As a coalition of leading providers of care and support to vulnerable children and young people, we welcome the consensus between major political parties in the Scottish Parliament election to tackling the growing mental health crisis in our young people.
We have for some time raised concerns about a potential lost generation of vulnerable children and young people, whose mental health is being impacted even further by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The commitment by the political parties to focus on mental health, increasing investment in support services and intervention strategies, is therefore to be appreciated and must be a priority for the next parliament.
Our children are remarkably resilient, but the frightening statistics on the deteriorating mental health of many of them presents a compelling case for a national crusade to address what is a mental health pandemic, underpinned by considerably greater resourcing.
This mental health crisis is one we can address, but it will require a similar energy and commitment to that which was demonstrated for Covid-19 if we are to achieve this and prevent many young people giving up on their futures – and themselves.
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition.
Axe eyesore at our beach
I can’t understand why something hasn’t been done over many years to either demolish or rebuild the shelter on the Aberdeen Beach Promenade. It is an absolute disgrace and hardly a prestigious welcome for visitors to Aberdeen’s famous beach.
Dennis Grattan.
Shop history
On the closure of Debenhams, chain shops don’t make a city but when they go so does a whole period in time and all that was packed into it. Going to town on a Saturday with a friend or parent and walking around the department stores was a huge part of people’s lives for decades. That is what is being mourned.
CT.
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