Mr. John Church:

We saw an increase in issues around anxiety, stress and tension such as we would normally see, but it was definitely more pronounced during Covid. The issues were particularly around violence in the home and domestic abuse. We were in close contact with Women's Aid over that period as well. What Women's Aid was listening to by way of its services on the adult side was being mirrored on our side for children. Covid played havoc with children's emotions. They were missing their friends. There was significant isolation and feelings of isolation and anxiety about being repeatedly being taken away from their day-to-day model of life and routine. The disruption in routine and the affects of that became a huge part of our conversations with children by way of the telephone in particular.

Many of the children who contacted us, in particular during Covid, did not do so to get a diagnosis and nor do we seek to diagnose. They are only children. At the end of the day, they were telling us how they felt. Our job is to listen and try to help them cope. Our epicentre is somewhere between 11 and 15 or perhaps 13 and 16 years of age. At that stage of life, many children do not know what is going on in their lives. All they can do is talk about how they feel, which is very good.