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Youth West, Suffolk

  • We are a secondary mental health service offering support to 14 to 25-year olds in central Suffolk. This service engages with clients and their families. Our Staff conduct specialist assessments and plan packages of care. Young people present to this service with emotional difficulties. These difficulties relate to factors such as family systems, school, peer group, society factors. These issues may go on to impact on their mental health in a more significant way. Sometimes they go on to present symptoms of anxiety and depression. Sometimes young people come to us with more serious mental illness such as Bipolar Disorder or with psychotic symptoms.

  • Service Contact: Chris Hicks
  • Address:
    Newmarket Hospital,  Exning Road, Newmarket, CB8 7JG G Block,  Hospital Road, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3NR
  • Reception phone number: North: 01638 558650 South: 01284 733188
  • Service hours: This service is available rom 9:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

Other services and resources for young people in Suffolk

The following services and resources are also available to young people across Suffolk.

NSFT resources

Kooth

Kooth offers free, safe and anonymous online support for people aged between 11 to 25. It provides:

  • Virtual chat sessions with friendly counsellors.
  • One-to-one text-based chats.
  • Peer-to-peer support.
  • Live online moderated forums.
  • A range of self-help materials.
  • Journals and goal trackers to reflect your thoughts.

There are no waiting lists or thresholds, just register on the Kooth website at www.kooth.com for immediate support.

Point-1 Service (Ormiston Families)

Point-1 Service provides support for children and young people in Lowestoft and Waveney, who are experiencing mental health and emotional wellbeing problems, and live in Lowestoft and Waveney.

Contact the service by telephone on 0800 977 4077.

More information is available at www.ormiston.org/what-we-do/mental-health-and-wellbeing/point-1/ and www.justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/mentalhealth 

The Suffolk Wellbeing Service

The Suffolk Wellbeing Service is available for young people age 16 and over and offers a range of support for common emotional wellbeing issues, such as low mood, depression or stress. 

Telephone the team on 0300 123 1503.

More information is available at www.wellbeingnands.co.uk   

ChatHealth

ChatHealth is your school nursing text service.Text a school nurse for confidential help on 07507 333356.

This service is available from Monday to Friday, between 9:00 and 16:30, excluding bank holidays.

More information is available at Home Page - ChatHealth

Moodwise

Moodwise is a website for 16 to 25 year olds that offers advice on topics such as mental health and relationships.

The website address for Moodwise is www.moodwise.co.uk.

Teenage Mental Health

Teenage Mental Health provide advice and support to families with young people who are experiencing difficulties with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm and other mental health issues. They also run free support groups for under 25s.

More information is available at www.teenagementalhealth.co.uk.

Stay Alive app

The Stay Alive app is a Suicide prevention resource for the UK. The app is full of useful information and tools to help you stay safe in a crisis.

More information is available at https://www.stayalive.app

The Source

The Source provides links to support and information for young people in Suffolk, about the issues that are important to them, including emotional wellbeing support.

Access The Source at www.thesource.me.uk/wellbeing

4YP: Suffolk Young People's Health Project

4YP is a local charity which provides and coordinates services that improve the social, emotional, and physical health and wellbeing of young people in Suffolk, aged between 12 and 25. 

More information is available at www.4yp.org.uk

Suffolk Mind

Suffolk Mind provides resources for adults and children to help them stay well. Anyone who needs support can contact their friendly team by telephoning 0300 111 6000 between Monday and Friday.

More information is available at www.suffolkmind.org.uk

General resources which you could also find helpful

Suicide bereavement support

Victim Support

Victim Support is a suicide bereavement service for people of all ages in Suffolk and North East Essex (with the exception of the Waveney area).

This service is free, providing confidential support for anyone who has been affected by bereavement as a result of suicide.

Contact:

Samaritans’ Step-by-Step

Samaritans’ Step-by-Step service supports organisations working with young people so they can respond effectively following a suspected or attempted suicide of someone within the community.

Find out more at Step by Step | Samaritans

Physical activity and good emotional wellbeing

These resources are useful for encouraging physical activity and good emotional wellbeing:

Other useful contacts

  • Campaign Against Living Miserably (C.A.L.M) - Male suicide prevention charity for men and boys. You can contact their helpline and webchat services which are available from 17:00 to midnight every day. Telephone 0800 58 58 58 or visit www.thecalmzone.net
  • Hopeline UK (Papyrus) - A national charity for young people at risk of suicide or who are worried about a young person. Telephone 0800 068 41 41 or visit www.papyrus-uk.org.
  • Anna Freud – On My Mind website has clear, simple self-help advice to support families and children and young people. Visit www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind

What this service offers

Our team offers a comprehensive assessment. The assessment looks at the holistic needs of the individual.  We work with youngsters to provide:

  • Anxiety management
  • Art therapy
  • Assessment of daily living skills and neurological functioning
  • ‘Back on track’ interventions such as ‘sleep management’ and ‘living with emotions’
  • Behaviour activation
  • CAT therapy
  • Cognitive behavioural therapy
  • Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing therapy
  • Family therapy
  • Medication
  • Practical support with social care needs, housing and benefits
  • Psychological interventions
  • Psychometric testing
  • Support work for ‘exposure’ work and to meet practical needs
  • Understanding and management of trauma.

We also offer workshops and groups if required and helpful.

We get information from all sources involved in the young person's care. This is to aid our assessment and help plan out interventions.

Our team offers complete care co-ordination; to plan, offer intervention and review.

We promote recovery and work at all times with values and anti-discriminatory practice.

Access this service

Referral to our service is via the Emotional Wellbeing Hub online. We also take referrals from the Emotional Wellbeing Gateway or via telephone on 03456 002 090.

A GP or any professional can make this referral but people can also self-refer.

Visiting and onsite facilities

Limited free parking is available at our Newmarket Hospital address.

Our site provides full access for those with disabilities, including toilet facilities.

We do not offer refreshments but a water cooler is available for visitors to use.

How this service support carers including friends and family

We invite carers and family and friends to join the assessment process. This is particularly important if a child is under 18.

On most occasions the child agrees with this. On the occasions they do not we will take this into account and offer a compromise.

When the young person is over 18, we need their consent for carers or family input. Unless risk is a significant factor. We may then overrule this.

Family therapy is a key treatment in our youth pathway. We have access to carers leads. We can offer full carers assessments and access to the carers budget for short breaks.

We encourage nearest relatives and next of kin to take part in decisions about care. We also invite them to formal reviews.

Urgent help

Our duty worker is available to provide help from 9:00 to 17:00. Contact them by calling your team number. We will have given you this on your first contact with our team.

Call 111 and select the mental health option to speak to our 24 hour mental health crisis line.

If you are with someone who has attempted suicide, call 999 and stay with them until the ambulance arrives. 

If anyone is at serious risk of harm, call 999 and ask for the police. 

For non-life threatening medical situations, call NHS111 on 111.  

For more information, see Help in a Crisis. 

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