The Holding Collective

The Holding Collective was set-up by us – Katy and Claire – in November 2017 as the result of many discussions over several years about adult and child mental health. The current landscape, several reports and our own experience gave us a sense of urgency.

As it is becoming more widely acknowledged across society that mental health or ‘mind health’ is as important as physical health, we’re specifically focused on children.

We both firmly believe that enabling early intervention in a school setting through the provision of a joined hand, in-house therapeutic service is a ‘no-brainer’.

Acknowledging and supporting the emotional needs of children can positively impact the whole of their lives. It’s absolutely essential to the healthy emotional wellbeing of young people and the adults they develop into.

 

Katy Whitney

Katy trained as an adult counsellor and has been working therapeutically with children and families for over ten years. During her training as a Humanistic Counsellor, Katy specialised in working with adults affected by bereavement and completed three years as an honorary counsellor within the NHS.

Katy currently works across several schools – including Primary & Secondary special needs – as Pastoral Care and Safeguarding Lead where she is responsible for developing therapeutic, pastoral and safeguarding interventions.

Katy is a sought-after mental health expert, advising schools on therapeutic services and as Strategic Partner with Haringey. She most recently delivered a lecture to over 300 professionals at The Royal Society of Medicine’s 16th Medical Innovations Summit which provides a twice-yearly worldwide platform for the presentation and discussion of inspirational ideas and developments in the field of medicine and healthcare.

Katy’s next speaking engagement on the therapeutic services model is at the Mental Health in Schools Conference 29 June 2018 in Birmingham.

 

Claire Bardner

Claire is a charity professional, moving into the Third Sector after a successful career in marketing, becoming an award-winning inventor and social entrepreneur.

Claire has evaluated and developed strategy for War Child UK’s schools programme and was Network Development Officer at the Association of Charitable Organisations supporting benevolent funds who give grants and financial support to individuals in need.

Claire is now on a mission with Katy to promote and embed therapeutic services in UK schools. She has extensive experience in CYP mental health and has particular interest in NPD, domestic abuse/ coercive control and trauma. Claire is also working with Katy on a project to develop pioneering Zero Suicide PSHE resources for schools.

 

If you're interested in CYPMH we hope you find these reports as insightful as we have.

The Holding Collective is not-for-profit and is in the process of applying to become a Registered Charity regulated by the Charity Commission. We are now seeking funding from individuals and organisations who share our ethos and passion for investing in children’s emotional wellbeing. If you would like to fund any aspect of our work or are interested to discuss this further, please contact us: katy@theholdingcollective.com

If you have any questions or are interested to know more, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at katy@theholdingcollective.com