Free, safe, confidential support for young people

Children and young people in Newcastle and Gateshead can now get help from mental health counsellors using a free online service supported by the NHS.

Kooth.com is an award-winning online counselling and support service which is now available to all young people in Newcastle and Gateshead aged 11-18 years.

Tyneside Women’s Health was established in 1985 with the key aim of helping women to improve their mental health and emotional wellbeing.  

Tyneside Women’s Health offers a range of interventions for women including drop in sessions, support groups, mental health courses, counselling, and various therapeutic activities such as relaxation.  We have also introduced a range of online and virtual support services. Please visit our website for more information.

Our main Centre is based in central Gateshead, and we have a second Centre in Byker, Newcastle.

Help and Connect is a service offered by Skills for People.

If you live in Newcastle upon Tyne and are aged 16 or over, our Help and Connect team can help you to get your support right and to make the most of what’s going on in your area.

What does Help and Connect offer?

Our team will help you make the most of the information we have. You can find out about:

Free tandem or tag-along bike to anyone with a disability or additional need.

What we do:

We lend, at no cost (i.e. for free), tandems and tag-alongs to (and only to) people with disabilities or additional needs, who are unable to ride a bike safely on their own, so that they can enjoy the wonders of cycling.

What you need to do:

Today, 10 children and young people in the UK will hear the shocking news that they have cancer.

Treatment normally starts immediately, is often given many miles from home and can last for up to three years. Being diagnosed with cancer is a frightening experience and the emotional, practical and financial implications of treatment are intensely challenging for the whole family.

About Arthritis Action

Founded in 1942, Arthritis Action is the only UK charity giving hands-on, practical help to combat the pain of arthritis through self-management and lifestyle advice. We offer people with arthritis a holistic self-management approach, looking at both the physical and mental aspects of arthritis.

Based in Stockton, Sunderland and Newcastle, the College provides day and residential education for young people between the ages of 16 and 25 years with an autism spectrum condition (ASC). Students come from across the country to access this specialist provision that enables them to achieve their personal ambitions.

The majority of our students have additional and complex needs including learning disabilities, ADHD, mental health conditions, behaviours that challenge and sensory issues.

Young Epilepsy is a national charity that supports the 112,000 children and young people under 25 with epilepsy in the UK.

There is a huge demand for information and support for parents and professionals and a need to improve access to, and quality of, health and education services.

We have a range of services including our helpline, health information resources, training courses for professionals in health, social care and education and the promotion of good practice in schools.

We care for children and young adults with progressive, life shortening conditions from across the North East.

Our team of skilled staff provide residential short breaks to local families. Up to six children and young adults can stay at any one time in our relaxed, home-from-home environment.

Children from birth to 18 can benefit from short breaks here. Teenagers benefit from their own living area – complete with games consoles, wide screen TV and PC’s.

We also care for young adults aged 18- 25 in designated, age-appropriate facilities.

Samaritans of Tyneside have been in Newcastle-upon-Tyne since 1965 serving the local communities of Newcastle, Gateshead and south-west Northumberland. Now based at 15 Portland Terrace, Jesmond, NE2 1QQ, we are near Jesmond Metro Station and on the B1600. Unfortunately, we are unable to see face to face callers at the Branch right now, but our volunteers are still going in every day to answer the telephone and reply to emails.

Streetwise provide a range of health and wellbeing support services for young people aged 11 - 25 year olds. 

Young people aged 13-25 can access the full range of contraception, sexual health, C-card (free condoms), Chlamydia testing, pregnancy testing. Workers offer support around wider issues such as relationships, drugs, alcohol and any other issues facing young people. We will signpost on to other services where appropriate.

We have a counselling and mental health service offering support around mental health and well-being for young people aged 11-25. 

RISE is part of the Newcastle Gateshead CCG, NHS and DFE Mental Health in Schools programme. We work in schools and colleges and support young people with moderate mental health needs. This could mean working directly with individual students, running group sessions, or helping teachers shape lesson plans or assemblies.

At RISE, we offer low intensity support for children and young people coping with mild to moderate mental health needs. Our Education Mental Health Practitioners will tailor sessions based on young person needs but themes may include:

This service is available at our usual Monday and Thursday drop ins as well as a specific sexual health drop in on Fridays from 3pm to 6.30pm at our Young People's Service based on the West Road in Newcastle. Come and see us without having to book an appointment and in confidence.

The team will work with children/young people between the ages of 4-18 with a learning disability and or Autism Spectrum Disorder where their behaviour that challenges occurs as a result of the young person having limited abilities to communicate distress, and get their needs met in other more adaptive ways.

How to refer:

All referrals must come from a Community CYPS team; it is essential that a care co-ordinator is identified. Consultation clinics are held monthly in each locality where potential referrals can be taken to be discussed.

The Children and Young People’s Service provides a single service to all children and young people aged 0-18 years living in Newcastle and Gateshead who present with mental health difficulties.

This includes children and young people who may be living in difficult and challenging circumstances.

Click here to read more and download a wealth of resources to help support you.

Our vital service is available at no cost to families. Rainbow Trust is a charity, relying almost entirely on voluntary donations and the generosity of the public to deliver support.

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity supports families who have a child aged 0-18 years with a life-threatening or terminal illness.

We are a warm, caring and kind place because:

• We offer small group work and activities
• Parents/carers can discuss individual needs prior to visiting

We are a registered charity set up in 1990 in Newcastle upon Tyne, at a time when the North East had the worst levels of child health in the country (Government report Health of the Nation 1990).

Relaxed screenings are for children and young people with autism.  They are sensory friendly with reduced sound, dimmed lighting, and no adverts or trailers.  It is okay for guests to move around and make noise during the film.

Autism friendly screenings are offered by most cinemas.  For more information about the these screenings, the cinemas, and how to book, please click on the links below: 

Where Does It Take Place?

At Gosforth Civic Theatre's Café Bar.

Who Is It For? 

Young people with learning disabilities and autism aged between 16-24 years old 

How Does It Work? 

Drop in anytime between 10am and 12pm on the dates listed.

Each month there is a focus on a particular topic. However, you can talk with us about any other sexual health and relationships topics.

There is no cost.  Free Condoms and sexually transmitted infection (STI) test kits are available at all sessions!

For more information, please get in touch via email or phone.  

These workshops cover a wide range of topics.  Come along if you would like to learn more about sex and relationships.