Stories
J: from school refusal to college
J had severe anxiety, OCD and school-based trauma and had stopped attending school. He saw our therapist weekly for five months, then we worked with his school on a careful return. He now attends every day, comes to our young people's sessions, and is predicted grades 6 to 8 in his GCSEs. He has applied to college to study Computer Science.
Sally: one family, held through crisis
Sally has three daughters, each with mental health or educational needs. We supported her middle daughter therapeutically and helped her move into an alternative provision she now attends regularly. When Sally's mother died, we supported the family through the bereavement too. Today we help with benefits, SEN support and schooling for her youngest. Sally says the mix of mental health and practical help has been invaluable.
Names changed, shared with permission.
Local need
West Oxfordshire can look prosperous from the outside, but many families here struggle. Carterton has pockets of real deprivation, rural villages are poorly served by public transport, and specialist mental health help can mean long waits and long journeys.
Carterton is also home to many service families. RAF Brize Norton, the largest station in the Royal Air Force, sits on the edge of town. Postings, moves and deployments can make it harder for children to settle and for families to build support networks, so we take our support to base events too.
Nationally, one in five children and young people aged 8 to 25 had a probable mental disorder in 2023. [Add local deprivation and SEND figures]
Sofa in the Street
We do not wait for families to find us. Our Sofa in the Street events put a sofa outside Witney Corn Exchange: no referral, no forms, just a conversation. We also attend family events at RAF Brize Norton.
Where you will find us
From town centres and summer fairs to award evenings and family fun days, our team takes support out to where families already are.
How we measure
We track attendance and re-engagement, gather feedback from young people and parents, review progress in therapy, and are introducing the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale to measure change over time.
2026 Impact Report
Read the full story of our year, with figures, stories and plans for 2027 and 2028.
[Download PDF]