YOUNG people struggling with their mental health will be able to access innovative new services – including a text support network – thanks to additional support from Fife Council.

Councillors have agreed that further measures are needed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and during the current cost-of-living crisis, with more investment planned for in-school counselling.

The local authority will next month launch SHOUT, a text alert service which will offer the ability to simply send a message to access mental health support.

Councillor Cara Hilton, Fife Council's education spokesperson, said: "There is already a tremendous amount of work being done to support our children and young people through the Our Minds Matter framework and a dedicated counselling set up in our schools.

"However, our young people are telling us that they are struggling and we must therefore continually review and improve the support we provide and continue to focus our efforts on supporting parents, carers and families to make sure that a whole family and wider community approach is taken to supporting mental health."

The Our Minds Matter initiative promotes early intervention and prevention and focuses on the needs of children and young people.

Recent surveys held in the region's schools found that key issues such as poor body image, low mood, emotional difficulties, loneliness and struggles with peer relationships are affecting pupils the most.

Referrals for help connected to bereavement and eating disorders have both doubled – though numbers remain low –while the top concern was found to be stress in home life, followed by stress at school.

However, the data also found that students are 21 per cent happier in education than they were a year ago.

Cllr Hilton added: "It's vital that our children and young people can get the right support when they need it and we work hard to keep lines of communication open in lots of ways.

"Our services in Fife are doing a great job and making real positive differences to many lives. We are committed to building on that good work and continuing to support our children and young people through these difficult times."