Emotional Wellbeing and Health Support Service

Peterborough City Council are seeking a provider to deliver accessible emotional wellbeing and mental health information, advice and support for children and young people (CYP) aged between 13-25 years living in Peterborough.

The contract shall commence on 01 July 2026 and end on 30th June 2027.

The outcomes for the service include;

• Evidenced improvements in the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.
• Evidence of reach within vulnerable groups1 or those who would not otherwise receive support due to not meeting other mental health service thresholds and capturing the need for support.
• Evidenced improvements in children and young people's engagement with education, employment or training.

The service model will:

• Provide a free, confidential, easily accessible self-referral service open to children and young people aged 13-25 years who reside in Peterborough that require support and can self refer to gain support.
• Be accessible and have open access via a 'no wrong door' approach; this means that children and young people can self-refer by phone, email, text/WhatsApp, website or attend drop-in sessions without appointment.
• Engage with and offer children and young people support they need without requiring them to meet a restrictive eligibility criteria.
• Ensure children and young people are involved in decision making, choice of types and length of support with high levels of autonomy about the support they receive and how they want to access it, length of support and how it is accessed. This includes meeting the needs of young people who are at risk of not engaging or disengaging from mental health support.
• Build children and young people's resilience and coping strategies through evidence-based practices that address some of the wider determinants of wellbeing with the relevant intervention, both in length and depending on individual needs.
• Support and encourage interagency working and effective collaborations with a clear referral process and capturing, analysing and sharing outcomes data with key stakeholders that continually informs practice and service delivery.
• Improve, innovate and evidence the impact and effectiveness of this service, especially where there are significant challenges and issues. This includes providing a mix of robust evaluation measures, accurate data analysis and case studies.
• Develop and maintain this service provision within the iThrive Framework
• Support the whole system approach with shared decision making on support and activities to improve the mental wellbeing, health, resilience, and confidence of children & young people.
• Share learning to help influence a wider systematic change including barriers LGBTQ+ young people face accessing mental health support.
• Ensure monitoring and review are focused on reporting children & young people's evidenced outcomes, learning sharing intelligence and practices. The service will provide quarterly reports, an annual service report, contract period work plan, risk log and will operate a complaints process.