New professional mental health roles have been created to help children in Bury and the rest of Greater Manchester get early support in schools and colleges.

The practitioners will provide early support to children experiencing emotional and behavioural difficulties such as worry or low mood in school.

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Abbie Boylin, 25, works in a school in Bury and got a MSc in psychology from the University of Manchester.

She said: “I currently work in a primary school and a college in Bury supporting children and teenagers with their mental health.

“This is through both one-to-one and group support with young people or their parents. I also run mental health workshops.

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“I had friends who struggled with their mental health in high school and at the time none of us knew where to get help.

“I now know how important early intervention is and I’m passionate about making mental health support more accessible.”

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Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health support teams in Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside schools, has recruited 40 trainee educational mental health practitioners over the past three years.