New Forest CAMHS mental health support worker Steph Stinton to abseil down Spinnaker Tower for Brighterway

A New Forest youth mental health advocate is hitting the heights in a fundraising challenge.

Steph Stinton will be abseiling down the 560ft tall Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth next month in support of Southern Health’s official charity Brighterway.

She is a passionate advocate for young people’s mental health and a member of the NHS New Forest Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) team.

“I see every day how hard young people are working to build themselves back up,” Steph said. “And it’s a privilege to be part of that. This challenge is just one way I can give back to the service and the young people who inspire me.

“I decided to be that voice that I never knew I needed when I was a teenager – that's what I'm trying to become,” she added. “So if I can do something like abseiling down the Spinnaker Tower to bring something back to CAMHS, I will.

After previously working in education, Steph is now a support time and recovery (Star) worker, helping people aged five to 18 develop their confidence and embed “therapeutic skills”.

“I always wanted to have a positive effect on the system, to make sure people could get the best treatment possible,” Steph explained.

“In my career in education, I couldn't do this directly because I wasn't at the front line helping children really build up their resilience, or deliver recovery focused learning – but now I can do this within my role as a Star worker and finally feel like I’m supporting young people in a way that will make a difference.”

Describing how overstretched NHS mental health services are, she added: “The change in waiting times stems from an already-overstretched service compounded by the backlog from Covid.

“We have young people who are waiting a very long time to be seen at times when they need support most. If we can improve support resources, we can extend the work we do further, for more children, quickly and effectively.”