PRESS RELEASE
Off the Record Bristol (OTR) is pleased to be working with Community Children’s Health Partnership led by Sirona care & health CIC, to deliver mental health information and support to young people across Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
OTR, which has been established since 1965, delivers free and confidential mental health support for young people – including group work, one-to-one support, creative therapies and outreach into schools, colleges and youth clubs. The expansion of the schools offer means that support is accessible to young people who would normally not engage with mental health support.
Long recognised as a counselling service, in recent years OTR has developed its support to offer specialist work for LGBTQ+ young people, support groups for young people experiencing bullying and self-harm, and creative support such as art and drama therapies.
OTR places particular significance on health promotion – projects such as The Resilience Lab encourage young people to actively engage with their mental health by learning tips and tricks to look after emotional wellbeing.
Young people are encouraged to sign-up for information and support on OTR’s website – encouraging a health promotion and self-referral model.
Karen Black, Operations Director at OTR, said:
“We are very pleased to be working with CCHP because it means we can broaden the reach that we have with young people through the wider partnership relationships. It also allows us to developed an increased community workforce knowledge and understanding of mental health in young people – and how to best support it”.
CCHP (Community Children’s Health Partnership) is led by Sirona care & health, working with Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Mental Health NHS TRust (AWP), Bristol Community Health CIC, University Hospital Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), Barnardo’s and Off The Record as partners.
Together, CCHP provides all of the community child health and child and adolescent mental health services for Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
Julie Sharma, Sirona’s Programme Director for the Partnership, added:
“We are really pleased to be working with Off The Record and expanding the facilities for children, young people and their families so they are able to receive support when they are in school. This initiative improves the accessibility for this service. Emotional wellbeing is really important for all of us and to have the expertise of OTR on hand for those in Bristol and South Gloucestershire who need it is a valuable asset for our partnership”.
For more information on OTR, visit otrbristol.org.uk
For more information on CCHP, visit cchp.nhs.uk
For additional quotes and materials please contact Liam McKinnon: liam@otrbristol.org.uk or 0808 808 9120 (option 4).