People / Interviews
‘There is no limit to what I have heard’
Back in 1965 a pioneering charity dedicated to helping young people coping with mental health problems was launched in Bristol. 50 years later Off the Record now helps thousands of young people a year who are struggling to cope with an ever changing world.
Off the Record is called what it is because you can be completely off-the-record when you came in to talk. It is an idea which has endured for 50 years at this free, self-referral service so children do not need an adult to access their support.
Demand on the service has grown year-on-year. The charity, which runs 15 projects across Bristol, receives around 5,000 calls a year and helps more than 1,500 young people who are suffering with a range of mental health issues.
is needed now More than ever
“The bulk of what we get is anxiety, depression, self-harm, family breakdown,” says the charity’s chief executive Dr Simon Newitt.
“Beyond that substance misuse, physical health, employment, unemployment, students struggling with move to a new city and living independently, sexual and gender identity issues.
“There is no limit to what I have heard.”
The world is a very different place for teenagers today than in 1965 and the change and pressures have, according to Simon, intensified over the past 20 years to critical levels.
“The online world where so many people exist can be ruthless. It is full of harmful messages which means they are always connected and there is no escape. They have access to a world of stuff – sex, relationships and drugs that just wasn’t there 20 years ago.”
But there is more than just the virtual world for teenagers to contend with.
Society has changed and what it values now individual success, status, success, money, possessions can all be quite toxic, said Simon.
“It has always been there to a particular extent but the internet magnifies is and that is the biggest change since Off The Record started.”
Timely intervention is the key and over the past 50 years, Off the Record has touched the lives of thousands of people in Bristol and beyond. “We have people who came to us in the 70s and 80s getting in touch through social media saying you changed my life.”
For more information, visit www.otrbristol.org.uk.
Photo by Doug Jewell
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