What Sefton Children and Young People Have Told Us

A range of consultation pieces have been done and the information from these are summarised.

These include:
■ SYMBOL report 2022
■ Kooth annual report 2023
■ 0-19 CHAT health survey
■ Sefton’s Children and Young People Emotional Health and Wellbeing Report 2022/23
■ Liverpool John Moores University Sefton School Mental Wellbeing and Resilience Survey
2021 (follow up from 2019 survey)
■ The Children and Young People Plan Consultation

Issues for our young people that impact on their emotional health and wellbeing

Here are some of the common things young people told us they struggle with when it comes to their emotional health and wellbeing:

■ Anxiety
■ Depression
■ Peer pressure
■ Bullying
■ Self-harm
■ Thinking about suicide
■ Having unmet SEND needs
■ Relationship issues
■ Feeling unsafe on public transport
■ Feeling unsafe in public near an adult under the influence of drugs or alcohol
■ Feeling unsafe in dark spaces outdoors

Protective factors of our young people’s emotional health and wellbeing

Some of the other most common protective factors cited by our young people were:

■ Being able to take part in physical activity/exercise
■ Reading articles to help control one’s own thoughts
■ Having two primary caregivers at home
■ Having positive relationships at school and home
■ Having goals

Suggestions of what could help

Suggestions were limited by only a select few consultations regarding what could be done to help better manage young people’s emotional health and wellbeing. Of the consultations including parents and carers, some common themes were:

■ Less exam pressure
■ Better waiting times for mental health support
■ Improvements in the cost of living crisis

Young people had a few additional common themes when considering what would help them:

■ Access to quite spaces
■ More flexibility to do some school work at home
■ School support animals
■ Better reasonable adjustments and more understanding for SEND related issues