It’s been a year since the start of the first lockdown and the pandemic has had a massive impact on the mental health of the nation.
The Government’s Covid-19 mental health and wellbeing surveillance report shows that mental health and wellbeing worsened during the first national lockdown and again in October and January this year.
Research published in medRxiv journal found families with a low household income have been particularly affected, reporting an increase in anxiety and depression during the first lockdown. Financial pressures and difficulties accessing food and medicine appeared to have had a significant negative impact on individuals’ mental health.
Young Minds survey in January 2021 reports young people having found the most recent lockdown (January and February 2021) the hardest to cope with.
This is why our work is important.
We know from these reports that the pandemic and lockdowns have caused more uncertainty and worry, impacting negatively on people’s mental health. With NHS services under enormous pressure and the families we work with often struggling to engage with mainstream services, our counselling service is needed more than ever. We work in schools and other local community venues that are easier for clients to attend and have remained open through the pandemic, adapting our services to offer remote counselling via telephone and WhatsApp video conferencing when we couldn’t meet face to face.
Over the last 12 months, the number of clients we work with has increased 40% and this growth looks set to continue in the year ahead.
It has been a strange and challenging year for the whole nation and we’re very proud of the work we’ve done to support families in Blacon and Lache struggling with mental health issues.
Find out more about the impact of our work on individual families and how you can support us as we grow our service to help address the increase in poor mental health in Blacon and Lache communities.
Stories and feedback from our clients
07552 219806
