Mental health helplines and services for young people
NATTER
Provided by Mental Health Innovations
Get confidential support through text messaging. You can text about anything that’s on your mind. Your text will be answered by trained volunteers.
More about NATTER
Cedars Youth and Community Centre
Provided by Watford Football Club Community Sports and Education Trust
Has a range of programmes across education, health, inclusion, dance, and sports. Most activities are free. Check the website for the current timetable and whether you need to book for the activity you’re interested in.
Samaritans
You can speak to a trained volunteer at Samaritans about anything you’re going through. The volunteer will help you work through whatever is on your mind – they will not tell you what to do. Samaritans used to offer support through email, but phased out their email service throughout 2026.
Sport & Thought
Provided by Brent Centre for Young People
A special type of therapy that uses football to help young people who struggle to manage their feelings, who are struggling to go to school, or who are vulnerable to exploitation
Support for disordered eating
Provided by Brent Centre for Young People
A supportive space where young people facing eating difficulties and body image concerns can talk about it openly. You need to be referred by a GP in Brent or Westminster.
Therapy for autistic people and people with learning disabilities who have experienced abuse or trauma
Provided by Respond
Respond offers therapy to young people and adults who have experienced trauma and are autistic or have a learning disability. There are some free spaces available, but the website has information about applying for funding if you can’t get a free space. Respond also offers family support, but there are no free spaces for this.
ResetPoint Gambling Harms Treatment Service
Provided by West London Mind
Offers one-to-one support for people experiencing gambling-related harms and people who are affected by someone else’s gambling. There are drop-in sessions and peer support groups to make connections and share lived experiences, as well as psychoeducation workshops to learn about gambling-related harms and pathways to recovery.
Young Adult Community Navigator Service
Provided by CNWL NHS Foundation Trust
Provides emotional and practical support to young adults, working in partnership with local third-sector organisations. Community Navigators take a non-clinical approach and support young adults with their goals, including offering help with wellbeing, benefits, housing, employment, education and access to local services.
Support and activities for people with a learning disability
Provided by Brent Mencap
Brent Mencap supports people with a learning disability. It helps people find services to help with things like mental health, housing, and money. It has health and wellbeing coaches who support people to get healthier. It also helps people understand their rights and runs wellbeing and creative activities and social groups.
Travel training for disabled young people
Provided by Ealing Mencap
Ealing Mencap helps young people who live in Hounslow to learn to travel between home and school or college safely and independently on public transport.
FAQ - Mental health services on Best For You
I need help urgently – what should I do?
Please visit the Get help now page to find services that can provide urgent help. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999 now.
Why are most services located in north-west London?
Best For You is run in partnership by four organisations in north-west London (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, West London NHS Trust, and CW+). This means we can provide more information and detail about the helplines and services available in these north-west London boroughs.
We also list national support that you can access from anywhere in England.
If you work for an NHS organisation and would like to talk to Best For You about working together, please get in touch.
How do you choose which services to list?
We list services that are free for young people to access and provide support for mental health and wellbeing.
For NHS services, we list the main services that people can access by referring themselves or being referred by a professional (like a GP or someone at school).
If you know of a service that we could add, please get in touch and tell us about it.
How do I tell you about a service you could add?
If you know of a service that we could add, please get in touch and tell us about it.
Why did my search return no results?
If your search has lots of filters, it might be that there isn’t a service that meets every single criteria. You could try removing a filters like ‘Type of support’ to see the services that are available in your area.
Whatever you’re struggling with, you can always text NATTER to 85258 to chat to a trained volunteer by text message. You can talk to a NATTER volunteer about anything that’s on your mind, and it’s free and confidential. Find out more about texting NATTER.
The thing I want help for isn’t listed as a topic – what should I do?
Unfortunately, it isn’t possible for us to list every single possible thing that young people might be struggling with.
You could try choosing the closest available filter – or select ‘How I’m feeling’ to see helplines and services that offer more general support for people who are struggling.
Whatever’s going on, you can always text NATTER to 85258 to chat to a trained volunteer by text message. You can talk to a NATTER volunteer about anything that’s on your mind, and it’s free and confidential. Find out more about texting NATTER.
Can you help me to find personalised support?
Unfortunately we cannot provide advice or signposting to individuals.
You can use this tool to find services in England or read about how to get NHS mental health support.
Whatever’s going on, you can always text NATTER to 85258 to chat to a trained volunteer by text message. You can talk to a NATTER volunteer about anything that’s on your mind, and it’s free and confidential. Find out more about texting NATTER.
Text NATTER for help
Anyone can text ‘NATTER’ to 85258 to seek
help, wherever they are in the UK. It’s a free, anonymous service and available 24/7.
More about NATTER
