Donate today!
From 11am Tuesday 23 June until 11am Tuesday 30 June, every donation you make will be doubled until we reach our target of £16,000!
Together through the wait
Our ‘Together through the wait’ appeal will raise funds to provide workshops, webinars and resources for parents and carers whose children are waiting for mental health services.
In early 2026, in England alone, there were well over 500,000 children and young people who had been referred to mental health services and on waiting lists for treatment*. That’s half a million stories of young people struggling with their mental health, and families who may be desperately worried about them.
Waiting times for CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and other services can sometimes be so long that a young person’s mental health deteriorates while they are waiting. The stress on parents and carers can also be enormous, making them vulnerable to mental health issues too. Some end up having to take time off work or even leave their jobs to support their child while they wait.
In the UK, if your child is struggling with a mental health problem which affects their daily life, such as depression or anxiety, the advice is usually to see your GP for a referral to CAMHS.
Local CAMHS teams, staffed by psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, therapists and social workers, carry out important, effective work and serve many communities. However, the need for services continues to exceed their availability.
“It can feel as though there are waiting lists to even get on the waiting list. Not knowing how to support your child whilst at the same time having no idea when or what access to professionals would even look like, meant living in limbo and being genuinely scared about the consequences of having no access to professional support.”
For every parent or carer whose child is on the waiting list, there is likely to be a similar story.
Our Parent/Carer Lived Experience Lead, Nikki Chapman, says: “I cannot tell you what a difference it made in those long, dark nights being able to text just the word ‘Aaaagh’ with five exclamation marks – and to get a response. The sheer relief of knowing others were out there, who understood, who weren’t going to judge, blame or shame us was indescribable. We began to get back our confidence as parents.”
Donate today!
From 11am Tuesday 23 June until 11am Tuesday 30 June, every donation you make will be doubled until we reach our target of £16,000!
Our evidence-based workshops, webinars and resources are designed to give parents and carers practical strategies to support young people, including those who may face additional barriers to support. They offer easy-to-follow guidance – crucial for families under stress.
One parent who attended a workshop for those caring for a loved one with an eating disorder said: “We attended an online session, which was absolutely key to us having the skills and ability to support our daughter. She is now in recovery, and I cannot say how crucial the Charlie Waller Trust has been in our lives.”
We’re not pretending that being on a waiting list is ever going to be easy. But we want to give more parents and carers the skills, confidence and connections they need to wait with hope, knowing that they are not alone in facing these challenges.
New webinar: Understanding and Managing Anxiety in Children Under 12
During campaign week we are holding a free webinar to help parents and carers understand more about anxiety in children under 12 years old. Based on parent-led Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) – an evidence-based approach that explores the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours – it introduces practical tools to help parents and carers support their children.
Led by our clinical lead, Lisa Thomson, this session has been co-produced with one of our Lived Experience Partners, bringing valuable real-world insight. Although the session is aimed at parents and carers, anyone working with children would certainly benefit from joining.