6 | Acquisition International, Non-Profit Organisation Awards 2024 Apr24647 Best Family Mental Health Charity 2024 - East Sussex hen a parent struggles with their own mental health, it can have far-reaching consequences and impact their ability to support their children. This can have a knock-on effect on the child’s health. Holding Space strives to break this vicious cycle, offering a unique brand of support that encourages resilience and reduces isolation. Building a brighter future for a family not only benefits the unit itself, but it also makes a measurable contribution to wider society, reducing the need for crisis intervention. Founded in 2019, the five years since have seen this charity support more than 1,000 families across such services as parent peer support, monthly coffee mornings, one-to-one telephone support, counselling, weekly mindfulness sessions, family art classes, and educational programmes. For those families unable to access support through schools or the NHS or are stuck on waiting lists and cannot afford private counselling sessions, Holding Space has become the first port of call and a lifeline for information and support. Collaborating closely with a number of schools, children’s services, and local/statutory organisations, the team at Holding Space is comprised of people that first and foremost are parents themselves. This positions them uniquely to be able to understand the journey that fellow parents and caregivers are on, with this lived experience benefiting the charity immeasurably. On the back of this, Holding Space’s internal structure rests on the pillars of mutual understanding and support. The services offered by Holding Space are more important now than ever before, with more and more people struggling with mental health issues and a system in place that is rapidly buckling under the weight of the demand. This is true for parents, children, and young people alike, many of whom feel alone and unsure where to turn. Although this pressure on mental health services is nothing new, it has been exacerbated by the pandemic and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis and is further impacted by the likes of social media. As a result, support for children and young people is today only available at crisis point, meaning that opportunities to intervene before things get out of control are missed. Concerningly, as Holding Space Founder Hansa Raja tells us, “in Sussex, there are currently increasing numbers of children and young people on the waiting list for intervention and in East Sussex the wait time is two to three years.” The pandemic has exacerbated this demand, and at present only 40% of children and young people who need help will access services and, when they do, often wait many months for early intervention and support. The demand for NHS Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) means that support is only available at crisis point, with many missed opportunities to intervene early. Furthermore, the number of children in contact with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has increased fourfold since April 2016. (British Medical Association, 2023). When combined with the growing mountain of evidence that has established a strenuous link between the mental health struggles of parents and their children’s ability to receive the consistent and supportive care they need, the importance of Holding Space’s model really shines through. It underpins the fact that addressing parental mental health concerns is as crucial for a child’s development as recognising their own, as only together can families face up to these challenges and yield positive outcomes. Even as demand for its services continues to grow exponentially, Holding Space remains committed to its belief that no child or young person should have to wait for mental health support. Hansa and her team are determined to open safe spaces in local areas across England so that parents, children, and young people have access to help right on their doorstep. To further expand its reach, the charity is seeking to partner with companies in a sponsorship and fundraising sense, as well as offering parent support through workshops run in the workplace. Recognised as the Best Family Mental Health Charity 2024 - East Sussex, Hansa has but one request for our readers that she asks on behalf of her charity: “Help us to build a future where no parent feels that they need to support their child’s mental health alone.” Contact: Hansa Raja Company: Holding Space Web Address: https://www.holdingspace.org.uk/ Charity Holding Space is devoted to offering peer support to families throughout the East Sussex area, empowering parents and carers who are facing their own emotional and mental health struggles for the good of the individual and the wider family unit, as well as specialising in children’s mental health services. Such an approach helps to foster better communication and reduces conflict and stress in the home environment, strengthening a family’s bond and ultimately improving everybody’s wellbeing. W
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