Features / mental health
How Southmead is supporting children before they reach crisis point
During a busy lunchtime at Greenway Community Centre, residents collect meals from the Cafe Des Amis canteen, the hum of conversation filling the building.
Nearby, Suzanne Daggar, communications manager, and Vicky Wall (children and young people’s development manager) step into a quieter room to discuss the centre’s newest mental health programme.
For Suzanne and Vicky, the constant activity is part and parcel of their roles at the Southmead Development Trust.
It also reflects what the Greenway represents: a place where practical support, social connection and community life intersect.
Now, that same space hosts Inside Out, a programme launched in late 2025 to support children’s emotional wellbeing before problems escalate or specialist services become necessary.
The Greenway Community Centre is a community hub in Southmead – photo: Maelo Manning
Inside Out is a five-week programme of creative activities, games and small group sessions.
It sits within the Southmead Development Trust’s wider Link Forward service, which supports children and young people aged seven to 13 with their mental health.
What sets it apart is that parents can self-refer. Children who have not reached the threshold for referral by schools, GPs or social services can still access support early.
Southmead has higher-than-average mental health needs, with 24.5 per cent of residents experiencing poor mental wellbeing, according to Bristol City Council. Inside Out is designed to respond before those challenges intensify.
The team behind Inside Out – photo: Southmead Development Trust
Suzanne sees early intervention as essential to a functioning local mental health system.
“Early intervention is better, and prevention is even better. Supporting children earlier leads to better outcomes, happier childhoods, and it saves the system money because early interventions are more cost-effective than intensive secondary care.”
Vicky explains that self-referral broadens access.
“Often, parents self-refer because they’re worried their child is starting to struggle in school, withdrawing from things they enjoy, or not wanting to spend time with friends anymore.”
The impact of COVID has heightened the need for programmes like Inside Out. Vicky describes a new pathway targeting children who avoid school due to anxiety – a phenomenon known as emotionally based school avoidance.
Inside Out is short-term, early-intervention mental health service for children and young people – image: Inside Out
“COVID had a big impact, and we’re still seeing the repercussions,” Vicky says. “But if we intervene at the right time, outcomes can improve dramatically.
Where schools may lack the resources to respond fully, Vicky sees the Southmead Development Trust as occupying a “gap-filling space”.
Suzanne and Vicky become most animated when describing the weekly sessions. Groups of eight or nine children explore art, games, nature and practical crafts such as clay modelling.
Clay cow figurines produced by children during the programme – photo: Southmead Development Trust
Jen Lister, link worker, and Kate Martey, senior link worker, have designed the programme around psychoeducation, delivered in a tailored, child-friendly way.
Vicky said: “When we talk about stress, we use fizzy bottles to show how emotions build and release. Children can see and understand how pressure works.”
“Topics are spoken about through interactive games and creative activities, so it doesn’t feel like classroom learning.
“Children quickly realise they are not the only ones feeling a certain way. That understanding can be transformative.”
At its core, Suzanne believes the programme succeeds because it fills gaps in early intervention support.
“We give children the tools and skills to support their wellbeing long-term. If you learn at nine that being outside in nature helps you manage anxiety, that’s something you can carry for life.”
Inside Out also acts as a gateway to other services run by the Trust. Children who attend often return to Greenway and The Ranch for play sessions or youth activities, building confidence and strengthening their connection to the community.
Yet, like The Ranch and Southmead Youth Centre, Inside Out operates against a backdrop of public service cuts and stop-start funding. The question of longevity looms large.
Vicky, who spends much of her time seeking funding, is acutely aware of the challenge.
“We have limited capacity and resources, and our waiting list is already long,” Vicky explains.
“Funding is mixed and, honestly, quite scrappy. While we receive some NHS funding for Link Forward, much comes from grants. We piloted our first individual fundraising campaign before Christmas, but we are constantly seeking new funding streams.”
In Southmead, deprivation intensifies demand.
Vicky said: “Often, especially in some areas across north and west Bristol, children don’t have access to those opportunities because of cost.
“Capacity limits mean we’re not in every school, and we prioritise areas with higher deprivation because that’s where health inequalities are greatest.”
Despite the pressures, the team is driven by the impact they witness.
Plans are now underway to take Inside Out into schools across north Bristol, with trained youth workers delivering sessions in classrooms to support children struggling with anxiety or emotionally based school avoidance.
The goal is not to replace school provision but to strengthen it – embedding early intervention in familiar spaces and equipping more children with practical tools to manage their emotions.
For Suzanne and Vicky, the results are clear. Children leave with new skills, new friendships and growing confidence, sometimes expressing feelings they had previously struggled to articulate.
Recalling her favourite moment at work, Vicky fondly recounts: “One child said the guidance had made them so happy they could fly”.
Inside Out is quiet work, but it is the kind of support that can ripple across a child’s school, home and community life.
Maelo Manning is reporting on Southmead as part of Bristol24/7’s Community Reporters programme, aiming to amplify marginalised voices and communities often overlooked by mainstream media. This initiative is funded by our public, Better Business members and a grant from The Nisbets Trust.
Main photo: Southmead Development Trust
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