Lack of outdoor play harms children’s health and wellbeing

Charities have warned that a lack of opportunity for outdoor play is seriously impacting children’s health and wellbeing. As MPs lead an inquiry into how better planning could enhance children’s health and wellbeing, charities urged them to prioritise the need for outdoor spaces for play, saying that this would help improve the physical and...

New measures launched to tackle school absences

The government recently launched new measures to help tackle widespread school absences. Launched as pupils were due to head back into the classroom following their Christmas break, the new measures are designed to drive up attendance and tackle persistent absences at schools in England. Figures show that the number of pupils frequently absent from...

Childline: Over 100,000 children seek mental health help

Data released by the NSPCC reveals that over 100,000 children contacted Childline last year for help with mental health struggles. The confidential charity helpline delivered more than 105,000 counselling sessions on mental health and emotional wellbeing between 1st April 2022 and 31st March 2023 – over half of the total number of counselling sessions...

Good Childhood Report: Cost-of-living crisis impacts wellbeing

The latest Good Childhood Report reveals widespread unhappiness among children, with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis having a marked impact on their wellbeing. This is the twelfth annual report published by The Children’s Society into the wellbeing of children and young people across the UK. The charity says that this year’s report reveals that too...

Charity wants to get children’s mental health #OutInTheOpen

National charity YoungMinds is encouraging people to bring children’s mental health out into the open with a new step challenge for Spring. The charity’s #OutInTheOpen campaign challenges people to walk 310,000 steps in 31 days during May to raise money for children and young people’s mental health, and encourage open and honest conversations about...