THERE is ‘no hope’ for youngsters with mental health issues in East Lancashire, a charity worker has said.

It comes as Action for Children released new research showing nine out of 10 frontline professionals say children’s mental health has become worse, or remained persistently bleak, over the past year.

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Terri Hacking, who manages projects including Burnley Targeted Family Services, Lancashire Parenting, Chorley and South Ribble Families First and Burnley Wood Children’s Centre for the organisation, said one in every four families with children they dealt with had a youngster with mental health issues.

She called on the government to realise the ‘desperate situation’ families were in and to increase funding to charities that work with young people.

She said: “I think there is no hope for our young people. We are going to have a lost generation.

“Their aspirations are not great and there are no opportunities for them in terms of employment, so it is worse with the added impact of mental health issues.”

Mrs Hacking said other problems which put strain on youngsters included bullying at school, peer pressure on social networking sites and poverty.

She said: “Young people do not know where to go for help and pastoral care in schools does not even touch the surface.

“More young people than ever are deciding to take themselves out of the situations and committing suicide.

Domestic violence and exam pressure were also blamed for some of the problems.

Mrs Hacking said younger children also experienced problems if their family unit broke down.

She added: “There are lots of families where the parents change partners and the children and young people experience loss, which is like bereavement.”

Mrs Hacking said it was the government’s responsibility to increase funding to organisations that help children with mental health issues.

She said: “The government needs to realise that these families are in really, really desperate situations and yet services like ours are coming to an end because the local authorities have had massive cuts.

“They just cannot fund the non-statutory provisions- they are the first services to go.

Action for Children is calling on local authorities to provide early support for children, devoting more attention to warning signs and pressures contributing to problems with emotional wellbeing.

Helen McKee, Action for Children’s operational director of children’s services in Lancashire said: “Emotional wellbeing is fundamental to every stage in a child’s life, from starting school to entering adulthood, and services must devote everything they can to ensuring families receive support early, to avoid crisis.”