by promocymru_admin | 26th Aug 2011

Meic has seen a steady increase in contacts from children and young people.

Between April and June, the Meic Helpline was contacted 1,726 times. There is a 20% increase in the numbers from the previous quarter, which shows that word about Meic is spreading. Whilst the majority of calls have been via the telephone, the Helpline has also received quite a number of instant messages and SMS texts. The most popular time to call Meic is in the evening, between 5.00pm and 8.00pm and the most common age group of callers is between 15 and 18 years old.

Meic adviser advocates have been dealing with a wide range of issues; from bullying to bereavement and relationships to rights. Meic staff have also been providing a range of advocacy support to their callers; from helping young people to self advocate to assisting with accessing formal advocacy services.

Earlier this month, Gavin Thomas, Helpline Coordinator, represented Meic at the National Eisteddod in Wrexham. The Maes was very busy despite the gloomy weather and Gavin braved the rain to meet with people from all over Wales and some as far afield as Australia. Those that knew of Meic were very enthusiastic and complimentary and those that didn’t…. do now!

As the universities prepare for their intake of new students, Meic staff will be out and about attending as many Freshers’ Fairs as they can during September and October.

For more information on the Meic project, contact Project Manager, Sian Pitman at sianp@meiccymru.org

Read about the Meic project here.