Websites to support
Emotional First Aid and Wellbeing

Self-help websites for children

Young Minds: https://youngminds.org.uk
Young Minds is the UK's leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. Similarly to people's bodies becoming unwell, people's minds can become unwell too. The reality is, mental health problems are more common than you think with research showing that three children in every classroom have a mental health problem.

Young Minds offer information to young people and children about their mental health and emotional wellbeing. If you need to talk, they can let you know about organisations that listen, plus they offer online support information too.

Kooth: https://www.kooth.com
Kooth is an online counselling and emotional wellbeing platform for children and young people, accessible through mobile, tablet and desktop.

Kooth counsellors are online Monday-Friday, 12 noon - 10pm and weekends, 6pm-10pm. You can speak to counsellors, read articles written by young people, get support from the Kooth community and write in a daily journal.

ChildLine: https://www.childline.org.uk
ChildLine is the UK's free helpline for children and young people. It provides a confidential telephone counselling service for any child or young person with a problem. It comforts, advises and protects so, if you are worried about anything big or small there is someone impartial who will listen and support. It can really help if you talk to someone.

You can visit the ChildLine explore section for advice and information on a range of topics. Also, you can get support on the online message boards. Free phone 0800 1111 (24 hours and the call won't show up on your phone bill)

Bullying UK: https://www.bullying.co.uk/
Bullying UK provides support for children and parents who have had to deal with bullying. There are confidential helplines, parenting advice videos, forums and parenting courses.

Anxiety UK: https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk
Anxiety UK help with dealing with different forms of anxiety and what leads to it. It is a support network offering advice for overcoming anxiety.

Family support

Family Lives: https://www.familylives.org.uk
Previously known as Parentline, Family Lives respond when life becomes complicated. It provides support around family breakdown, aggression in the home, bullying, risky behaviour and mental health concerns of both parents and children. There are online forums and parent courses.

Parent Zone: https://parentzone.org.uk
Parent Zone offers digital tips and information regarding the wellbeing of children and parents around schools, healthy lifestyles and money.

PSG Supporting Parents: http://www.psg.org.uk
This is a parent support group offering a helpline and advice for when parenting becomes challenging.

Single Parents: https://www.singleparents.org.uk
This is a website for single parents. There are online forums, courses and information supporting anyone raising a child alone.

General mental health and support websites

Winston's Wish: https://www.winstonswish.org
The deaths of a parent or sibling is one of the most fundamental losses a child will ever face. At Winston's Wish they believe that bereaved children need support to make sense of death and rebuild their lives.

The Winston's Wish helpline offers support, information and guidance to all those caring for a bereaved child or young person.

Helpline 08452 03 04 05 (Monday - Friday 9am-5pm and Wednesday evenings 7pm to 9.30pm)

Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk
Mind is a charity providing advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to raise awareness, improve services and promote understanding. They do this through:

  • Infoline – offering callers confidential help for the price of a local call
  • Legal Line – providing information on mental health related law to the public, service users, family members/carers, mental health professionals and mental health advocates
  • Publications and their website

Support for families with children with children with special educational needs

My CAMHS Choices: https://www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind/receiving-support
This website has been set up by young people who have experience of working with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). It explains what young people and families can expect when they visit CAMHS.

Parent to Parent: https://www.autism.org.uk
Parent to Parent is a UK-wide confidential telephone service providing emotional support to parents and carers of autistic children and adults.

The service is provided by trained parent volunteers who offer telephone support from their own homes. The Parent to Parent volunteers are based across the UK so parents don't have to share information with someone in their local area.
Volunteers have personal experience of autism and the impact it has on their own families. They can give other parents the opportunity to talk through problems and feelings. They provide an impartial listening ear, support you in identifying key issues and strategies, direct you to appropriate services for information and advice, call you back at a convenient time during the day, evening or weekend and offer you complete anonymity, as volunteers are distributed across the UK.

Call: 0808 8004106

Challenging Behaviour Foundation: https://www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation provides information and support for families of children with learning difficulties.

The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service: http://www.addiss.co.uk
ADDISS provide information and resources about ADHD to anyone who needs assistance - parents, sufferers, teachers and health professionals.