Mental Health & Wellbeing

The Youth Clubs are the starting point for our work with young people but what makes the real, positive difference to their lives is access to tailored support in an independent, familiar setting, where they are receptive to ideas.

While we have grant funding available, we can continue to provide specialist support, enabling our youth leaders to work with appropriate services to offer the best interventions we can, to target specific issues and needs within the community.

Catch-up learning

Is your child struggling with home-based learning?
Do you need access to a dedicated computer or place to study?

If so, we can help!
Our Community Room is a calm space,
away from the distractions of home and other pressures,
with new Chromebooks linked to full-strength, safeguarding appropriate, wi-fi.
Supervised by a youth worker or tutor, with learning support/motivation if required.
To ensure we adhere to the Government’s Covid regulations,
this free service needs to be pre-booked by emailing
youth@pershoreriversidecentre.org.uk

“The Community Room is a genuine gift from the community to the community, thanks to donations from Pershore’s Rotarians, Civic Society and Town Council. It greatly enhances our specialised support.Abi, Centre Manager

Counselling

Once a week an independent fully qualified and experienced counsellor offers private sessions for individuals facing more complex challenges, such as difficulties at school, a disruptive home life, caring for a family member, coping with a mental health issue, or just feeling lost. This may be face-to-face or online, as appropriate. Follow-up and ongoing support is provided by our youth leaders who are degree-level trained counsellors.

Life Skills

Professionals help us with First Aid sessions; youth workers and volunteers share cookery skills and promote Healthy Eating; we supervise online sessions to gain Food Hygiene qualifications; and tutors come in for study skills, exam prep etc. In previous years we have also hired the Youth Bus, which offers a range of activities.

Carers

We also support other charities, including Worcestershire Young Carers and the Parents Carers Group, which runs their monthly youth club sessions at the Centre. It’s great for them because it is easily accessible and has a real feeling of space, and great for us to help young people in a different way.

Alcohol and Drug awareness

Our youth leaders are trained in delivering sessions on awareness about the types of things young people will encounter, which that could affect their lives. “Drugs are illegal – talking about them isn’t”. By building informative sessions into occasional youth clubs (only when appropriate), or focusing on a topic for a couple of weeks, sessions are delivered in a friendly, non-judgemental way, to ensure young people are happy to engage, know the potential dangers and are well informed

Sexual Health

Our youth leaders are trained to respond to a young person’s requests for advice, contraception etc, with access to a sexual health nurse if appropriate. This provides the safest and easiest place for them to get help.