Parish councils fund counselling slots for troubled young people from 10 Milton Keynes estates

Professional counselling will be available for 11 to 21 year olds
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Troubled young people living 10 estates in MK will have access to fast-track counselling thanks to their caring parish councils.

Abbey Hill and Shenley Church End parishes have both agreed to give funds to MK charity YiS to enable any young residents struggling with their mental health to get help as soon as possible.

Abbey Hill's offer applies to children, teenagers and young adults aged between 11 and 21 who live in Two Mile Ash, Kiln Farm or Wymbush.

More young people than ever are struggling with mental health problemsMore young people than ever are struggling with mental health problems
More young people than ever are struggling with mental health problems

Shenely Church End's contrubition covers those living in Crownhill, Grange Farm, Medbourne, Oakhill, Oxley Park, Shenley Church End and Shenley Wood .

These have the option to use our main counselling service or be seen in the Shenley Church End Parish Council building when YiS return to face to face counselling in a few weeks' time.

Young people, professionals and parents can go to www.mkyis.org.uk/counselling to make a referral to YiS, where 99 per cent of young people who have used the service say that is has helped them.

National statistics show 10 per cent of children and young people will have a diagnosable mental health problem, yet 70 per cent who experience mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age. The Covid pandemic and lockdown has caused a increase in the need for help.

YiS offers counselling for a range of problems including coping with anxiety, depression, exam stress, healthy relationships, self-esteem, confidence and moving on from trauma,

“Counselling is based on building a trusting relationship. It can help you talk about your experiences and make sense of them. It can help to express difficult feelings and learn how to manage them in a helpful way,” said YiS counselling manager Jenny Harknett.

“Our counsellors have years of training to listen thoughtfully and carefully to problems without judging or criticising. They do not give advice but support young people to make positive decisions for themselves”.

YiS runs the only counselling service in Milton Keynes that is accredited by the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). This means that YiS’ counselling service has demonstrated a high quality of delivery, meeting benchmark standards for counselling and psychotherapy provision maintained by ongoing assessment.

The charity's CEO Gareth Eglinton-Pacitti said: “With the number of young people we see having increased, along with the complexity of what’s going on for them, it’s more important than ever to have oversight, accreditation and involvement from a wide range of mental health professionals and organisations to ensure young people get a quality, ethical and safe service."

“YiS is a small community led service mostly staffed by volunteer counsellors. Having them connected into a wider network of support with access to high quality learning and clinical supervision is imperative. It enables trainee and experienced counsellors to spend time volunteering in the community to support young people at a time when it is vital.”

To find out more, please visit www.mkyis.org.uk.

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