Jewish Care is delighted to announce that Jami’s Dangoor Children and Young Person’s Service will be expanding to support the mental health of pupils at Yavneh College in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, from this week.
The service, which currently provides regular tailored one-to-one support to 11–18-year-olds within a school setting, offers young people, who are struggling with their mental health, a safe space to talk about their friendships and family dynamic; strategies to overcome barriers they may be facing, such as low mood and anxiety; and help to improve their self-esteem and confidence. Young people also receive emotional and practical support to help them through the exam period, as well as the day-to-day of school life.
This vital service, which has been running at JCoSS since 2022, and at JFS since April 2023, will now benefit young people at Yavneh College at a time when one in five children and young people has a probable mental health disorder and the country’s mental health services are extremely under-resourced.
As Maneesha Pathmarajah, Senior Mental Health CYP; Carer & Family Services Manager at Jami, part of Jewish Care, says, “I am really excited about the expansion of the service into Yavneh College. The number of secondary-school-aged children needing support at the moment has grown exponentially because so many are unable to access support through statutory services, such as the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). It is comforting to know that Jami can do something to help them.”
Louise Kermode, Jami’s Director of Community Mental Health Services, agrees. “It is more important than ever for us to provide this specialist service to as many secondary-school-aged children as possible in our community, filling a vital gap between the growing numbers of young people struggling with their mental health and the lack of mental health services currently available to them. We are delighted that we have been able to join forces with Yavneh College, our third partner school, as this will enable us to support even more 11–18-year-olds and have a positive impact on a greater number of young lives.”
Spencer Lewis, Executive Headteacher, Yavneh Schools, adds, “We are delighted to be working with Jewish Care and Jami’s Dangoor Children and Young Person’s Service, which I know will provide a huge amount of much-needed support for the pupils of Yavneh College. With other local services for mental health so stretched and underfunded, Jami’s professional input will allow us to provide more help to more young people and their families. There is an ever-increasing need, and I could not be more grateful to Jami, which is part of Jewish Care. I look forward to the flourishing of this partnership.”
Young people receiving support through The Dangoor Children and Young Person’s Service will also be able to benefit from additional counselling, following the recent expansion of Jami’s Talking Therapies service to include those aged 11–18 years old.
Indeed, the goal of both Jami’s Talking Therapies service and The Dangoor Children and Young Person’s Service is to offer tailored, accessible support that will ensure a brighter future for those young people facing mental health challenges in the community.
To find out more about The Dangoor Children and Young Person’s Service, please visit jamiuk.org/dangoor-cyp/ or go to jamiuk.org/talkingtherapies/ for Jami’s Talking Therapies service. You can also call Jami on 020 8458 2223 for further information about both services.