In February and March, I wrote about the difficulties facing children and young people who are struggling with their mental health, and Philippa Davies from this newspaper described the challenges that we are facing in obtaining funding for essential services that are delivered locally to children, young people and their families.

We have secured enough funds for the next 12 months. I want to say a big thank you to the many people and organisations that have supported us with donations. We are particularly grateful to Sidmouth Town Council for their support for the services we offer. We have also had grants from the Norman Trust, Edwin and Joyce Hill Charitable Trust, Sidmouth Lions and an amazing donation from the East Devon Dance Academy. We are enormously grateful for all donations however small. Every little helps!

One service we fund is Parental Minds who provide support in Sidmouth for parents and caregivers of children and young people with poor mental health. In the last quarterly report up until the end of February, 30 caregivers benefitted from two hours of personalised face-to-face support. One parent said: “The support phone calls have been invaluable in helping me make decisions about my son’s care, understand what is happening to him and feeling there is someone who understands and can help when we feel abandoned by the mental health service.”

A member of staff at Sidmouth College said: “Parental Minds is a valuable asset to the families of the Sid Valley. They provide incredible support to parents through a variety of resources such as online workshops, face-to-face meetings and mentoring which help parents navigate the challenges of raising children.

"Whether it is dealing with behaviour, mental health or neurodiversity, Parental Minds are with you every step of the way. Their knowledge of what the local community and services have to offer is impeccable and vital to supporting parents. They understand, through lived experience, the ups and downs of parenting and provide a safe environment for parents to access support, learn and grow.”

Accessing funding continues to be a challenge, as many areas of funding for social health have been closed, or more and more organisations are applying for the same funding. Sid Valley Help are grateful for the support that our wonderful community provides, but we will have to find the same level of funding every year to make sure that we can continue to provide early intervention to help children and young people in our town. To donate go to www.sidvalleyhelp.org.uk