A woman from Huntingdon has praised the NSPCC for their mental health support during a difficult time in her life.

Marian Preston, from Huntingdon, suffered abuse as a child, which she says had an impact on her mental health. Marian is happily married now and has been for 10 years, but says it did take her a long time to trust people again.

She has praised the NSPCC for helping her get through the difficult time that she faced.

Marian said: “They were brilliant. I remember I went into a big NSPCC office and had my interviews with my counsellor there and it was done in a really good manner.”

Over the last year, across the UK, Childline has delivered a staggering 61,398 counselling sessions about mental health. This is an average of 6,140 counselling sessions, every month.

Su Wright, NSPCC Children’s services practitioner, said: “Children have discussed loneliness and feelings of isolation due to the lockdown, they’re worried their parents may lose their jobs and they miss their friends and other family members.

“These children are telling us similar things to the children that come through our referral system.”

“Children have shown incredible resilience, but we know the pandemic has had an impact.

“We must all be here for children this year, together we can make this situation better for them and ensure they have the support they need.”

Marian remembers the impact of not being able to trust people as a child, for a very long time she would keep her distance from people, she said: “I remember going walking where I lived as a child and I couldn’t walk past this man who was just washing his car, I would walk off the path onto the road and go around them.”

“I can't change what happened to me and I feel very fortunate that I had the counselling and support that I really needed.”

Su expressed that since lockdown the NSPCC have seen fluctuations in calls from children about their mental health and this has varied considerably depending on whether we have or haven’t been in lockdown.

The NSPCC also fully support the Government's decision to reopen schools and think this will help children, Su said: “The Government has decided it’s possible to reopen schools and we support this movement as we know how important a return to the classroom is for their education.

“It’s important that they’re visible, safe and are able to interact with their friends and teachers.

“But at the same time it’s vital the Government recognise the huge impact the pandemic has had on them and that school is not only for education, but also safeguarding and promoting children’s wellbeing and the Governments recovery plans should hopefully acknowledge this and include measures so that children can catch-up on missed education whilst also investing in the social care system so that their mental health is an absolute priority.”

Marion was thankful that she had a safe space at the NSPCC to talk to a member of the team, she said: “From what I remember I had toys in the room, so essentially I was being occupied and free to talk about it all.”

Su explained that they are still seeing people face-to-face but have had to restrict this number due to the pandemic, but they also hold Zoom calls as well.

Su said: “For some people it is essential that we see them in person in accordance with the Government guidance. We have developed an adapted existing services and developed new ones which can be delivered remotely, where that is appropriate.”

“For example there are some awareness raising programs in online safety that can be delivered remotely.”

Marian has helped to support NSPCC charity events such as ‘Break the silence’ to help others and create awareness.

In 2016 she completed a half marathon row on a concept rowing machine to also help create awareness.

If you need help or advice you can visit the NSPCC website on:- https://www.nspcc.org.uk/

Or ChildLine on: https://www.childline.org.uk/