MP shows support for mental health campaign

The charity’s parliamentary event meant MPs were able to discuss the increasingly important role that Childline plays in the mental health landscape.

The event was hosted in the House of Commons, where founder of Childline Dame Esther Rantzen revealed the service had delivered 101,454 counselling sessions on mental and emotional health issues in the last year alone.

Dame Esther stressed the urgency for investment in Childline as she told politicians and other key stakeholders how two thirds of Childline counselling sessions take place outside school hours, and that children often use the service as a means of early mental health support.

Some children have told counsellors they are being directed to contact Childline after normal working hours by statutory services, such as child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) or local authority children’s services in England.

Paula Sherriff MP also heard from young people who had benefitted from Childline after suffering from mental health issues, ranging from depression to anxiety.

The Government’s public consultation on its green paper proposals for children’s mental health support closed last Friday (2 March).