Children and young people

One-to-One Services

We offer a number of one to one services for children and young people aged from 4-18 including:

  • Art Therapy
  • Counselling
  • First Response Crisis Support Service – for children and young people aged 11+ who are experiencing domestic abuse at home or within their own relationships
  • Flexible drop-in support
  • Music Therapy
  • Play and Youth Work
  • Play Therapy
  • Solution Focussed Practice

We deliver this work from our two premises in North Shields, and in schools and other community settings throughout North Tyneside and Northumberland. Don’t worry if you are not sure which service would be of benefit to you/your child – we will discuss this with you when we speak to you.

We offer lots of additional services for children and young people including group programmes, therapeutic groups and free family activities. We regularly hold different types of events, including an Introduction to Acorns Coffee Morning, which explains a bit more about who we are and what we, and where we can answer questions you may have. To see when our next events are being held, visit our Events page.

Some of our services for children and young people may not be available or may be offered remotely, depending on where you live, but we can give you up to date information when we speak to you.

How can I get help from Acorns?

  • If you are a parent or carer, you can refer your child to Acorns directly. If you are a teacher, youth worker, social worker or similar, and you have consent from a child's parent or carer, you can refer a child to us.
  • If you are 16+, you can access our services directly by filling in a referral form yourself.
  • If you are under 16, you will need the support of a parent or carer who can contact Acorns on your behalf. There may be other trusted adults that could help you with this such as a teacher, youth worker or social worker.
  • If you are under 16, but feel that you do not have a trusted adult that could help you, please speak to us and we'll do our best to help you.
  • If you are 11+ and require more immediate support you can access our First Response Service by calling 0191 3498366 or text to 07712 862858
  • If you are in danger right now call 999

Please see the Contact Us section of our website for a referral form.

Unsure whether Acorns is the right thing for you? If you are a young person we can arrange an informal chat with one of our workers so that you can find out more about how we work and ask any questions you may have.

Confidentiality

You have the right not to have information about you passed on to anyone outside the project (such as parents, teachers, social workers etc.)

The only time this is different is if you tell Acorns that you or someone else is in danger, or being hurt. If we do need to share information about you or someone else we would always try to discuss this with you first.

Contact us

Useful links

Useful resources

Acorns general information leaflet

Heart Painting - artwork by young people at Acorns domestic abuse support services in North Shields