A YOUTH charity is reaching out to youngsters to give them an outlet to share their thoughts during the coronavirus lockdown.

Zac's Youth Bars in Bolton runs events and activities and one-to-one sessions for young people.

The Market Street organisation has had to postpone its sessions to comply with the Government's social distancing rules.

But the charity is relaunching its listening service to give young people in the borough with low level mental health difficulties, from the age of 10 to 18, the opportunity to speak to someone.

The reintroduction of the service comes after it was reported calls to the NSPCC’s Childline services shot up as youngsters shared their concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bolton News:

Community engagement officer Tracey Wilkinson said: "I am not surprised the number of calls to Childline is rocketing up with what is going on.

"There are going to be young people suffering from anxiety that have never suffered from it before and they might not know the symptoms.

"It is extremely important that we stay connected with our young people.

"They need us more than ever at the moment.

"It is about staying connected with them and giving them the support that they really need."

Providing a social group for youngsters has been vital to Zac's Youth Bars success and now they are using different platforms to stay in touch.

Tracey said: "Our usual youth provision came grinding to a halt but since then we have started to get back up connected through Zoom and Facebook.

"We are also planning on getting video calls up and running.

“We are thinking of new creative ways such as quizzes and we are having a comedy night with Tony Vino, which will be done remotely.

"It is about engaging with them while they are at home.

"We want to keep them active and their brains ticking over."

The listening service is available for young people to call from 9am to 5pm and voice messages can also be left outside of these hours.

Parents and guardians are also advised to look out for any signs that children may need some help.

To contact the listening service referral line contact 07726 128915 or email listening@zacsyouthbar.co.uk.

People can send messages to the charity via Facebook too.