“I feel 11 out of 10 now. Place2Be has helped me come out of my shell.” Girl, 12 years old
Welcome…
… to the latest edition of your supporter magazine
As you read, I hope you’ll see how vital – and truly transformational – your support is to children all over the UK. When children like Adam are struggling with challenging situations at home and at school, your kindness helps make sure we’re there to offer expert support and advice. You can read Adam’s story on page 6, and I hope it makes you feel proud to know that you’re helping children like him to recover and thrive. Your magazine is full of the articles and features you’ve come to expect – from recent news to creative activities and upcoming events. In this edition, we offer a behind the scenes look at life as a Place2Be School Project Manager – that’s on page 8. And don’t miss the creative activity on page 12!
Thank you so much again for helping to make a vital difference to children and young people in real need of support.
Read on for news, features and more!
Place2Be is 30!
September marked our 30th anniversary of supporting children’s mental health.
Since our founding in a single school in Southwark in 1994, over 70% of schools in the UK have accessed Place2Be’s training, support or resources.
We developed the ‘whole school’ approach to mental health support and over three decades our mental health practitioners have directly helped over 400,000 children and young people build lifelong coping skills and thrive.
“Since 1994 Place2Be has led the way, working in deep partnership with school communities, supporting, empowering and building children’s resilience to make a difference for the long term in their lives.
“We look to the future with optimism and enthusiasm, ready to build on 30 years of evidence and experience, and resolute in our determination to help create a system and society where every child can reach their full potential.” Catherine Roche, Chief Executive at Place2Be
With the help of kind supporters like you, we’re making a difference – by equipping people with the skills and knowledge they need to support pupils, we are transforming the lives of children and young people.
You’re helping young
like Adam…
When young people are struggling and in pain, your support helps provide the expert support they urgently need.
Adam* is in Year 7. After his parents’ acrimonious divorce, his mother left the family home with Adam’s three younger siblings. At school, Adam became angry towards his peers and teachers.
As the school year progressed, his behaviour deteriorated. He was referred to Place2Be when the school raised concerns around self-harming and accessing inappropriate material on a school laptop.
During his first sessions, Adam was reserved and did not trust his counsellor. The only thing he wanted from the sessions was to work on what he had ‘done wrong’ and how he could ‘avoid making mistakes’ in the future.
Gradually, he began to open up. After a few sessions, he was able to realise that a few of his friendships were disingenuous and even confrontational.
As the sessions progressed, he became more trusting of the process and his counsellor. This led to exploring the resources in
people
the room, and especially opening up to strategies on how to best manage his emotions.
Adam connected to his feelings through the use of shells and pebbles, which were used to help him understand his relationships with friends and family. It also helped him to create a timeline of his life to better understand significant events and transitions.
As he worked through these feelings, Adam was then able to talk about his relationship with his dad, realising for the first time how confused and conflicted he felt about him. Adam and his counsellor explored
the importance of setting healthy boundaries to build strong relationships. Through the sessions it was clear that Adam started to understand his own feelings better, was less confrontational and could now articulate his needs.
Adam was sad to end his counselling and said that the process had helped him immensely. He is continuing to build on the strategies and tools he learnt in his counselling by attending Place2Talk. His teachers are delighted with his progress.
Thank you for helping to provide young people like Adam with transformational support and advice.
*Names and some identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the children and families we support. The child pictured is a model.
How to manage
friendship issues
Parenting Smart offers practical advice for parents and carers of children aged 4-11, featuring content created by Place2Be’s parenting experts. It’s based on evidence and their own experiences working with children, young people and their families, and is supported by kind people like you.
In this issue we’re looking at advice for supporting your child with friendship issues...
1Stop and listen before stepping in
It’s completely understandable to want to protect your child. But try not to jump in too quickly to fix things for them.
When your child has an argument with a friend, it can be hard not to take sides.
Maybe they make you think back to how you were treated by friends when you were a child. If you take a moment to notice how their worries are affecting you, it will help you manage your emotions. Then you can better support them as they find a solution.
Reassure them it’s natural for friends to fall out sometimes
Children’s friendships often change and can look different depending on your child’s age and stage of development. It’s perfectly natural for your child to have difficulties with their friendships. Let your child know that being friends doesn’t always mean getting along with others all the time.
Help your child move past the anger and hurt
It’s important to help our children learn to solve problems and move on with friendships. Listen to your child and show you understand how they feel by helping them name emotions. Once your child feels understood, they will be better able to move past the hurt.
2 3 4
Help them build confidence in their friendship skills
Friendship difficulties can happen for different reasons. Your child might be shy, like to take control or lack confidence. Talk to them about what makes a good friend, and practice friendship skills such as listening, sharing and compromising. Sit together and explore examples in everyday life, and from TV and books. This will help your child think about what makes a good friend and feel less worried about friendship issues.
The insider’s view…
Preety Nahal shares some of the challenges and the rewards of being a School Project Manager
A qualified counsellor, Preety Nahal has been a School Project Manager for the past five years. As the face of Place2Be three days a week making our services accessible to all is rewarding, but not without
Meeting the high demand for mental health support can be a challenge and we don’t always have the capacity to see as many students as we’d like. Despite that, the most rewarding part of my job is addressing the wide range of issues, from minor friendship problems through to more complex issues such as trauma.
We offer longer-term one-to-one counselling sessions as well as short-term lunchtime drops-in for children. We know our services are highly valued by children, staff and parents and we also know they find interactions with us positive. The challenge is
ensuring we can extend this to more young people and families.
“It’s been incredibly rewarding to see such a positive change.”
We recently worked with a Year 6 student who’d lost confidence in forming relationships and had become anxious. Through our support, she completely transformed and is now confident and looking forward to the future. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see such a positive change.
We know supporting one child can positively impact those
challenges
Manager with Place2Be week in a school in London, without its pressures.
around them. In fact, a change in a single student can be beneficial much more widely. Similarly, supporting staff helps them better manage students and, by providing them with strategies to support the children, we indirectly support entire classes.
We can’t get away from the fact that mental health provision for all age groups has been under significant pressure since Covid. The benefits, though, are clear.
Having a familiar, consistent face in the school makes mental health services approachable. It becomes less daunting for parents and students, encouraging them to seek help when it’s needed rather than letting something become more distressing and potentially damaging for all involved.
Thank you for helping to make it possible for more children to access mental health support at school.
How you can get involved!
Take part in community fundraising
Join our passionate community of Place2Be fundraisers, like Carmen who hosted a ‘cakes, cards and crafts open house sale’ raising a phenomenal £1,161 for children’s mental health. She says:
“It was great to help out Place2Be in a small way with my open house event. I’m pleased the day went well, and I hope the money raised will make a real difference to the young people who need it.”
Why not give your own seasonal fundraiser a go?
You could organise a play, get crafty selling advent calendars, or decorate festive candles. Or get your thinking cap on and try out the Place2Be Quiz! Download your pack at place2be.org.uk/quiz
Celebrating
Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week 2025
Each year, Place2Be experts create fun and engaging resources for schools, families and youth groups to take part in our Children’s Mental Health Week.
Put 3-9 February 2025 in your diary and visit the dedicated website to see how you can get involved!
Visit childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk
Supporter Spotlight
At the end of May, we embarked on an ambitious 300-mile journey, dubbed the “Dash2Devon,” to raise money for the Juliet Garmoyle Fund at Place2Be. The four-day challenge comprised cycling 250 miles over the first three days, running a marathon on the fourth morning and concluding with a two-mile kayak.
This challenge honours the memory of Juliet Garmoyle, who devoted much of her adult life to helping young children facing hardships.
Expressive creativity…
This kind of creative expression provides opportunities for children to try out new ideas and develop their imaginations and problem-solving skills.
This activity involves collecting things that can be used to make interesting and fun patterns and textures.
You will need:
• A collection of objects found outdoors or in household recycling that you imagine could make an interesting pattern
• Thick paint is highly recommended, but any combination of art materials will do from pencils, pastels, or even air-drying clay, if available
• Plain or recycled paper / card
• Glue and scissors are handy but not necessary
1. Choose a background surface to print onto like paper, card, fabric or air-drying clay.
2. Use the collection of objects to try different ideas. You could paint over one of your objects and press it against a surface like a stamp. You could place an object behind a thin surface and rub over it with pastel, crayon or pencil. Have you tried glueing recycled objects, fabric, paper, or netting onto the page? Or make a stencil by cutting shapes and letters out of paper.
3. Your creation can be left as it is or stuck on to something that’s yours, like a notebook.
Scan the QR code for more creative activities from Place2Be that support wellbeing
