The following is an item from Hafal’s Big Lottery-funded Young People’s Information Hub. To access the Hub please visit: http://www.hafal.org/hafal/yp_index.php.
An additional £100,000 of Welsh Government funding has been allocated to the young persons’ advice service ‘Meic’.
The money was made available by Deputy Minister for Children and Social Services Gwenda Thomas AM in response to growing demands upon the advocacy and advice helpline.
Since the helpline went 24/7 in January 2011, 8,734 children and young people have contacted ‘Meic’. The service has struggled to cope with this high level of demand and increasing complexity in certain cases. The extra funds will be fed into the ‘Meic’ service to address these issues between now and 2013.
Commenting on the extra funding Health and Social Services Minister Lesley Griffiths AM said: “Meic provides advice and advocacy to young people and this money will help the service to continue making a real difference to young lives.
“Young people clearly recognise this is a service to which they can turn when experiencing difficulties, and in that sense it can be seen as victim of its own success.
“I am pleased to see the Welsh Government taking the long view and showing an ongoing commitment to advocacy and support for young people across Wales.”
For more information on Meic please visit: www.meiccymru.org/