Mental health helplines and services for young people

Get confidential support through text messaging. You can text about anything that’s on your mind. Your text will be answered by trained volunteers.
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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.

An online platform that offers one-to-one online chats with mental health professionals. You can chat to a professional when the chat is open, but you can explore the other parts of Kooth all the time.

Qualified wellbeing practitioners provide short-term therapeutic support for young people with mild to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing needs. You need to meet at least two of: living in Brent, having a GP in Brent, and attending school in Brent.

LYRA supports children and young people with mild-to-moderate mental health challenges. You can access peer support groups, mentoring, help with coping skills, and therapeutic support. This help is delivered through organisations including CNWL, Anna Freud, and Brent Centre for Young People. LYRA cannot help if you’re in severe mental health crisis. You can refer yourself to LYRA by calling or emailing the CNWL single point of access.

Kids Can Achieve has a family service that provides free one-to-one and group support to the parents and carers of children with a special educational need or disability. Your parents or carers can get help with things like benefits, housing, and emotional support – you don’t need a diagnosis. If you have a learning disability, your family might be able to get a small grant too. Kids Can Achieve also runs clubs and activities in Harrow, but these cost money – they can help you work out if the council or NHS can help you pay for you.

The youth hub provides lots of different activities including youth clubs, cooking sessions, gym sessions, a games night, and the Harrow Youth Parliament. Sessions are held in a few different places and have different age limits. Sometimes you can drop in, but sometimes you need to book over the phone. The youth hub also runs mental toughness sessions, but you need to be referred before you can go to these.

Empower offers young people who are struggling with their mental health weekly sessions for three months. Each session has 60 minutes of sport, followed by a 30-minute wellbeing workshop. You do not need a diagnosis, but Empower is only for people who are struggling with their wellbeing. A parent or carer can refer you.

One-to-one and group support to help young males develop healthy boundaries, emotional resilience, social skills and essential life skills. The programme is shaped around each young person’s goals, strengths and aspirations, offering practical support to help them move forward with confidence.

Information and support for anyone who is struggling with their eating – you do not need a formal diagnosis to get in touch. An advisor will work with you to make an action plan, and direct you towards information and support that will help you (or your lived one) work towards recovery. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have different phone numbers and email addresses, listed on the Beat website.