Brilliant New Counselling Project to be Offered in Schools

The Dove Service has been awarded a £168,000 grant to work with children and young people in schools across Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Cheshire.

Counselling, therapeutic interventions and group support will be offered to the young people who have been affected by bereavement or who are facing other very difficult family circumstances such as life-changing illnesses.

As well as counselling services there will be training opportunities for professional and parents on how to recognise signs of grief and help children cope.

The grant for this work has come from a wider government plan to end the stigma around mental health, especially in schools.

An MP from Crewe, Edward Timpson has said he is ‘delighted we are supporting a cause as worth as the Dove Service. This grant will help children through difficult times that could influence the rest of their lives.’

It has been estimated that there are 1 in 10 children suffering with a diagnosable mental health disorders. This can include depression triggered by the loss of a loved one.

Demand for this specialist services has never been greater and Joanne Speed, Chief Executive of the Dove Service, is certainly pleased to have these funds in place. She says the ‘benefits of intervening early for children who have been bereaved, or are anticipating the loss of a close family member, is very significant. It enables then to manage confusing or conflicting emotions, have the opportunity to express their grief appropriately and to receive much needed support at a very difficult time in their lives.’

A report also states that the government are planning to issue new guidance to schools nationally, aimed to help teachers provide lessons, age appropriately, to discuss the sensitive issues that one might face such as depression, eating disorders and self-harm.