Anna* is mum to two children, Sophie, aged 13 and two-year-old Adam.
Anna has received what she describes as ‘absolutely fantastic support’ from Barnardo’s social prescribing service in the North West of the country.
Anna said:
“Sophie was always such a confident little girl. Me and her dad were separated and she had a good relationship with him - it was a shock to us all when he started doing drugs. It was no longer safe for her to see him. We suffered a bereavement in our family when my mum died, so lots of things came at once.
“Sophie became withdrawn, anxious and lost confidence. She stopped wanting to go to school and had panic attacks at the bus stop. As a mum it was so hard, seeing her struggling and crying all the time. She started self-harming and cutting herself.
“We went to the GP and Sophie was referred to CAMHS who put us in touch with the Barnardo’s LINK service. That’s where we met Sammy. Sophie took a liking to her straight away, she quickly built a rapport. They had a couple of face to face meetings, have been for walks and to a café. Sophie texts and talks to Sammy a lot on the phone. Sammy is helping to get Sophie motivated again."
Anna, mum of Sophie
About the LINK service
The LINK service, a joint initiative between Barnardo’s and several local Primary Care Networks, is available to those aged between 5 and 19 years of age, offering social prescribing - a non-medical solution that provides a holistic approach to health and wellbeing and managing some of the issues young people face today.
Children and young people who may be struggling with issues such as anxiety, low mood, loneliness or stress from relationship difficulties with family and friends, can be referred into the LINK service by GPs and health professionals, schools and other supporting organisations.
*False names and models have been used to protect identities