An Edinburgh charity says it has been ‘overwhelmed’ by success of its pilot programme, The Haven, created to help tackle the mental health crisis among young people in Scotland.

Due to close this year, the people behind the pilot have spoken to healthandcare.scot about its progress, learnings and their hopes that similar work can continue amid rising demand.

With around 2,500 visits to The Haven in its first year, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC) has provided emotional support to both young people and their affected family members.

The Haven has sought to complement existing services for those struggling with their mental health and to prevent problems escalating to the point where professional intervention is needed.

Fiona O’Sullivan, Director of Children’s Wellbeing at ECHC, said this pilot has confirmed that children and young people are “crying out for help”, adding:

“The Haven is unique as it supports the whole family and recognises that when a child or young person is suffering from poor mental health this can have a massive detrimental impact on the rest of the family.”

Trying to reach each person in a tailored way, The Haven has enabled young people within Edinburgh to self-refer and drop-in for support – whether that’s for a day, a few weeks or months.

The most common issues faced by those who attended The Haven were anxiety and depression, followed by challenges with school, neurodiversity and self-harming.

Roslyn Neely, CEO of ECHC, said that collaboration with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), GPs and schools has been crucial:

“We tried to be as collaborative as possible and not duplicate things that were being done well, but to help children and young people to find and navigate those really good services.

“It’s about giving young people and families a place to turn in an hour of need, it’s not replacing CAMHS.

“Our hope was always that at least we’d be able to support a young person and their family during a mental health crisis but – at best – we could change the course for them with an intervention that happened early enough.”

She said ECHC has seen reductions in self-harm, heard from parents that children previously displaying violent behaviour have stopped, and helped young people who had been out of school due to mental health to find their way back to education.

Almost 90% of children and young people eligible for CAMHS support in the summer were able to access it within 18 weeks – the best performance in over a decade.

However, Scotland’s mental wellbeing minister said “there is still more to do” for children and young people’s mental health as she highlights the importance of community and school-based services.

Meanwhile, the government has committed in its latest budget to increase overall mental health funding by £3m next year.

Ms Neely explained that while the team at The Haven are very skilled and draw from a strong psychological evidence base, they also serve as slightly less formal supports for families to turn to:

“It’s not hugely complicated, even a reminder of the importance of sleep, exercise, friendship groups and taking care of yourself. When you’re stressed, anxious or up against it, you can forget those basic things – sometimes need to hear it from a dedicated support worker.

“All of our team in the hospital all wear red hoodies, and there’s something about that which families and children respond to differently compared to someone from authority.

“Sometimes we can broker a relationship and build trust much quicker.”

She added that this sort of support can complement and ease pressure on statutory services.

Working “ringside” with the NHS

By working alongside CAMHS, Ms Neely said that The Haven pilot has had “the luxury” of being able to focus on the individual and see the difference that early intervention and coordinated care can make.

She said that if scaled up across Scotland, the service could support more young people in those earlier stages and help cut the CAMHS waiting lists:

“We’ve worked ringside with the NHS in the hospital, and it would be incredible if we could see this more widely – to have a Haven available in each health board for children and young people.

“This could free up CAMHS to support those who we will not be the answer to, because they’re acutely unwell.”

She said that for some, identifying the root of their poor mental health has been a vital to their support:

“It can be a lightbulb moment for young people and then we introduce them to other services and the network of support that’s there. It’s about unlocking that ability to think about what you actually need as a family.  

“It’s not always another organisation, but spans from challenging negative, intrusive thoughts, to managing anxiety and social media stresses – sometimes it’s giving people the confidence and tools.”

Ms Neely added that “nothing beats human interaction”, and the pilot brought home the importance of communication and making it easy for families to understand useful mental wellbeing strategies what further help is available.

One parent who used the service said it provides a “safe space” for children to be heard:

“When we all felt at our lowest point, we contacted The Haven. Everyone there genuinely cares. Our son found it a safe space to open up and talk.

“The support The Haven provides us as parents is invaluable.”

Set to close its doors in July 2025, ECHC is keen to hand over the model to any organisation able to develop it more widely.

Ms Neely said, although the thought of closing is “almost unbearable”, The Haven was always designed as a pilot since the charity cannot fund or resource it longer term, adding:

“If we want to be serious about early intervention and prevention in young people’s mental health crises, we need to see an investment in models like this which can hold you until we can find you the right longer-term support.

“If there’s a national organisation that can do it or lots of local organisations, then brilliant – but I’d love to see a government investment.

“I appreciate that we’re in a tight time budget-wise, but even from a health economics perspective, this investment makes sense.”

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