A NEW online service to improve the emotional health and wellbeing of young people has been rolled out in Bolton.

Kooth.com provides youngsters with online counselling, as well as support with emotional wellbeing.

The new service offers a variety of self-help materials and forums.

And it also provides one-to-one text-based support through drop-in and pre-bookable sessions with counsellors, therapists and support workers.

Dr Barry Silvert, clinical director for integrated commissioning at NHS Bolton CCG, said: “The emotional health of young people is something we take very seriously and we are always looking for ways to provide additional support to help those who need it.

“Kooth is a service which we have identified as being able to provide this kind of support and I would encourage any young person who may be struggling with their emotional wellbeing to access the website and take the opportunity to have an online conversation with a highly trained counsellor.”

The service is being provided by online counselling pioneers XenZone on a two year pilot.

Any person between the ages of 11 and 25, who lives in, or is registered with, a GP in the Bolton area can use the service.

It addresses a wide-range of emotional health and wellbeing difficulties such as low mood, family or friendship problems and gender identity.

Other issues it can help with are self-harm, eating disorders, anxiety and depression.

Kooth is also being introduced to schools across Bolton.

David Burton, headteacher at Canon Slade School, in Bolton, said: “Attendance at school is so important to enable all young people to learn. Our school has 96 per cent attendance but still, we want to increase that. We hope this investment by Bolton CCG in an online counselling and emotional wellbeing service will help pupils in all schools to be supported to be in school every day.

“If attendance drops to even 95 percent then the statistics show young people achieve much less and their wellbeing is not as good.”

Kooth focuses on early intervention and is suitable for those awaiting a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) referral as well as those who do but require additional support.

The service is anonymous, and the the only details needed are the area the user lives and their birth month and year.

Despite the anonymity the service has a robust approach to safeguarding and systems through which concerns can be escalated.

For more information visit kooth.com or contact sarah.whitehead5@nhs.net.