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Staff Shortages Pause Isle Of Wight Youth Trust Referrals

Staff shortages and high demand means the Isle of Wight Youth Trust has been forced to pause mental health referrals.

The charity says it is working hard to ensure young Islanders continue to have access to top-quality counselling and mental health support services.

From today (Monday), CEO, Jo Dare, said there will be temporary changes to the service.

She said:

“While we address these staff shortages, we will be making temporary adjustments to how we deliver our services to safeguard the wellbeing of our staff team and the young people we support.”

“From Monday 25th October, we will temporarily pause our intake of referrals for one-to-one counselling, so that we can manage our waiting list. We will be reviewing the situation every week and will start accepting referrals again as soon as we can. Anyone currently on the waiting list does not need to do anything and we will get to you as soon as we can.”

“While we are not able to take new referrals for counselling at this time, we will be continuing to deliver our services and would like to highlight our Youth Mental Health Drop In, which is open from our Hub on Pyle Street every Wednesday from 2pm to 5pm. We will also continue to deliver training and information sessions for parents.”

In the meantime, the trust has issued an urgent plea for Islanders to apply for roles.

She said:

“We have seen an unprecedented increase in demand for our service, with an average of 115 young people reaching out to us for support every month since March. Not only are we seeing more young people reaching out for support, but the reasons young people are coming to us are increasingly complex.”

“In addition to the increase in demand, and as is the case with many health and care services across the country, we are facing staff shortages. That is why we are currently recruiting for play therapists, counsellors and psychotherapists, who have experience working with children and young people, to join our team.”

“Our Island community can support the Youth Trust by sharing our recruitment details and encouraging anyone in their networks to join our team in making a difference to the lives of young Islanders. All recruitment opportunities can be found on our website www.iowyouthtrust.co.uk/jobs ”

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