Headline: Tackling Surrey’s Youth Mental Health Crisis: How One Local Charity is Transforming Lives in Nature

Right now, an astonishing one in six children in Surrey is identified as having a probable mental health disorder. Caught in a “perfect storm” of lingering lockdown effects, the relentless pressures of social media, and home stresses amplified by the cost-of-living crisis, local families are facing an unprecedented emergency.

Stepping into the breach is Learning Space, a dedicated Surrey children’s mental health charity celebrating its 30th anniversary this coming February. But as the charity approaches this milestone, they are dealing with staggering demand. This year alone, their team of 40 staff supported 2,380 children and delivered 14,639 therapeutic sessions across the county.

While funding is always challenging, the current climate has made the charity’s mission more critical than ever. Learning Space focuses heavily on early intervention over crisis management, ensuring young people don’t fall out of education.

Alongside 1:1 sessions in therapy rooms across Redhill, Tadworth, and Guildford, the charity runs deeply innovative Therapeutic Gardens in Farncombe and Patchworking in Dorking.

“Sitting face-to-face in a clinical room can be intensely intimidating for an anxious child,” explains Rebecca Wheaton, Corporate and Community Fundraiser for Learning Space. “In our gardens, we work side-by-side in nature. Removing the intense pressure of direct eye contact creates an atmosphere of total acceptance, which is especially vital for the many neurodivergent children we support.”

The charity uses a solution-focused approach that yields rapid, life-changing results. It is not uncommon for a young person to arrive scoring their own happiness at just a 1 or 2 out of 10. Yet, after just three to six sessions of practical coping tools and side-by-side therapy, those scores frequently leap to an 8 or 9.

Crucially, this work creates a ripple effect. When a child is struggling, the strain affects the entire home. Learning Space wraps its support around parents, carers, and schools, offering a lifeline to exhausted families.

Community Champions Stepping Up
To meet the current crisis, Learning Space launched an ambitious £100,000 fundraising target. Recently, they were beautifully championed by the Surrey Freemasons, who stepped in with an extraordinary £50,000 grant.

This investment gets the charity exactly halfway to its goal, directly funding garden therapy for 60 young people this year and bringing vital relief to between 120 and 240 wider family members and carers. The Freemasons recognise that investing in youth mental health today ensures a healthier, happier workforce and community for Surrey tomorrow.

How Surrey Can Help Bridge the Gap
With £50,000 left to raise, Learning Space is calling on the local community and businesses to help them bridge the gap. There are several ways residents can get involved right now:

• Join the Pub Quiz: Test your knowledge at their upcoming Charity Pub Quiz at The White Horse in Dorking on the 1st December.
• Double Your Donation: Support their match-funding Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign running from midday Tuesday 1st December to midday Tuesday 8th December.
• Partner Up: Local businesses, golf clubs, and sports teams are encouraged to choose Learning Space as their ‘Charity of the Year’ or host a fundraising event or coffee morning.
• Support us on social media
• Volunteer with us

We cannot give children a world without anxiety, but we can give them the tools to cope. To donate, support the runners, or find out more about partnering with the charity, visit learningspace.org.uk Or email fundraisining@leanringspace.org.uk. Every single pound is an investment in a child’s one chance at a happy childhood.

Teia Vinogradova / Rebecca Wheaton