Children's Mental Health Week - Meet the Halifax charity tackling the youth mental health crisis

The pandemic has exacerbated an already-growing problem, and nationally referrals have soared by an incredible 153 per cent in the last year.

But there is a Halifax charity determined to help.

Invictus Wellbeing, based at Dean Clough, is already doing amazing work across Calderdale and West Yorkshire, and has aspirations of eventually operating across the country.

It was founded in 2015 by Chris Georgiou after he experienced his own struggles with anxiety and stress.

The service started working in schools, then became a charity and has been growing ever since.

Chris said he began Invictus Wellbeing because he realised what a shortage there was of mental and emotional health resources for adults, and discovered that for young people, it was even worse.

The charity’s aim, he explained, is to start helping young people before they hit adulthood.

“There is a gap in resources,” he said. “The service provision for young people is shocking.

“You’ve got to get that early intervention with people, as soon as they present with any form of anxiety.

“If you don’t, it’s like a cancer - it will spread and become a big issue that they will have in adulthood.

“We’re the 111 service before it gets to 999.”

The charity’s service is holistic, aiming to tailor support to what will suit and reach each child.

It has a variety of different projects and methods, from bereavement support to a befriending service and holiday clubs.

As well as one-to-one counselling, it has partnerships including with Halifax Panthers, Halifax Town, ROKT climbing gym in Brighouse and a community radio station.

If sitting down with a child and asking them to talk is not going to be suitable at first, having a chat while kicking a ball about or scaling a climbing wall might be.

One of its most recent projects - Tag Talks - will invite young men aged 18 to 25 to games of tag rugby, led by Halifax Panthers, with warm up and cool down exercises, led by Invictus Wellbeing, helping with reflection and mindfulness.

And the charity still works with schools, offering mental health help to students, parents and staff with specialist support, workshops and projects around specific issues and advice on schools’ approaches to wellbeing.

Chief Executive of Invictus Wellbeing Danny Hutchinson said they have helped thousands of young people already and their aim is to provide support as quickly as possible.

But the huge number of referrals they are getting is making that increasingly difficult.

Young people come to them via the police, social services, Calderdale Open Minds, family support teams, school nursing teams and parents.

Numbers have increased massively since Covid-19, and there has been a rise in a host of issues including eating disorders, school refusal and self-harm.

“Every single problem has been made ten times worse by Covid,” said Danny. “It’s tragic to see.”

The charity is trying to gather more support for its work, and already has backing from Dean Clough, Harveys of Halifax and Covea Insurance.

This week, which is Children’s Mental Health Week, Invictus Wellbeing announced it had been chosen by The Woolshops in Halifax as its charity partner for 2022.

Cafes across the borough have added their support by hosting donation cards for the charity, and there are sponsored events and a fundraising ball planned.

For more information about Invictus Wellbeing and how to get in touch, visit www.invictuswellbeing.com .