BeeU

Kooth.com is a free, safe and anonymous website for young people living in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin aged 11-19. You don’t need to be referred or have an appointment.

Kooth provides an anonymous 24-hour online service, 365 days per year, offering peer support, self-help and trained and qualified counsellors available to talk to online at the following times: 

• 12:00 to 22:00 (Monday to Friday)
• 18:00 to 22:00 (Saturday and Sunday)
• Bank Holidays – hours may vary

Kooth’s experienced practitioners can provide emotional support for a wide range of issues, from having a bad day to more serious issues such as stress, anxiety, depression, eating issues, bullying and self-harm, to name a few.

Kooth provides a much needed out of hours service advice and support.

For more information visit the Kooth website.

Beam is an emotional wellbeing service for Children & Young People under 25 years old who are registered with a GP in Shropshire or Telford & Wrekin. The service is delivered by The Children's Society.

How Beam helps.

Beam can support with anything relating to emotional well-being. 

When we are emotionally healthy we:

• Function in society, whether that is at school, college, uni or at work, or when we are with friends and family.
• Cope with life’s challenges by drawing on our strengths.
• Understand and manage our emotions, expressing them in appropriate ways.
• Accept ourselves and show acceptance of others.

Our team is made up of experienced well-being practitioners who will take the time to listen to whatever it is that is troubling young people. We aim to boost the resilience of young people by helping them develop coping skills for when life presents challenges.

What support do Beam offer?

We are currently offering support via:

• Face to Face sessions at our Drop in service (Wellington and Shrewsbury)
• Virtual face to face (via MS Teams) Pre booked appointments (limited availability) 

What will Beam do?

• Recommend strategies and techniques that aim to make life easier – for example, how to manage a panic attack, or how to improve sleep.
• Give practical suggestions and advice – this might be suggesting you look at website or that you contact another service.  
• Provide a listening ear if a young person has something they want to get off their chest.

Typical issues Beam can support with include:

• Anxiety (low-level) & worry
• Anger
• Identity
• Low mood
• Panic
• Self-esteem
• Sexuality
• Sleep
• Stress

What won't Beam do?

• Assess or diagnose any conditions.
• Automatically make referrals into other services.
• Necessarily have to tell anyone that a young person has spoken to Beam.  There may be times where we feel we need to speak to other people, services or agencies.  We will try and speak to you about this before we do.

Example issues that are outside of Beam's remit include:

• Crisis support
• Toileting
• Behaviour management
• Eating disorders
• Where a mental health diagnosis exists

Accessing support from Beam

You can request support from Beam via our website: 

1. Scroll down the page to ‘register with us’.
2. Complete your details on the form.
3. We will contact you by email to advise of the next steps 

If you have been to Beam before, or you want to request a follow-up session, follow the same link – there will be an option to say you have already registered so you won’t need to complete all of your details again! 

Come along and see us at one of our drop in sessions (no appointment necessary) on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am-6pm (last session 5.30pm) at 9 Market Street, Wellington, Telford, TF1 1BP or Mondays 12pm-4pm (last session 3.15pm)  at The Lantern, Meadow Farm Drive, Shrewsbury, SY1 4NG.

• Young people aged 14 years+ can register themselves.
• Young people aged 13 and under will need a parent/carer to register on their behalf.

If you have any questions about the Beam service, please contact us via email shropshirebeam@childrenssociety.org.uk

Further information about Beam can be found on The Children's Society website.

Healios is a leading digital provider of mental health, autism, and ADHD services for children and young people aged 25 and under.

Healios exists to empower every young person to build the capabilities for long-term mental health, successfully navigate life's challenges, and experience a better quality of life.

By pairing expert clinicians with innovative technology, Healios has delivered more than 100,000 clinical sessions remotely.

Through the partnership with BeeU, Healios currently provides online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for families in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.

Find more information on the Healios website.

We are a new team, set up in 2020 as part of the national drive to improve access to mental health support and provision to young people and improve links between schools and mental health services for young people.

Click on the image above to play our video.

The BeeU Mental Health Support Team supports 50+ schools across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, these consist of a mix of primary and secondary schools. Click here for a list of schools we support (pdf).

We aim to promote the early detection and prevention of mental health problems across the whole school, and strengthen links between schools and mental health services. The way we do this is to work closely with the designated Mental Health Lead for each of our schools as well as other key school staff to help support those pupils who may be experiencing emotional or mental health distress.

We provide direct, ongoing support to schools around mental health and wellbeing. These are examples of what we do:

• Provide direct support to pupils with mild to moderate mental health conditions, such as anxiety and low mood. This may also include delivering workshops to groups of pupils and parents.
• Provide consultations to schools to help think about the best support for the pupils, this may mean support from our team or help with referrals to a more appropriate service.
• Provide training, education and advice to school staff to help them better support their pupils around mental and emotional wellbeing.
• Champion mental wellbeing and resilience across the whole school community, providing guidance around whole school approaches.
• Delivering workshops to pupils and parents to help support in areas such as anxiety and resilience. 

How to Refer

Referrals are made by the school and usually by the designated Mental Health Lead for the school. The school will book a consultation with a member of the team and think together about whether a referral would be appropriate or seek support about other sources of help and support.

If you are a parent or young person and feel that you would benefit from support from the team, you can discuss this directly with your school. Please check our school list to see if we are working with your school (pdf).

News and Resources

• Mental Health Support Team Young Person Leaflet (pdf)
• Mental Health Support Team School Newsletter - Spring Term 2021 (pdf)
• Mental Health Support Team School Newsletter - Summer Term 2021 (pdf)
• Mental Health Support Team School Newsletter - Autumn 2021 (pdf)
• Mental Health Support Team School Newsletter - Spring 2022 (pdf)
• Mental Health Support Team School Newsletter - Summer 2022 (pdf)

Referrals to BeeU come via an Access Team. The Access Team review the referral and may decide an initial assessment is required with a core BeeU clinician. This may be held online, over the phone, or face to face, and you will probably attend with your family or carer.

After this meeting, your core BeeU clinician will discuss the assessment within the wider BeeU team, through an Assessment Outcome Meeting. This includes psychologists, family therapists, mental health nurses, social workers and occupational therapists who can offer different skills and approaches depending on what you need.

In line with the THRIVE model (pdf) - Anna Freud Centre, this team may signpost you to further support or offer a set of 8 sessions called a Brief Intervention. This offers support with low mood, anxiety or deliberate self-harm. Additionally you could also receive longer support through an allocated worker within the Core Team.

• Download the leaflet about the Core Team
• Download the leaflet about the Brief Intervention Team

The BeeU Access Team is a 24/7 Referral Service into BeeU Children’s and Family Mental Health Services (previously known as CAMHS) for emotional mental health.

At present, young people are referred into our service by a professional who knows what BeeU offers, and knows the young person.

We accept referrals from these types of professionals:

• GPs
• Social Workers
• Health Visitors
• School Professionals
• Paediatricians / Hospital Doctors
• Paediatric Occupational Therapists
• School Nurses
• Voluntary services

The most common way of getting support in BeeU is by visiting your GP and discussing a referral with them. If you have any questions about this, or you are a referrer considering referring a young person, you are welcome to talk to our BeeU Access Team for emotional and mental health.

Unfortunately, we don’t accept self-referrals from young people or families.

Referrals can be sent by post, and / or emailed directly to 025spa@mpft.nhs.uk (routine) or via phone 0808 196 4501 (option 1) for urgent referrals.

• Information about referrals for GPs
• Referral flowchart

Whose consent is needed?

When making a referral you need to consider:

• Have you met, discussed and agreed with parents, carers and referred child?
• Any referral to our Bee U service requires consent so if the young person is under 18 we require consent from a parent, or carer who has parental responsibility to care safely for them until they are 18 years old.
• In addition, we will seek consent from self-consenting young people 14 years old who have emotional and intellectual capacity to make an informed decision.
• However, if the young person presents with risk to self, or severe mental health symptoms, parent / carer / guardian (whoever has parental responsibility) is required to consent to the referral.
• All referrals for young people aged 16 years and older requires consent from the young person.

What is the age range we are accepting referrals for?

BeeU services will accept referrals relating to children and young people up until their 18th birthday.

All young people who have been referred and accepted for treatment before their 18th birthday may continue with the support offered via BeeU post 18; BeeU can work with young people up until the age of 25 years old.

Any new referrals coming into the Beeu Access Team for young people who are 18+ will be sent to Adult Access Team.

What does the referral process look like?

The Access service is a telephone based service which manages all children and adult mental health referrals. The BeeU Access Team manage the BeeU children and young people referrals. Referrals are read daily and we make decisions about what is routine and urgent based on the information referred. Once the referral is received by the BeeU Access Team, they will ensure all necessary information and supportive evidence is gathered to progress the referral. If at any time the situation becomes urgent please share the additional information.

A referral to the BeeU Access Team is urgent if there are:

• Concerns that a children / young person is suicidal and / or at risk of immediate and significant self-harm
• In acute psychological or emotional distress that is causing them to not be able to go about their daily activities, such as going to school and looking after themselves
• Concerns relating to an acute eating disorder, especially if there is rapid weight loss or worryingly low weight
• An immediate and significant risk to others due to their mental health
• Being considered for admission to a mental health inpatient unit

All referrals are screened by experienced Mental Health Practitioner to support decisions made around the most appropriate outcome of the referral, they can advise on where you can:

• Get help
• Get more help
• Manage in times of crisis

This may include the BeeU Access Team recommending online help and support, or help from other services / organisation. Sometimes you may need to get more specialist help and the BeeU Access Team can complete a phone assessment to request further information to help make a decision about what help is appropriate.

The BeeU Access Team will call the young person and their parent / carer to talk about the referral and seek their wishes and views about what help and support is required. We will give you every opportunity to respond, if we cannot make telephone contact we will leave you a voice mail or text. If necessary we will write to you to give 7 days to contact the service.

Who we are

We are a multi-disciplinary team which works with children and young people who present in Crisis related to Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health needs. 

The team is made up of:

• Mental Health Nurses
• Mental Health Practitioners
• Social Workers
• Support Workers

Who we see

We cover the whole of Shropshire including Telford and we assess those who are:

• An immediate and significant risk to others due to their mental health
• Being considered for admission to a mental health inpatient unit
• at risk of immediate and significant self-harm
• In acute psychological or emotional distress that is causing them to not be able to go about their daily activities, such as going to school and looking after themselves

What we do

When you are referred to the Crisis team, we'll talk to you or a parent/caregiver about your/their concerns and agree what needs to happen next. If a visit from us is the right option, we'll arrange a safe place to meet, either at home or where we are based at Telford Langley School. During a visit, we'll work with you to decide what immediate and short-term help is needed, to get things back on track.

Home treatment

Our Home Treatment team offers personalised at-home appointments for children and young people who need a high level of mental health support. This may be following a mental health crisis, after an inpatient stay or simply to assist with managing day-to-day mental health in the community.

Download the Crisis team leaflet (pdf)
 

The Urgent Helpline offers a listening ear, advice, support and signposting for adults, children and their carers.

Our Urgent Helpline operates 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week.

You or your parent / carer can contact us if you have any concerns regarding your own mental health and wellbeing. Our experienced call handlers and clinicians will listen to your worries and concerns and try to help you in the best possible way. During the call we may advise you or your parent / carer about local services that you can access and contact directly.

You can contact us by calling 0808 196 4501 (option 1 for under 18’s, option 2 for over 18’s).

Young people under 18 years of age are able to contact our service directly for support and urgent advice.

Please be aware that we would not be able to processes a referral to Children’s and Family Mental Health services (CAMHS) over the phone. You will have to speak to your GP or School in the first instance who can make a professional referral via BeeU Access Team. We will be able however to speak to the right team on your behalf if you feel as you are in crisis.

What is a crisis?

When you feel hopeless and cannot see a way out of your situation with dark thoughts not wanting to be alive or significantly hurting yourself.

Some useful resources for you to use when you feel you are in crisis:

• Calm Harm Resources available to support with self harming behaviour for people aged 13+
• Shout Crisis text line If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts and keeping yourself safe, text shout to 85258 and someone will call you back
• Papyrus Support for young people at risk of suicide. Available 10am-10pm Mon-Fri, 2pm-10pm weekends and Bank holidays: 0800 068 4141

What is ADHD?

A behavioural disorder of poor attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, which affects around 2% to 5% of school aged children.

All children may be restless and inattentive at times, but they may not have ADHD.

In ADHD, these symptoms may be exaggerated compared with other children of the same age, and may affect the child, their school, peers and family.

The ADHD Pathway

Our Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) pathway is made up of a small team of experienced professionals who provide assessment and treatment for young people. 

How to access our service

We accept referrals from professionals who know the child or young person well, including teachers, special educational needs coordinators (SENCO) and educational psychologists.

Please be aware that we don’t accept referrals for assessment for children under six. 

Find out more about the pathway and how to refer.

Useful resources

• Directory of resources (pdf)
• Practical guide for parents and carers (pdf)
• ADHD guide for parents and carers (pdf)
• Guide for GPs, nurses and primary care professionals (pdf)
• Guide for schools (pdf)

The ASD Diagnostic Team is made up of a Consultant Psychologist (clinical lead), Occupational Therapists, Mental Health Nurses and a Speech and Language Therapist.

We follow the NICE guidelines for Autism assessment to complete a comprehensive assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder for young people (over the age of 5) in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.

Download our service leaflet

Autism West Midlands' Shropshire family service is funded by Shropshire Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group. Families must live in the Shropshire Council area, and have children under 18 years old, with autism / autistic traits. An autism diagnosis is not needed. Information about the Shropshire family service.

The Telford Autism Hub provides support for those 18 years and above without a learning disability. Information about the Telford Autism Hub.

Autism West Midlands is the service available across the West Midlands for support with autism and autistic traits. Their helpline is available to anyone regardless of age or location, as well as webinars and online events. A diagnosis is not needed to access support. Information about Autism West Midlands.

Additional Resources

National Autistic Society

The Curly Hair Project

We are a highly specialist Learning Disabilities team who work with children, young people, and their families where there are complex emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties.

What is a Learning Disability?

Learning Disability is described by the document Valuing People (HM Government, 2001) as:

• a significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information in learning new skills (impaired intelligence), with:
• a reduced ability to cope independently (impaired social functioning)
• which started before adulthood, with a lasting effect on development

The British Institute of Learning Disability (BILD) states that there are three criteria that need to be met before a Learning Disability can be identified or diagnosed. These are:

• Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Score of below 70
• social or adaptive dysfunction combined with IQ
• early onset

What do we do?

Specialist assessments including:

• assessments to understand the function, meaning, and context of behaviours of concern
• psychological assessment of a young person's emotional and mental health needs
• nursing assessment to identify any unmet physical health needs
• Speech and Language (SLT), Occupational Therapy (OT), and Sensory assessments where indicated
• psychiatric assessment where there is evidence of an underlying mental health condition
• on occasion, and where we consider it necessary to support a young person’s care, Learning Disability assessments may also be offered

We provide intervention informed by a Positive Behaviour Support approach which aim to:

• develop a better understanding of what is happening for a young person, their families, and the environment around them
• recognizes behaviours of concern as a communication of need
• work collaboratively to reduce behaviours of concern and improve wellbeing
• individual therapeutic work with young people experiencing, for example, anxiety, low mood, difficulties with emotional regulation
• trauma-informed work
• groups for parents focusing specifically on parenting a child or young person with a Learning Disability
• family work
• interventions and support around communication needs
• interventions and support around occupational needs
• sensory Integration work
• psychiatric care where indicated in line with STOMP and STAMP principles
• working closely with partner agencies like schools, social care and respite providers

Who can refer?

We accept referrals from any professional working with the young people or working with their family.

In order for a referral to be considered by the BeeU Learning Disability service, it would be expected that the child or young person meets the following criteria:

1. they have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP)
2. there is evidence of:
   • the presence of a Learning Disability within the EEHCP or provided in the form of previous assessments such as a cognitive assessment (e.g. WISC-V, WIPSII, British Ability Scale etc.),
   • a recent Child Development Centre (CDC) multidisciplinary assessment, or a recent Educational Psychology assessment.
   • Where these formal assessments are not available we may need to seek additional information from parents and carers and from schools (such as teacher assessments of learning need).
3. provide evidence of mental health difficulties or behaviours of concern (e.g. physically aggressive behaviour, self-injury, sexually inappropriate behaviour) where these behaviours:
   • are of sufficient frequency, severity, or chronicity to require specialist assessment and intervention
   • impact significantly on the quality of life of the young person or those around them
   • present a significant risk of social isolation, emotional distress and or injury to the young person or those around them
   • are persistent and pervasive i.e. occur in a range of situations and over time (e.g. we would not accept a referral where behaviours of concern occur exclusively in school)
4. provide evidence that, where appropriate, behavioural or parenting interventions have already been accessed through services such as:
   • Early Help
   • Strengthening Families
   • School Nursing
   • School Counselling
   • courses such as Early Bird or Understanding your Child with SEND

Referral Pathway

All referrals need to be made to the LD team by calling 0300 124 0093 (option 1) or by emailing 025spa@mpft.nhs.uk. You will be asked to complete the relevant referral form.

Team Members

Contact Details

0300 124 0093 (Option 2)

BeeU Learning Disability Team
Severn Fields Health Village
Sundorne Road
Shrewsbury
SY1 4RQ

The BeeU Intensive Support Team (IST) works with children, young people, their families and carers, and the systems around them to reduce behaviours that challenge.

The team works with individuals with a learning disability and / or autism, on the Dynamic Support Register and already in receipt of BeeU services.

The IST uses a Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) model to improve the quality of life of children and families and reduce the incidence of behaviours that challenge services. The service provides support, which is proactive and preventative rather than reactive, and which works to enhance the skills of families and professionals involved in a child's life by role modelling a PBS approach.

We provide:

• Treatment and support for the young person presenting with behaviours of concern and their families.
• Comprehensive functional assessment of behaviours of concern using observation interviews and formal assessment tools.
• Specialist assessment of the young person's sensory, communication, physical and mental health needs, as well as consideration the impact of environmental factors on behaviours of concern.
• Person-centred and individualised positive behavioural support plans that are agreed by the young person, their family and all those involved in their care
• Practical, hands-on support and guidance, skilling up families and the system around the young person (including education and social care partners).
• A therapeutic space for families to explore the impact of the challenges they face in their day-to-day life in parenting a young person presenting with behaviours that challenge and to think about how they look after themselves.

Contact Details

0300 124 0093 (Option 3)

BeeU Intensive Support Team
Severn Fields Health Village
Sundorne Road
Shrewsbury
SY1 4RQ

BeeUIST@mpft.nhs.uk

The Young People Community Eating Disorders Service (YP-CEDS) provides specialist outpatient assessment and treatment for young people suffering from an eating disorder in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.

The service provides an evidence-based approach to helping young people restore physical health whilst helping them to improve their emotional health and wellbeing through therapy and guidance, focusing on positive and effective ways to manage eating difficulties.

We work with young people suffering with:

• Anorexia Nervosa
• Bulimia Nervosa

and those who have difficulties with eating that don’t match those above called Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders (OSFED).

Accessing the service

Our contact number is 0300 124 0093, option 3 (Shropshire)

Please note that we are not a crisis service, therefore if your query is urgent or out-of-hours we would advise that you contact your GP surgery or NHS 111 for initial advice.

At present we only accept referrals from a professional (a GP or school nurse). However, school teachers and dance / sport coaches can also refer into the service. We would advise if your child has not been seen by your / their GP recently, that an appointment is made to see the GP in order that any physical cause for their symptoms can be excluded and also to provide us with information that will help us assess the risk and urgency of the referral. The referral can still be made to us at the same time as arranging an appointment with the GP.

If you are unsure whether the referral is appropriate, or if you have other questions then please call and ask to speak with the duty clinician.

Occasionally, the underlying issue may not be an eating disorder. In this instance, the team may recommend referral to a more appropriate team or service.

What treatment is offered?

The team is multi-disciplinary and includes a psychiatrist, a systemic family practitioner,  a specialist dietician, and nurses. We also work closely with the paediatric department at Princess Royal Hospital, Telford.

We offer:

• Assessment, diagnosis and interventions on a range of suspected and confirmed eating disorders
• Evidence-based treatments including systemic therapeutic interventions, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
• Intensive support is available for those children and young people whose eating disorder is causing significant concern
• A comprehensive transition support package to those young people who are approaching their 18th birthday and may need continuing support as adults

Eating disorders can often affect those people closest to us, causing distress. Education and guidance will be offered to you, along with your family / carers.

We also offer training, consultation, support and advice to frontline staff working with young people with eating disorders.

Young Persons Community Eating Disorder Leaflet

Useful resources on eating disorders & problems

Many people experience problems with eating. They can occur at any age but often affect teenagers, both males and females. Eating problems include a range of different concerns. Often, food intake may be restricted either as a way of losing weight or for other personal reasons not involving weight loss. For other young people, there may be a cycle of eating lots in one go (binging) and then compensating for this with behaviours including restricting food, forcibly vomiting or taking laxatives. Some people may binge without doing these behaviours afterwards and others have a combination of the above difficulties. Finally, there are some children and young people who have very restrictive diets because they struggle with the taste of new foods. This can make it difficult for them to get the nutrition they need and can cause social difficulties such as eating out with family / friends.

Eating problems can be very distressing both for you and your family and it can be hard for those around you to understand. Eating problems can also affect both your physical health and your emotional wellbeing and people can feel quite lonely trying to deal with it by themselves. If you are struggling with any of these issues, there is help out there, both through local services and self-help resources.

To Find Out More

Beat Eating Disorders are a charity with great information about eating difficulties.

Guide for friends and family (pdf) - B-eat

Caring for someone with an eating disorder (pdf) - B-eat

Books, Websites and Helplines

List of Useful Eating Problems & Disorder Resources (pdf)

School Guidance on Eating Disorders (pdf)

Involvement for Children, Young People, Parents and Carers 

If you have experience of using our services or care for someone who does, you can become involved in the Trust’s work, have your voice heard and take part in projects and activities. 

Using your experience of our services, enthusiasm and ideas for   potential improvement, can bring a whole new point of view to the planning and delivery of those services.  Also, this may give you a better experience of services which contributes to your own health and wellbeing as well as improving services for all.

The following are some examples of involvement: 

• Sharing  experience of services at forums to feed back to managers
• Taking part in focus groups or workshops to influence service design and development
• Involvement in the recruitment and selection of staff
• Helping to improve the effectiveness of staff training 
• Taking part in research and audit
• Take part in our Mystery Shopper programme
• Be included on a mailing list (armchair consultation) to give your views on information leaflets, policies and other consultations

Travel expenses can be claimed and for some activities, an involvement fee is offered.  More information about the payment policy is available on request

Download, complete and return the Involvement Form (pdf) to register your interest.

Giving your feedback

We want your feedback, tell us what you think!

Young people, family and carers we need your help to improve BeeU!

Your feedback helps to make sure our service is the best it can be.  Please let us know what you think and give us your ideas about how we can improve.

The survey only takes 5 minutes. Follow the link to the BeeU feedback survey.

Transition Survey

We are also keen to hear from young people who are moving on from our services and their parents and carers so we can understand their experience of moving on from BeeU post 18, either to adult mental health services or discharged to a GP.

There are two surveys, pre- and post-transition:

• Pre-Transition from BeeU to Adult MH services feedback - follow this link to the pre-transition survey 
• Post-Transition from BeeU to Adult MH services feedback - follow this link to the post-transition survey