A grant from the ILT Foundation has given Youthline Southland capacity to offer additional support during these challenging times.

Youthline Southland interim manager Brian Lowe said there were a lot of reasons for young people to be anxious at the moment, and the additional support "couldn’t come at a better time”.

Currently numbers for support are up at Youthlines across the country, with text messages for support jumping 140% as a daily average from March to Week 4 of lockdown. Anxiety being identified as one of the biggest topics young people were struggling with during this time. The online counselling sessions offered an opportunity for councillors to connect with youth and help with coping skills, Mr Lowe said.

“It’s important for us to remember that life after lockdown will also be difficult for young people. There is a great deal of uncertainty about the future. It is likely we will see another increase in the need for services as we come out of the lockdown period. For those already struggling with issues this can be a very scary time. We are really grateful to the ILT Foundation for the ability to increase our services and hopefully capture those in need that might have been missed.” 

The free counselling support sessions via video conferencing or phone are provided by fully qualified counsellors and are available to youth aged 16 to 24 years and residing in Southland. Due to the limited number of sessions available, this is not intended to act as on-going support, but a brief intervention service to support youth in this challenging time.  

If you’re looking for help and just need someone to talk to free-text 234 or call at 0800 37 66 33 anytime night or day.

For enquiries, please email [email protected]