Support during the Festive and New Year period
The festive and new year period can for many reasons be a difficult time for both young people and parent/carers. We therefore wanted to list a few services who can offer support and advice during this period if needed.
Food banks
Christmas and New Year can be especially difficult financially. If you find you are struggling, you may like to contact one of the services in the shortlists below, which includes details of local foodbanks:
Support for children and young people's emotional well being
- The Mindworks 24/7 mental health crisis line, is available for children and young people who are worried about themself, a friend, or for parents worried about their child or young person. It can be contacted on 0800 915 4644, is open all day and all night, seven days a week.
- Kooth is a free, anonymous, confidential, safe, online wellbeing service, offering counselling, information, and forums for children and young people aged 11 to 18. It is available during the holiday period except between the 28 to 30 December.
- Childline is a free, private, and confidential service for children and young people where you can talk about anything. The phone service 0800 1111 operates between 9am and midnight.
- Young people under the age of 19 can text "YM" to contact the Shout Crisis Text Line,
Support for parents and carers
- Samaritans provide a free helpline which is open 24/7 to provide a safe space for those in crisis.
- Mind has a helpline providing an information and signposting service regarding mental health. It is open 10am- 6pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays). The helplines will be closed on the 26th-27th December and the 2nd January.
- Family Lives is a charity whose aim is to help support parents and carers to deal with all aspects of family life. The services they offer include a 24-hour helpline and live chat service. They are not open between Christmas Eve and the 27th December 2022.
- The NHS Where to get urgent help for mental health provides helpful suggestions on the support available, including the details of mental health helplines for urgent help.
You may also find it helpful to refer to the Mary Francis Trust Christmas Self Help Survival Guide and Mental Health UK's Christmas and your Mental Health webpage.
Please remember
If you are in crisis, call 999.
Further suggestions of support
- The Citizens Advice Helpline can advise on a number of matters including debt. It is open during the festive period except for the 24th-27th and 31st December- 2nd January.
- Beat provide a helpline for people of all ages, offering support and information about eating disorders. The helpline is open 365 days a year from 9am – midnight during the week, and 4pm–midnight on weekends and bank holidays.
- The Family Matters newsletter, has details of financial and other support available to families in Surrey.
Subscribe to the Family Matters newsletter
Aside from these suggestions , there are also many more services to be found on the Local Offer website and Directory so please take a look.
