Webwatch: NSPCC ‘It’s Time’ campaign website

The NSPCC has launched a long-term campaign, IT’s Time, to raise awareness of the barriers abused children face getting help to rebuild their lives and call for more therapeutic services to meet their specific needs.

The campaign website is calling for:

•     increased funding for support services for children who’ve suffered abuse
•     government to produce clear guidelines on when a child should be offered therapeutic support
•     more research into the scale of the problem, as well as what type of support works best.

More than half of professionals working with abused children say tight criteria to access local NHS mental health services means these children are increasingly struggling to access vital help – a UK-wide survey by the NSPCC has revealed at the start of a major campaign to improve support for victims.

Nine in ten of more than 1,000 professionals surveyed feel services to help abused children overcome their trauma are inadequate, and more than three quarters say it has got more difficult in the last five years to access therapeutic support.

All too often children who have been abused have to develop chronic mental health problems, become suicidal or begin to self-harm before therapeutic services become available to them, according to the survey and other findings.

With sexual offences against children at record levels and more than ever known about how widespread abuse is, the charity is calling for those affected to be prioritised.

The site was developed with the help of A Force for Change – a group of young people who’ve experienced first-hand what it’s like not to have the right support after suffering abuse.

Visit the website here: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/fighting-for-childhood/campaigns/its-time/