The Anxiety Project

 There is a wealth of evidence to show that early intervention prevents mental health issues worsening, so it is vital that school staff, who are often a young person’s first point of contact, are able to signpost students towards other local or digital support services. 

“There's no signposting to places that are available. I did a survey and it said about all these different services in Somerset that could help with mental health and I'd never heard of any of them… I wish I'd gone earlier but it just never really felt like I could go and talk to anyone. I was just always a bit scared.”

Through the project, young people in Somerset who were introduced to Tellmi were able to talk about feelings that they had been bottling up:

“I don't think I would have asked for help if I hadn’t found Tellmi. I think I would have been too nervous, because on Tellmi I asked ‘what's the process of like, you know, getting diagnosed with anxiety’, or ‘what's the process of mental health care?’ And without the answers that were given to me, I think I would have been too nervous. It was like people and users on there being like ‘they won’t tell you that you're insane’.”

Tellmi also worked with schools and local service providers such as Young Somerset and Time To Talk to try and raise awareness of the number of alternative support solutions in the area. Local service providers were integrated into the Tellmi directory so that Tellmi became a junction box to local support. This collaborative approach, where Tellmi becomes a front door to local service provision, ensures that young people get the support they need before they end up in crisis.

“I found the counselling I am going to have through Tellmi too. I think I messaged an anonymous chat, text thing. So I think it was from the NHS support thing. It was like, how to give yourself support so I just messaged them and they asked me if I was comfortable with telling the school nurse and I said ‘yes’, and then I had an appointment, I think last week on Monday, and they suggested ‘Off The Record’. I then had a GP appointment and they told me I had anxiety and they referred me to Off The Record. I think it's a listening therapy, though I'm not sure. I have my first appointment next week.”  

One of the problems for young people with mental health issues is that as well as not knowing what is wrong with them, they have no idea who to turn to to ask for help. Tellmi simplifies this process by integrating into local care pathways and providing young people with direct access to local services. This benefits everyone and was something that local VCSFE providers were very grateful for.

"I have been really impressed with the Tellmi team; going above and beyond to clearly explain and promote the app and they cannot do enough to work in partnership with our team. The app is an asset to the pathway of support for the young people we see; we promote the use of it to support them while waiting for support, for peer support between sessions and to continue on their journey of coping when support has ended."

Sarah Cox, Service Manager, Young Somerset

Tellmi continues to work with young people across Somerset and we are delighted that in 2024, our partnership with the NHS Somerset was recognised with a silver award for ‘Best mental health partnership with the NHS’ in the 2024 HSJ Partnership Awards.