A MENTAL health haven where young people aged from 10-18 can talk about their worries in a supportive environment has been launched in Guildford, by Surrey County Council chairman Peter Martin.

The CYP Haven, located at The Discovery Centre in Ward Street, is run as a partnership by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Surrey County Council and Guildford and Waverley Clinical Commissioning Group.

The service is a pilot, and the first of its kind in Surrey to deliver a multi-agency approach to meet the needs of young people.

The haven has a youth support worker, mental health practitioner and peer support worker during opening hours, which are Mondays and Wednesdays, 4pm to 8.30pm and midday to 6pm on Sundays.

These have been identified as times when mental health crisis attendance to Surrey A&Es is most frequent.

Mary Lewis, Surrey’s cabinet member for education, who also attended the official opening, said: “This new service will be a great source of support for young people when they need it most.

“By working together as one team with health services, we can make sure support offered at the CYP Haven is closely tailored to young people’s needs, helping to prevent difficulties escalating and reducing the need for them to go to hospital for the assistance they need.”

Sharon Dean, Mindful Service head at Surrey and Borders Partnership, said: “We are extremely excited to officially launch CYP Haven, which is adding a new dimension to child and adolescent mental health services in Surrey.

“With our open door policy, young people in crisis are able to access mental health support in a relaxed and safe environment that is conducive to social inclusion, promoting their self-worth and self-esteem.

“Whether the person attending just wants to come in for a friendly chat about their mental health over a cup of tea, or they are experiencing a crisis, there will be someone on hand to support them.

“It will also give parents and carers a place to go if they have any concerns or queries they would like to discuss.

“In 2016 there were over 580 attendances to Surrey A&Es of people under the age of 18 in mental health crisis.

“For a young person in crisis, A&E is not always the most appropriate setting, however it can often feel like there’s no alternative.

“We will now be able to provide an alternative through CYP Haven and we are already seeing a difference.

“Since May, 51 young people have visited; 21 of them told us if our service wasn’t available they would have gone to A&E and 21 would have self-harmed.”

CYP Haven follows the same format as the award winning Safe Havens, which, since launching in 2014, have offered out-of-hours specialist mental health support for people over the age of 18 in an informal and relaxed environment.

The service has been setup in collaboration with Surrey NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services’ youth advisers, a group of young people who have accessed mental health services and contribute to various elements of its services.