team supports Young people who are having concerns with their Drug and Alcohol use.

Our Counselling Team, also work with Young People 13-19 and support with matters like self harm, low self esteem, feeling anxious, and overwhelming emotions. We offer 1-2-1 sessions in a safe environment and look at things like, education, harm reduction, achieving goals, positive mental wellbeing, and empowering Young People to make positive choices.

We are based at Pilgrim Arts Centre in Birkenhead. For referrals or enquiries please call our duty line on Monday to Friday 9am-6pm where you can speak to a member of our Team.

For more information or to arrange an appointment call

0151 666 4123

Our Place Sexual Health

We provide free and confidential contraception and sexual health services for people living in Wirral.

The service is delivered by a team of health professionals including doctors, nurses, therapists plus  managers and administrators. We operate Monday to Saturday across five venues in Wirral with various options for clinic based care and choices of remote care ie) online STI kits , contraception postal service, screening tests at various community locations, as well as delivering some services via our GP and Pharmacy colleagues in community locations. 

Our walk-in and wait and appointment only clinics provide STI & HIV testing, results management,  treatment for STI infections and several methods of contraception. Some of the services we offer are more specialised and require an appointment in advance or attendance at a doctor led clinic or a referral from a GP/health professional.

We can help you find the right appointment or clinic when we speak to you and assess your needs, or our online booking service can help route you to the right care. 

Our service is confidential and non-judgemental and inclusive.

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Let’s Talk is Wirral’s NHS risk and resilience service.

Delivered by a team of health and care professionals, the service works closely with young people to develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing.

Topic areas delivered by the team include:

• Relationships and sex education

• Drugs and alcohol

• Understanding anger

• Healthy weight

• Empowering informed choices

• Awareness of risk-taking behaviours

The team delivers the service in schools, educational settings and youth organisations and works closely with partners (Zillo, SENDO, Family Toolbox and Branch – emotional and wellbeing service launching Autumn 2024) to ensure young people access the right support at the right time.

Contacting the team

• Telephone: 0151 514 0219

• Email: wchc.lets.talk@nhs.net

Branch

Branch is an online mental well-being hub for children and young people in Wirral, from 0 all the way to 18 (and up to 25 with additional needs). It doesn’t deliver services directly – it’s more of a guide, helping people to find the best tools and local support. It can be used for any child or young person, no matter how big or small their worries feel. It’s packed with tips to help them feel better and, when they need a bit of extra support, gives simple routes into local services. Branch doesn’t offer crisis support, but does have information on where to go in an emergency.

Visit www.branch-wirral.co.uk

Open Door Charity provides free, fast and effective mental health support without waiting lists to young people and adults. 

We reimagine what mental health support looks, sounds, and feels like using evidence-based programmes in non-clinical settings, creating spaces people want to be in, with people they want to spend their time with.

Our main offerings are Bazaar (for low mood and anxiety), Colours (for stress), Mysa (for disordered eating - no diagnosis necessary) and OOMOO (for Children Looked After (CLA) ages 11 to 18 years old)

Who is this aimed at?

Currently we offer Bazaar for those age 14-35 dealing with low mood, anxiety, and/or panic attacks, and OOMOO, for Children Looked After ages 11-18

Colours 18+ and Mysa 18+

 Find out more

It takes courage to ask for help. But for many young people who do, the support they need just isn’t there. Hundreds of thousands of young people are struggling with their mental health, but too many are being told to wait, struggling to cope and hitting a crisis point before they get help.

But things can get better. And we’re leading the movement for change.

We provide young people with the tools to look after their mental health. We empower adults to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives. And we give young people the space and confidence to get their voices heard and change the world we live in.

Together, we can create a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health.

Find out more

Merseyside Youth Association (MYA) is a charity dedicated to providing innovative support and opportunities for young people across Merseyside. 

MYA has a long and extraordinary history, dating all the way back to 1890. Grounded in the incredible social history of Liverpool, our affiliated clubs and their predecessors have been helping young people cope with all kinds of challenges. Through a range of dynamic, caring, high-quality charitable services and interventions we make every journey personal, so each interaction - big or small - ripples out into the wider community and society as a whole.

MYA delivers a wide range of early intervention, prevention projects and workforce development across Merseyside.

MYA RAISE

We want to make mental health everyone’s business.The Merseyside Youth Association’s RAISE Mental Health Promotion Team specialise in the promotion of mental health and resilience to children and young people.,as well as bitesize courses aimed specifically at parents, carers and professionals. 

RAISE brings a fun, energetic and highly innovative approach to teaching people about mental health. Grounded in best-practise resources it helps to build resilience, and grow individuals’ knowledge so they can support themselves and others.

There are different RAISE programmes, each with their own emphasis and audience, they include:

ROAR is an evidence-based training programme created to help teachers and school staff implement a whole-school approach to mental health. ROAR stands for Recognise (the signs) Open (ask open questions) Access (support and services) Resilience (build resilience). 

Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) is a peer education programme created to tackle gender-based violence, bullying, and other forms of abuse. 

Youth Connect 5 - Created specifically for parents and carers, YC5 helps develop the knowledge, skills and understanding required to assist children in developing strong emotional well-being and improved family interaction.

NOW Fest -  an annual festival that allows young people to think about current issues and express themselves creatively, planned around and by young people, allowing them to showcase their talent whilst creating engagement on emotive social and personal issues that matter to them. 

The RAISE team also provide programmes and training for professionals and school settings.

Find out more

Alumina is a free, online 7 week course for young people struggling with self-harm. Each course has up to 14 young people, all accessing the sessions from their own phones, tablets or laptops across the UK. The courses take place on different evenings of the week and are run by friendly, trained counsellors and volunteer youth workers. You don’t need an adult to refer you or sign you up, and no-one will see or hear you during the sessions – you’ll just join in via the chatbox. We want to help you to find your next steps towards recovery, wherever you are on your journey.

Find out more

Tomorrow’s Young Women offers young women aged 14 to 17 support, workshops, and activities to make positive lifestyle choices and offer support with issues in areas such as healthy relationships, alcohol and substance misuse, and mental health.

Do you need to have a chat about your mental health and your feelings? Want some advice about your relationship – maybe something does not feel right or you are feeling controlled? Are you ready to start looking to your future and want some practical support with training and next steps? 

Tomorrow’s Young Women is open Monday evenings 4:30pm to 6pm at the Tomorrow’s Women: Wirral centre, where you can meet with a team member in person or chat over the phone for initial registration, and then have full access to the project. 

The scheme is being funded by Merseyside Police’s Project Medusa, a Merseyside-led initiative set up to tackle County Lines drug dealing and child criminal exploitation, and as such will focus specifically on raising awareness of County Lines and supporting young women who are being exploited in a safe space.

 Find out more

OCD Action works for a society where OCD is better understood and diagnosed quickly, where appropriate treatment options are open and accessible, where support and information is readily available and where nobody feels ashamed to ask for help.

We are here because OCD tears families apart and leaves people isolated and exhausted. OCD ruins lives. It is a sad fact that many people with OCD delay seeking help. They put up with it for too long, perhaps thinking that nothing can be done or just not knowing where to turn. OCD Action believes in taking action. We want people affected by OCD to seek help, to understand their treatment options and find the support and motivation they need to fight back. OCD is treatable, it can get better.

OCD Youth 

OCD Youth is a service for young people with OCD and related conditions, run by young people with OCD and related conditions.

Living with OCD can be incredibly difficult, and we know that being a young person and having to navigate mental health services can be at times confusing and frustrating. OCD Youth is here to provide young people who are affected by OCD with the information, support and community they need to get better. We do this via our Youth e-Helpline, Youth support groups and our online community. We also work to raise awareness of OCD and campaign for change, so that OCD can be more quickly recognised and treated.

Youth E-Helpline

Our Youth e-Helpline is here for anyone between the ages of 14 and 25 who is affected by OCD or a related condition (such as BDD or a Body-focused Repetitive Behaviour). Whether you live with OCD yourself, or are concerned about a friend or family member, our Youth e-Helpline volunteers are here to support you!

You don’t need to have a diagnosis of OCD to get in touch. In fact, about half of the young people who email us are unsure about whether they have OCD or not. Our Youth e-Helpline team is made up of volunteers who are mostly young people with OCD themselves, so they really understand the challenges of living with OCD when you’re young. As we are not medical professionals, we won’t be able to diagnose you, but we can chat to you about how you’re feeling and offer you support and information about OCD and how to access the recommended treatments. OCD can be exhausting and isolating, but it really can get better.

Youth Support Groups

We know how isolating and challenging living with OCD can be. Sometimes having the chance to talk and listen to others who have similar experiences can make a big difference in how we’re feeling. That’s why we have an online Youth support group for young people living with OCD and related conditions. The group is peer-led and facilitated by young people with OCD themselves, so everybody has a good understanding of OCD, which ensures the space is accepting, comfortable, and non-judgemental. 

 Find out more

What we do

Even though 1 in 4 people have mental health problems, most of us don’t get the help we need. This has to change. We’re Mind. We’re here to fight for mental health. For support, for respect, for you.

How do we make a difference?

We change minds across England and Wales by making mental health an everyday priority. By standing up to the injustices – in healthcare, in work, in law – which make life harder for those of us with mental health problems.

We support minds – by offering help whenever you might need it through our information, advice and local services.

And we connect minds. Bringing together an unstoppable network of individuals and communities – people who care about mental health to make a difference

Find out more

We give young people, from 8 to age 21, access to free 1-1 counselling sessions. No wait times and available nationally, Stop.Breathe.Think provides vital support to those who need it right now.

 We founded Stop.Breathe.Think in November 2020, in response to the mental health pandemic amongst children and young people. We knew we could offer accessible support at the level and speed that was needed.  

We know it is not always easy to ask for help – besides the wait times and costs, the barriers of going to see a professional or overcome stigma are real. With Stop.Breathe.Think young people, parents and professionals can reach out at the touch of a button.

This is why Stop.Breathe.Think – delivering online counselling nationally with no wait times – continues to be game-changing and vital to those who need support right now.

Find out more

Brighter Days Ahead is a mental health and well-being service. We specialise in delivering Drawing and Talking and sand play as 1:1 support as well as Drawing and Talking group work. 

We are passionate about supporting children, young people and adults who may have faced, or are facing challenging and traumatic times.

Our support provides individuals with a safe, non-invasive space where we will use the method of Drawing and Talking or sand play to process emotional pain and trauma. We provide an alternative approach to talking therapies that can be challenging and limiting in processing trauma.

We also bring families together through group work to provide a safe space where everybody has their chance to feel heard in a non-judgmental, respectful space.  Bringing families together to listen and feel heard is vital in supporting family relationships and improving communication and empathy.

Our experience has proven that exploring and discussing emotions in a group setting increases empathy and understanding of others. Group work is very effective when delivered to classes in the school setting.

It has also proven effective when delivered to groups who have experienced similar adversity.

Group work can be used to bring individuals together to explore a range of emotions through the use of drawing and conversation.

Our practitioners are skilled and experienced in gently guiding 1:1 and group sessions to ensure that everyone gets the best out of every session.

We have a belief that everyone has the right to support when they need it the most. We aim to provide well-timed support without the worry of long waiting lists.  Having access to support when it is needed the most is vital in supporting the best outcomes for children, young people, adults and families. 

 Find out more

Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide is a UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people. We believe that no young person should have to struggle alone with thoughts of suicide.

 Papyrus exists to reduce the number of young people who take their own lives, by shattering the stigma surrounding suicide and equipping young people and their communities with the skills to recognise and respond to emotional distress.

Every year many thousands more attempt or contemplate suicide, harm themselves or suffer alone, afraid to speak openly about how they are feeling.

HopelineUK advisers want to work with you to understand why these thoughts of suicide might be present. They also want to provide you with a safe space to talk through anything happening in your life that could be impacting on your or anyone else’s ability to stay safe.

HopelineUK is for children and young people under the age of 35 who are experiencing thoughts of suicide or for anyone concerned that a young person could be thinking about suicide.

 Our advisers are all trained to help you focus on staying safe from suicide. Their training enables them to provide advice and support that may help you to move forward and stay alive.

Find out more