The service, Mi Choice, is commissioned by the City of Wolverhampton Council, Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group and HeadStart Wolverhampton and will work with anyone aged up to 18 – and care leavers and anyone with a disability up to the age of 25 – who may need support with their emotional health and wellbeing.
It will provide support to children and young people experiencing mild to moderate emotional wellbeing concerns, such as anxiety, depression and stress, are engaging in risk taking or disruptive behaviours, or are living with families experiencing difficulties, and provide a range of interventions including counselling and group work.
Referrals to Mi Choice can be made via GPs, schools, Base 25 and professionals who can download a referral form from Base 25’s website. Base 25 has pledged that no young person will have to wait more than 10 working days for an appointment following their assessment.
Base 25 is a Wolverhampton based charity which works with thousands of young people every year. Its head of service Alan Jarvis said: “We are delighted to be taking over this service.
“We value young people and recognise the challenges they face and, along with partners from Wolverhampton’s voluntary sector, in particular Believe to Achieve, we will be striving to ensure that all young people get the support they need so they develop personal skills and resilience so they can create opportunities for a positive future for themselves.”
Councillor John Reynolds, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "Base 25 is a well established local organisation which has a strong track record in delivering services to the city’s young people, and we are delighted that they will be providing this important counselling service.
"Mi Choice forms an important part of our wider provision to help children and young people who are sadly experiencing emotional mental health and wellbeing issues in Wolverhampton, including our HeadStart Wolverhampton programme."
Steven Marshall, Director of Strategy and Transformation at Wolverhampton CCG, said: “We are delighted that Base 25, who have a strong track record delivering a range of services for children and young people in Wolverhampton, will be working with partner organisations, including Believe 2 Achieve, to deliver the emotional mental health and wellbeing service in the city. We are thrilled that they are supporting us to deliver this service”.
Base 25 works with around 7,000 young people each year, providing a range of services for them and their families, please visit their website for further details.
