ONLINE COUNSELLING SERVICES FOR 11 - 18 YEAR OLDS IN NHS LEICESTER, LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUPs (CCG)

The online counselling service will provide children and young people (C&YP) from the ages 11-18 years old resident in in Leicestershire County, Leicester City and Rutland who are experiencing emotional and or mental wellbeing/ mental health issues with direct access to friendly safe information, support and advice, including: • access to web chat, • one to one chat sessions. • email correspondence • Easy to use website for information and articles • An online one-to-one counselling service which is delivered via instant messaging • live chat session with trained counsellors according to each client's needs in an age-appropriate way. • a secondary intervention of signposting to other local and national agencies for ongoing support, advice and information to address client's needs. The objectives and expected outcomes are: • Experience of delivering online counselling and flowing data to the Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS) • Deliver an accessible service to the diverse communities of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, particularly targeting under-represented groups • Supporting integration of online counselling provision within mental health services at a neighbourhood and place-based level.