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One in three children in every classroom in the UK experiences a mental health problem. Often they have no choice but to face their fears and anxieties alone.

But in nearly 300 schools across the UK, Place2Be is there to provide in-school mental health support to children and young people, and their families coping with a wide range of mental health issues including bereavement, suicide, family breakdown, bullying and abuse.

We do this by providing one-to-one counselling as well as group support sessions, delivered by our Place2Be trained expert child counsellors. Place2Be believes early intervention is critical in ensuring children鈥檚 lives are not defined by mental health issues.

Last year we reached a school population of over 140,000 children and trained over 1,000 child counsellors who as well as providing a lifeline to families, help to normalise talking about feelings and discussing difficult topics.

But there are still many children and young people who are not receiving the mental health support they deserve. Our vision by 2020 is to grow our support services in schools ten-fold. We believe no child or family should have to cope alone. 聽

By donating to our appeal, you can help us reach more children, young people and families who desperately need our help.

Hi, I鈥檓 Kate Silverton.聽 I鈥檓 supporting the Lifeline appeal for Place2Be because I know how important it is to look after children鈥檚 and young people鈥檚 mental health. As a mum I know how much we worry about our children, especially at difficult times when they have to deal with a wide range of emotions. These emotions can stem from all sorts of problems such as bullying, depression or bereavement.

With so many pressures on young people, from home to school life and the ever-growing concern of social media, its critical that charities such as Place2Be are in as many schools as possible.

I share Place2Be鈥檚 passion in providing mental health support to some of the most vulnerable children in the UK and believe early intervention is key in ensuring mental health problems in childhood don鈥檛 go on to define their later lives. By providing this essential service in schools Place2Be helps to reduce stigma and normalise the language around mental health.

Please help us to be there for more children by donating to our appeal. Thank you.

Jenny and her two daughters live in London. In 2015 they received life changing news. Jenny鈥檚 husband Darren was diagnosed with neck and throat cancer and had to begin immediate treatment. The treatment was very aggressive transforming Darren from a very hands-on dad into someone who was no longer able to interact with his daughters, who at the time were just 6 and 3.

With home life completely shattered, Jenny was particularly worried about the effect Darren鈥檚 illness was having on the girls and asked the head teacher how they were coping emotionally at school. Fortunately, Place2Be is available at the girls鈥� school thereby enabling the girls鈥� access to in-school mental health support.

聽鈥淚t was an enormous relief knowing that the girls could get access to expert help at school. Success isn鈥檛 down to the number of A-levels you get but down to your emotional strength and resilience.鈥�

Darren sadly passed away in May 2018. But the support for the girls is still there, providing them with safe space to talk.

Having endured years of bullying, Lucy鈥檚 son Felix took his life in April 2016. He was 17.

Since then, Lucy has been bravely campaigning in memory of Felix, asking children to 鈥檅e kind鈥�. 聽鈥� always. She has become an ambassador for Place2Be and believes whole heartedly in the need to work with children in schools early before problems escalate.

鈥榃e didn鈥檛 want flowers at Felix鈥檚 funeral. I wanted people to donate to a charity who help children like Felix. I contacted Place2Be and I just thought the work they do is wonderful. They鈥檝e been an enormous support to me 鈥� I now promote their work which helps me to come to terms with what鈥檚 happened to my family.鈥�

Susan Lawrence is the Head teacher at St Mary鈥檚 school in North London. Place2Be has been a firm fixture in the school for the past 20 years and has made an undeniable difference to the lives of the children and the school as a whole.

Place2Be ensure the emotional wellbeing of both the children and staff. With the help of the trained counsellors the charity helps make the children feel safe and cared for, whatever is going on in their lives. No matter what life throws at them Place2Be provides a safe space and a place to talk.

As a primary school child, Mathew received support from Place2Be. Now more than a decade later, he has become a Place2Be Youth Ambassador, and has spoken about the long-term impact of receiving this support at Place2Be events in Scotland.

鈥淏eing at Place2Be gave me that consistency and trust that I desperately needed at that age. It gave me a place that I could go to talk about my problems. 聽It gave me that space to feel safe. You know, at home things were very traumatic and just unpredictable and then at school, things could be similar. To be able to go to a room and talk to someone directly about your issues at that age was tremendously helpful.鈥�

Today Mathew is passionate about giving others the same opportunity of help he received as a child. At work he has gone on to establish well-being talks for colleagues and at home he writes a blog about mental health.