Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

The letter warns that we face “the worst” mental health crisis for children and adolescents “in our lifetimes”

Young London SOS: Tackle child mental health crisis now, experts tell ministers

Medical experts, campaigners and bosses of the biggest mental health and youth charities in the UK have issued a clarion call for Government to “fundamentally rethink priorities” in the face of the children’s mental health crisis sparked by the pandemic.

They have co-signed a letter to the Evening Standard warning that we face “the worst” mental health crisis for children and adolescents “in our lifetimes” and have called on the Government to invest in “prevention rather than cure”.

The letter backs our Young London SOS campaign. Led by Catherine Roche, chief executive of Place2Be, it is signed by the heads of 35 organisations, including Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Michael Samuel, chairman of Anna Freud Centre, and Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of Sane. The bosses of major mental health charities Mind, YoungMinds, NSPCC and Childline, Mental Health UK and The Prince’s Trust are also signatories.

Timed to coincide with Children’s Mental Health Week which runs all of this week, the letter says: “The UK’s children’s mental health system is in need of serious repair: On average local NHS clinical commissioning groups spend less than one per cent of their overall budget on children’s mental health and 14 times more on adult mental health services than on services for children.”

Government must avoid “a quick fix to the crisis”, the signatories warn. They add: “Covid is a stark reminder of the vital importance of planning and prevention. As we start to look at what’s needed to recover and re-build post Covid, it is time to find a long-term solution to the mental health needs of the nation.

“This is not about a quick fix to the crisis. It’s about all sectors — education, health, public, voluntary and private — working together to rethink priorities, rethink society and the investment needed to future-proof the wellbeing of the next generation.”

Other signatories include child poverty and inequality charities such as Greenhouse Sports, Trust for London, Fair Education Alliance, The Childhood Trust and Onside Youth Zones. It was also signed by mental health umbrella bodies, including the Association of Mental Health Providers, Mental Health Network — NHS Confederation, Youth Access and Schools’ Wellbeing Partnership.

They counsel that as “half of lifetime mental illness starts by the age of 14,” the key is providing “effective support from an early age” to “prevent problems from escalating and becoming more serious in adulthood”.


“Schools,” they add, are “at the heart of our communities and provide the perfect setting to embed this supportive mindset and ‘normalise’ discussions around mental health”.

The letter ends with a call to support the Standard’s Young London SOS campaign — which in partnership with the charity Place2Be — seeks to provide mental health support for more pupils in more schools.

“Our hope is the legacy of the pandemic can be a fundamental rethinking of priorities towards the creation of a kinder and more inclusive society.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×