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There are three ways for children and young people to access support for their emotional wellbeing and mental health in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan:

  1. Through your school
  2. Through your local early help service
  3. Through the Single Point of Access

These entry points are all connected.

If you seek help through one pathway but another one may suit you and your situation better, we will make sure you are able to access this with no extra effort from you – we call this the ‘no wrong door’ approach.

No type of support is better than another – it all depends on what best meets your needs and what you want to achieve.

While specialist services are important, there are many other places to go for support.

Everyone you interact with – whether that be your family, teacher or other trusted adult – should be keeping your emotional wellbeing at the heart of everything they do.

There are some videos explaining this below.

NYTH NEST logo An overview of the NEST framework, which shows how everyone should be working together to support the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and families in Wales.
Owain shares their experience and we learn about how their journey fits into the concept of ‘no wrong door’ - services that help young people to get to best place to help them based on their individual goals and needs.
This video focuses on the ups and downs we all face with our emotional wellbeing and mental health. Our Emotional Wellbeing & Mental Health services are there to listen and help children and young people manage the challenges they may be facing.
The five ways to wellbeing are things that we can all be doing to look after our emotional wellbeing.
Ahmed and Alex talk about how young people can talk to and help their friends who may be having a tough time. It’s important that young people such as Alex who support their friends are able to take time for themselves and talk to someone they trust if they’re worried.

Support through your school

Teachers and other school staff in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan are being trained to understand mental health better so that they are able to support and listen to you.

These individuals see you every day and know you well, so they can support you on your wellbeing journey (if this would be helpful for you).

  • Every school has a school nurse. You can speak to your school nurse about anything you want – including your emotional wellbeing.
  • If you are aged 11-19, you can also text a school nurse on 07520 615 718 during school hours with Chat Health.
  • Every secondary school will also have a school counsellor.
  • Every secondary school will have time with a mental health practitioner every week. These practitioners provide advice to school staff but can also work with young people directly. This will either be a one to one or a group session depending on the needs of the young people in the school.
  • Some children and young people in secondary schools can be supported by The Resilience Project. If this service is suitable for you, your secondary school will be able to contact the team.

If you have any questions about receiving support through your school, speak to your school’s Wellbeing Lead to find out more.

Please note: We are changing what our offer for schools looks like to better meet the needs of children, young people and school staff. Changes will start to be communicated in Spring 2022.

Support through your local early help service

Early Help services in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan provide children, young people, families and professionals with information and support on a range of topics that could affect you and your family.

Examples include low self-esteem, relationships with your family and the loss of an important person in your life.

These are different as they are ran by the two different councils – but they offer the same service.

Wherever you live, the early help service will listen to you and assess your needs. They will either support you and your family directly or point you in the direction of a service that can help you with specific needs.

There are mental health practitioners working with early help staff to advise them and to provide you with support for your emotional wellbeing if this is what you need.

Support through the Single Point of Access

The Single Point of Access is how children and young people can access specialist Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health services run by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

Currently, only certain types of professionals can make a referral to the Single Point of Access, including:

  • your GP
  • your family’s Health Visitor
  • your social worker

After we receive your referral, a team of professionals will meet to decide which team is best placed to give you the help you need. They may contact you or your family to find out more about what is going on with you and what you’d like to achieve to help make this decision.

There are many services across Cardiff and the Vale that support children and young people with their emotional wellbeing.

It may be that you can receive support better suited for your needs at your school, local early help service or with another organisation – if that is the case then we will provide you with information to contact them, or we will ask you whether we can make a referral to them on your behalf.

If your circumstances change, we will take this into account and ensure that the support you are receiving will help you to achieve your goals.