What is Mindworks? 

Mindworks is Surrey’s service for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. 

It brings together the NHS and local and national charities to make sure children, young people and families can get the right help, at the right time. 

Mindwork’s approach gives children and young people a central voice in their care. This approach is shaped by a national framework called THRIVE. 

Mindworks started in 2021 to modernise the existing Children and Adolescent Mental Health Servies (CAMHS) and bring all the different services together. 

Who is involved in Mindworks? 

Mindworks is a partnership between the local NHS mental health trust (Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust), and with national and local charities who are part of the Surrey Wellbeing Partnership (SWP). 

The members of SWP are all experts in the field of children and young people’s wellbeing and include:  

  • The Eikon Charity
  • Barnado’s  
  • The National Autistic Society 
  • Peer Productions 
  • Surrey Care Trust 
  • The East and West Trust  
  • The Matrix Trust 
  • Emerge Advocacy 
  • Step by Steep Productions Ltd 
  • YMCA East Surrey 
  • Searchlight 

How Mindworks supports children and young people 

Mindworks covers the full range of mental health and wellbeing support – from early advice through to highly specialist care. 

Support is organised around  five key areas, so help is ready when it is needed: 

Early support 

Support for worries like stress, low mood or anxiety. This might include: 

  • counselling 

  • group support 

  • talking therapies 

  • meeting with a youth worker or wellbeing practitioner

These can help prevent problems from becoming more serious. 

Support in school – how Mindworks helps 

People from Mindworks and mental health support teams (MHSTs) work in school to help students with their feelings, worries and wellbeing.

Teachers and staff are trained to notice when extra support might be needed and can help students speak to the right person.

Students can get help for things like worry, stress, friendship issues or low mood. This might be a chat, practical tips, group sessions or short pieces of support with staff from the MHST, Surrey Wellbeing Partnership team or a primary mental health worker.

If students need more help or crisis support, they can be connected to other Mindworks services - so young people don’t have to figure it out on their own. 

Parents and carers can also get help to understand what a young person needs as part of their wider support network.

Neurodiversity Support – how Mindworks helps 

Mindworks supports children and young people who are autistic, have ADHD, or who think and learn in different ways. We work with children and young people, parents/carers and school to access the right support at the right time.

A diagnosis is not needed to get help.

Mindworks partners - including the National Autistic Society and Barnardo’s, can support students in school, in groups, or with their families/carers.

The Mindworks neurodevelopmental team can support with things like diagnosis, medication, or more detailed assessments.

Specialist Mental Health Support – how Mindworks helps 

Mindworks offers specialist support for children and young people who have more serious or complex mental health needs. 

This support comes from clinical experts like:

  • therapists 
  • mental health nurses
  • psychologists
  • psychiatrists

who understand how to help with more difficult feelings and situations.

We work with children and young people, their family/carers and, where helpful, school or other professionals to make sure care needs are understood and supported. 

Crisis support – always available 

Mindworks has a crisis line available 24/7 – day or night. 

We can help during a mental health crisis, listen to what’s going on, and help people feel safer. 

The team will guide callers to the right support quickly, whether that’s advice over the phone, speaking to another service, or helping you get urgent care. 

Whatever’s happening, someone is always there to help.

What makes Mindworks different? 

Mindworks is built around clear principles that put children, young people and families first: 

  • Support is based on what a person needs, not a one-size-fits-all approach 

  • Get help without waiting for a formal diagnosis 

  • Resources go where the need is greatest, so support is fair across Surrey 

  • Success is measured by both how someone feels and meeting agreed national and local targets 

  • Joined-up care and proper handovers between teams 

  • Services are shaped by the people who use them, built from the ground up. 

What Mindworks means for families 

Because organisations work together through Mindworks: 

  • NHS and charity expertise is brought together, which is stronger than working alone 

  • Support is spread evenly, so children in every area get equal access to help 

  • We can make better use of our funding for children and young people 

  • Over £30 million is invested by the NHS to bring together this expertise and improve mental health and wellbeing for children and young people across Surrey. 

Services provided by Surrey and Borders Partnership

Requests for support for these services need to be made by a professional such as your GP, a teacher or social worker.

Services provided by The Surrey Wellbeing Partnership

You can request some support directly, and further support can be accessed by a request from a GP, teacher or social worker.

Requesting support for yourself or your child:

These services require a request for support by a professional:

 

We also work alongside Kooth, Catch 22, and Family Voice Surrey who all offer services that you can request yourself.

Download and print a visual version of our map of Mindworks services.

See below for more information on what makes up Mindworks Surrey.

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