A DORSET mental health charity says services for young people have become ‘extremely stretched’ over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic following a rise in demand.

Dorset Mind reports that rising staff absences and an increase in referrals has led to mental health services being tested.

The charity reports that they have seen a rise in mental health awareness over the last few years with more people recognising problems and knowing where help is.

A spokeswoman for Dorset Mind said: “Services became extremely stretched as they suffered rising absences of staff in isolation or infected, combined with rising referrals.

“Having to juggle tight finances, possibly job insecurities, with responsibilities such as childcare also put added pressure on staff who were working in stressful frontline positions as keyworkers.

“For Dorset Mind, this had an additional financial impact as demand increased whilst our funding dropped as businesses were closed.”

Despite the reduction in funding the mental health charity still offered their ‘Dorset Mind Your Head’ (DMYH) scheme which offers to support to young people across the county and includes a weekly wellbeing check-in service.

The initiative was created as a direct response to young people needing regular support delivered mostly over the phone during the pandemic and ‘proved essential to those who used it’.

The spokeswoman continued: “We've seen a rise in mental health awareness over the last few years, more people know how to recognise mental health issues and where to get help should it be needed.

“During the various lockdowns, vital face-to-face support was withdrawn in order to adhere to restrictions.

“Without access to regular support networks, including family, friends and mental health professionals, during the long periods of isolation, young people's mental health deteriorated rapidly. So naturally, there was a rise in young people reaching out for support.”

Dorset Mind says ‘educating the whole environment is essential, not solely dealing with young people themselves’ which includes the support network.

The spokeswoman added: “Investment in young people's services such as DMYH is critical. Extra funding must be provided for mental health services - schools are struggling with resources - which is why we provide our programmes for free.

“We do have funding currently, but it's limited. To expand our support to all schools in Dorset, we need help from businesses and the local community to look after the mental wellbeing of Dorset's Young People.”