It tells you everything you need to know about how the pandemic affected the nation’s mental health that Open Door — a charity offering counselling and psychotherapy for young people — extended its opening hours during lockdown as we all shut up shop.
The organisation, which has bases in Tottenham and Crouch End, works with 12 to 24-year-olds and their parents and carers. It has seen a 77 per cent rise in referrals for under-18s since Covid.
Director Ruth Glover said they went from a four-day week to five days during the pandemic and worked with nearly 900 people last year.
She said: “It might be young people who feel they’ve lost all motivation, that they’re just not enjoying life, having thoughts that there is no future for them. It might impact on other areas so they might be struggling with school or concentration. It might be they’re withdrawing from the world.”
'It might be they’re withdrawing from the world'
She added: “We see self-harm, eating difficulties, aggression and violence, drug taking and alcohol misuse and people who feel worthless and hopeless.”
One measure of success for Open Door — which is one of eight charities being funded with a £31,250 grant out of the £250,000 pot of funds raised for our Winter Survival Appeal from the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund — are the youngsters who finish therapy and feel able to deal with their problems.
Ali, who tried to overdose aged 13, came to Open Door once a week for a year to see psychotherapist Victoria and said it came “at the perfect time” when he was struggling with depression, stress, undiagnosed autism and ADHD.
The teenager, who is about to study A-levels, said the “acceptance” of his therapist was key to making progress, adding: “I always felt I had to limit what I was saying. I didn’t want to make someone too uncomfortable by saying too much and when I met Victoria it felt like I could say anything.”
That approach of total honesty included equipping him to face life without her. He said: “It’s almost like I have a mini-Victoria in my head now so I don’t need to see her every week.”
But success can also look like someone who comes back to Open Door when they need help — like 22-year-old mother-of-two, Sakinah, who first came when she was 16 after being placed in care when both her parents died and she got pregnant for the first time.
She was 21, pregnant again, in what she described as “a toxic relationship” and had recently been the victim of a sexual assault when she referred herself again. She said Open Door was like a “family” and provided her the space she needed. She said: “In therapy you can talk about anything and there is no judgment.”
Some names have been changed.
How you can help
£10 could provide a nourishing meal for a Londoner every day for a month
£20 could provide a duvet and pillow to a young person helping them sleep at night
£50 could contribute to a new school uniform for a child fleeing with a parent from an abusive relationship
£100 could provide 400 meals for families at a local community centre
£300 could pay for all that’s needed by a family expecting a baby, including new cot, mattress and pram
£1,750 could get a truck packed with enough food for 7,000 meals
In a nutshell
We have partnered with Comic Relief to launch our Winter Survival Appeal Christmas Campaign, with Comic Relief pledging £500,000 to kick off our fund. The money we raise will help fund charities in London and across the country helping people who are struggling with the cost of living crisis
To make a donation, visit comicrelief.com/wintersurvival
