Chloe’s Story – Understanding and improving mental health

“With AllChild, I know someone has my back.”

Chloe faced challenges with her mental health and with building relationships with her classmates. By working alongside her Link Worker and her parents, she began to improve her self-esteem and understand where to go to feel supported and heard, providing her with the tools to flourish in her school and community.

Chloe was 12years old and one of the youngest in her school year when, during the transition into her second year of high school, challenges around maintaining friendships emerged. She regularly sought advice and support when she began engaging with AllChild and was matched with her Link Worker, Emily, who quickly established a trusting relationship with her. As well as difficulties with peers, she opened up about her mental health struggles, fears of judgement, and sensory sensitivities in class, which made school work a challenge.

Chloe’s support plan was developed between Emily and Chloe’s parents, who worked together to ensure that support and opportunities met her needs and interests, which included a passion for dance and socialising with friends and family. An Early Help Assessment took place and Emily was in regular contact with Chloe’s mum, who engaged with the co-design process and had a central position in Chloe’s emerging support network.

In their roles as visible trusted adults, Emily and the other Link Workers provided consistent support and advocacy to Chloe, ensuring she had a voice in her school life. As a participant with the programme, Chloe took part in many sessions that worked to her strengths and were designed to ensure she could achieve positive social, emotional and academic outcomes. These included 1:1 interactions with classroom support professionals, Girls Out Loud groups for her self-esteem and awareness around social media, and team building activities to create positive peer relationships.

After a year of working with Emily, Chloe’s progress was clear to see. Her mental health and school attendance both improved, with her mum attributing the breakthrough to her participation in the Impact Programme. A standout moment that demonstrated how comfortable she felt with Emily came when she expressed how truly supported and listened she feels to, describing their relationship as if “someone has herback”.