Our support for young people during COVID-19 outbreak

With the situation around the coronavirus developing, our priority is with the health of young people, staff, volunteers and the wider community. 

As always we want the best for young people. We have been looking at the safest ways for doing this now and in the months to come, also keeping COVID-19 updates from the government in mind. After lots of planning and also talking with young people, we sadly had to make the decision to close the centre temporarily and stop face to face support from Friday 20 March. 

The day centre doors might be closed at the moment but our work has not. This page is for updates on how we can support you and how we will work with others to help young people in the days and weeks to come. Things are constantly changing, so please keep checking this page for updates.

How we will support you at the moment

• We will continue to work with anyone else who is already getting support from us. The difference will be that we will start doing this via phone and email instead of face-to-face or at the centre. We are setting this up at the moment so please bear with us if you haven’t yet heard from us: our amazing teams will be in touch with you soon. If you need anything urgent, please consider contacting a relevant organisation mentioned in the list below.

• We won’t be able to start supporting new young people for the time being. If you need support around your housing, please contact your local council. Please also have a look at other services below for advice and information about e.g. accommodation, health, benefits, or safety. 

How you will know if anything changes

You will have noticed that there are daily developments about the coronavirus, so there will also be changes about how we and others will be supporting young people. We will be giving updates via twitter, facebook and our website. This Get Help page is especially for updates for young people about what support is available through New Horizon Youth Centre and other organisations during this time.

What you can do to help to protect yourself and others against the coronavirus

The information about the coronavirus (or COVID-19, to use its official name) can be overwhelming and worrying. To find out more about what is happening and a few simple steps you can take to avoid catching or spreading it:

• What is the coronavirus / COVID-19
• What to do to protect yourself and others
• How to check symptoms
• A really clear explanation by The Mix

Other useful organisations

We understand you might be worrying about what help is available at the moment but there is support out there. To keep things simple, this is a basic list for now, but we will add to it and hope that the links can be helpful. Information and services might change in the coming weeks, so we will keep this updated as much as possible.

• Shelter housing advice helpline 0330 0536091 - If you are 18-25 and need advice around housing
• The Mix 0808 808 4994 - If you want to find out more or talk about challenges you are facing, from mental health to money to finding a job, from break-ups to drugs.
  
• The Samaritans 116 123 (24hrs) - If you are feeling very low, feeling suicidal or need to talk to somebody urgently. You can also present to A&E at any hospital.
• National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247 (24 hrs)- If you are in an abusive or violent relationship or fleeing any kind of violence or abuse, and need help urgently. In an emergency, always call 999.