Website launched to support young people’s mental health

Thursday 04 February 2021

The Northumberland ‘Be You’ programme has launched a brand new website www.beyounorthumberland.nhs.uk which can be accessed by all young people across the county.

Be You is a county wide initiative that takes a collaborative approach to supporting children and young people in looking after their mental health and emotional wellbeing. With already established mental health support teams, they are now extending the offer with a website that can be accessed by all making it easier than ever before for children and young people in Northumberland to access support for their emotional wellbeing and mental health.

In the face of the global pandemic, and with the recent announcement of a third national lockdown, it comes at a crucial time when many young people will – once again – be undertaking home learning away from school, their friends and other established support networks.

Helen Bowyer, children and young people’s operational commissioning manager at the CCG, explained: “This latest development makes the pathways clearer for people who are looking for additional support, whether that’s young people, their carers or professionals working with children and young people. It makes our services more accessible so that individuals are seen at the right time by the right people and get the relevant support they need.”

As well as helping to support young people remotely, this new website will help realise Northumberland’s ambition to identify mental health issues at an early stage, ensure young people get the right service at the right time and reduce waiting times for those requiring targeted and specialist support. This is achieved through providing the user with self-help techniques and offering clear information around how to access support from a range of services, depending on the level of need.

There are dedicated pages for young people looking for further support and guidance, pages for parents/carers who may have concerns and also professionals who work with children and young people.

Helen continued: “This website provides a platform for professionals to access the right tools to carry out their duty of care when they think someone might need additional support. It is also important that we are providing our young people with these skills at a young age so they can grow up with an awareness of their mental health, and will have the right techniques in place should they need them.”

Councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, Northumberland County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for Children’s Services said: “Northumberland has a strong reputation for taking a collaborative and integrated approach to offering support for children and young people and this website provides a one stop resource so that professionals, parents, carers and young people can find out themselves exactly what support is available, around the clock.

We are committed to ensuring our children and young people have access to the right support for their needs. This website offers another route in ensuring that is the case as we continue to feel the effects of the pandemic”