Young People’s Emotional Support Service

This service is only for young people living in London Borough of Tower Hamlet

Waiting times:

The waiting time for 1:1 support with us is currently 3 months.

• We can help you manage your feelings.
• We help you with feelings that might feel difficult.
• Difficult feelings might start small, but they can get big and become more difficult.
• We want to try and support you when difficult feelings are smaller and, in the middle.
• We want to try and stop your difficult feelings becoming big.
• You might hear adults call these mild to moderate or medium emotions.
• We can meet with you on your own or in a group with other young people that feel the same.
• We can meet you for 6 weeks to 8 weeks (we can make it longer which would be up-to 12 weeks).

Who can we support

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ANY SCHOOL BASED REFERRALS – Please note that our service is no longer directly accepting school based referrals as set out below.

Barnardo’s Young People’s Emotional Support Service is commissioned by Tower Hamlets and has been providing support for Children and Young People’s mental health and emotional wellbeing across Tower Hamlets since 2022. The service has developed relationships with a broad range of partners, and been present in a variety of settings to champion mental health and emotional wellbeing support for our children.

Through this service a better understanding of what Tower Hamlets’ Children and Young people need, and want, has been gained in relation to their mental health and emotional wellbeing, including how to ensure that services reach them. Consequently, a mutual decision has been made to end the Barnardo’s Young People’s Emotional Support Service contract on the 31 March 2025.

Our Tower Hamlets commissioners would like to reassure partners that they are working proactively, and collaboratively, to ensure there is a continued offer of support that is more aligned to the needs and wants of Tower Hamlet’s Children and Young People.

As a result, all referrals for children and young people from our school partners or for referrals that would use schools as the host venue (for children aged 11-17), which meet criteria for the Tower Hamlets Education Wellbeing Service (THEWS) should now be referred directly to THEWS for support. Further information about the service, referrals forms and contact information can also be accessed via the following link https://www.elft.nhs.uk/thews Please note that your school may already be linked directly with THEWS so please continue to discuss and make referrals via established processes.

We can support you if you live in OR if you are under the care of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Local Authority and are aged between 9 and 18 years of age.

If you are aged 18 to 25 years and have any experience of being in the care system, if you are working with Youth Justice, if you have a social worker, or if you have a special educational need, we can also offer you support.

If you aren’t sure if we can support you or if you have any questions, you can email us at [email protected] and we can help.

If you are a professional or partner, wanting to explore workshops, events, assemblies, and group programmes, please contact us via email on [email protected]

What to expect

Well-being navigation worker: they use therapeutic tools to help you out and can even come with you to appointments or activities.
Registered clinicians: they offer therapy sessions and will listen to you to provide the right approach which suits you.

• When we first meet you, we will check with you what you think you need and how we can help.
• We will meet you where you feel safe.
• We will work with you and other people in your life if you want us to.
• We will help you choose which way we support you.
• We will check if you are enjoying working with us.
• You can ask an adult to speak to us for you. This might be your youth worker, your teacher, or a member of your family.

If you are a child or young person and want help with your feelings, click here to complete our online form.

If you are in crisis, have an emergency, or need immediate support, please contact one of the following services:

• The Samaritans 116 123
• Childline 0800 1111
• The Police 999
• The Tower Hamlets NHS mental health crisis team on 0800 073 0003

Young People's Emotional Support Service (YPESS) is not an emergency service.

CSSO

Our service uses a model called CSSO to help design the way we work with you. Working in a CSSO way means that:

• We ask you HOW you want to work with us.
• If you tell us, you want us to, we will try to work with other important people in your life.
• We think the things that might be going well for you are interesting too, and we will ask you about these things.
• We will ask you if you are enjoying working with us, and if it is feeling helpful, because this helps us to know what you like and what you don’t like.