What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm

Kids Inspire

Mental health charity providing trauma recovery support for children, young people, and families. To find out more please visit www.kidsinspire.org.uk

Kids Inspire empowers children, young people and families to make positive change. The Essex-based charity provides support for recovery from traumatic experiences and help to deal with emerging mental health difficulties. Bespoke plans of treatment are created for each service user, often inclusive of parallel family support, with the aim of promoting greater self-awareness and positive relations

hips. The teamwork creatively to encourage body/mind reconnection, focusing on the strengths of the child and family to build and nurture sustainable resilience.

02/09/2026

Thank you to Dilly for one of our first Prom Unity 2027 donations 💙

Her beautiful prom dress is helping us get ready for another year of making prom more accessible for local young people.

We're now accepting donations throughout September and would love to hear from anyone with new and preloved:

• dresses (especially sizes 14+, with the greatest need for sizes 16-22)
• suits
• shoes (boys', girls' and unisex)
• accessories, including bags and jewellery

If you'd like to donate, simply drop your items off at our Chelmsford HQ during opening hours:

Hargrave House, Great Baddow, Essex, CM2 7FW

Monday: 9am to 6pm
Tuesday to Thursday: 9am to 5pm
Friday: 9am to 4pm

Every donation helps give prom outfits a new chapter. Over the past three years, Prom Unity has helped almost 200 young people attending their prom or leavers' ball.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]

01/09/2026

Thinking about volunteer mentoring? Our next two-day training is the 10 and 11 October! ✨

You can help a young person feel seen and supported with time, patience, and a willingness to listen. When their world feels upside down, having someone show up each week can make a real difference.

Families often tell us how important mentoring has been in their child’s journey.

If you'd like to be part of that for young people in your community, we're especially looking for people to volunteer in these Essex and Suffolk local authority areas:

- Basildon
- Castle Point
- Harlow
- Ipswich (Suffolk)
- Rochford
- Tendring

Get in touch about our upcoming training by sending us a message or emailing [email protected]!

27/08/2026

Prime Minister, Andy Burnham's recent words, shared alongside the announcement of increased investment in community mental health support, stayed with us.

In particular, his point about supporting young people, rather than criticising them.

At Kids Inspire, we see every day why that matters. When children and young people are struggling, what we see on the surface is only one part of the story.

For almost 20 years, we've been supporting children, young people and families through some of life's most difficult challenges. We know that early support doesn't just help in the moment, it can shape what comes next for a child.

Every day, we see young people grow in confidence, build resilience and discover that they are never alone.

That's why we continue to champion early specialist intervention. Children and families should be able to access the help they need, when they need it most.

We hear it all the time from adults: "I wish something like Kids Inspire had been there when I was growing up."

While we can't rewrite their story, we can help change the story for children and families who need support today.💙

26/08/2026

That’s a wrap on our summer Holiday Clubs! ✨

These weekly activities are about so much more than keeping children busy during the school holidays. They provide a safe space to have fun, make connections, try new things and just be themselves. Seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter throughout the summer has been really special.

To round off this summer's activities, our final two weeks ended the summer on a high. Children explored different countries and cultures from around the world, put their skills to the test with some circus fun, and finally enjoyed Beach School Explorers, which brought the coast to our Chelmsford HQ and inspired children (and adults!) to connect with the ocean and learn more about how we can protect it. 🌊

A huge thank you to the amazing teams from Gallagher and Utilize, who volunteered with us over the last two weeks alongside our fantastic regular volunteers.

We'll be back for October half term... and yes, plans are already underway behind the scenes! 🤩

25/08/2026

Starting a new school year can feel exciting for some… and daunting for others 💙

Every child responds to change differently, it brings a mix of emotions - new routines, classmates, and leaving what’s familiar. It’s normal for children and families to feel nervous.

Here are some gentle ways to support a child as they settle in:

- encourage small steps towards independence
- give space to share through talking, drawing, or writing
- look out for changes in mood, sleep, or behaviour
- practise routines: mornings, journeys, school days
- talk about worries and positives together

Small, everyday actions can make a big difference. With patience and support, children will find their way. 🫶

21/08/2026

We’re talking Christmas already… and we need your help! 🎄

We’re planning ahead for our Christmas Appeal and taking part in the Big Give Christmas Campaign again this year – but we can’t do it without our amazing community.

We're asking for pledges of £100 or more from individuals and businesses to help us reach our target of £4,250 by 11pm on Sunday 6 September. We're so close to our goal, and your support could help get us over the line.

These pledges will be matched during the campaign in December (1–8), bringing Christmas presents and food hampers to families who need us most. Last year we wrapped and delivered 4,025, and over 600 food hampers.

Here’s how it works✨:

- A pledge is a promise - no money is paid now
- Your pledge will be matched during the campaign in December (every donation is doubled!)
- Your pledge will then be collected after the campaign has ended in December

Fill in the form to make your pledge: https://community.biggive.org/s/pledge?campaignId=a05WS00000G9HlBYAV

We know not everyone can give right now - and that’s okay. Just spreading the word can make a big difference too. 💙

20/08/2026

Today is GCSE Results Day, and we know it can bring a mix of emotions for young people and the adults supporting them.

We asked some of our mentors, ambassadors and trustees to look back on what they thought their future would look like at 16-18.

One thing quickly became clear: very few people had everything figured out.
The words "I had no idea" came up again and again.
And that's okay.

- Dan felt their exam results were a verdict on their future. They weren't, and the years that followed proved it.

- Deborah didn't get the grades she needed the first time around, but what felt like a setback became an opportunity to pause, refocus and find her own path forward.

- Martyn thought he might become a police officer, before life took them in an entirely different direction.

- Paul remembers how a single conversation with someone who believed in them helped set them on a path they could never have predicted.

- And finally Oliver believes that not knowing what they wanted to do at 18 turned out to be one of their greatest advantages.

Their stories are shaped by unexpected opportunities, setbacks, changes in direction and lessons learnt along the way. They are a reminder that life rarely follows a straight line.

For the adults around them, perhaps that's the most important message of all: young people don't need to have everything figured out. It's enough to focus on the next step that feels right for them.

A path doesn't have to be straight to lead somewhere wonderful. 💙

Find all of their stories and reflections in our latest blog: https://www.kidsinspire.org.uk/blog/results-day-stories

19/08/2026

A year ago today, we were filming The Coat at Great Baddow High School... 🎥

One of two filming days, this day brought together:

• 18 cast members (young people and adults)
• 1 filmmaker, our volunteer mentor Adam
• 3 film crew
• 8 Kids Inspire staff and volunteer mentors (including two mentors who had cameo roles as teaching staff!)

Plus, we worked with The Drama Centre, Mushroom Theatre Company, Jigsaw Performing Arts School Chelmsford and Jigsaw Performing Arts School Brentwood, with support from The Offshoot Foundation, and the generosity of uniform shops Personalise Ltd and Schoolwear Plus, who provided ties and blazers. We were also fuelled by local caterer Allison, alongside a few extra helping hands from family members too.

This film would never have been possible without everyone who gifted their time, talents and resources to make something special. Volunteers supported every stage of the project, from planning, chaperoning and production support to costume design and helping on set across both filming days.

Since then, The Coat has been released to the world, making it even more special to look back at these behind-the-scenes moments from the day it all came together.

Above all, we are so proud of the incredible young people who threw themselves into this project. Their energy and talent blew us away, and we're still in awe of how amazing they are. 💙

17/08/2026

Behind every behaviour is a nervous system trying to survive.

Perhaps the most important question isn't:

"What's wrong with this child?"

It's:

"What experience might this child need next?"

Delivered by Sue Bell, OBE, Integrative Arts Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Somatic Relational Psychotherapist.

Drawing on nearly 30 years of clinical practice, together with attachment theory, developmental neuroscience and NeuroAffective Touch®, Sue will share a different way of understanding children's behaviour through:

• real life stories
• case studies
• experiential exercises
• practical tools

Whether you work with children professionally or are supporting them as a parent or carer, you'll leave with greater confidence, a deeper understanding of behaviour, and practical ideas you can begin using straight away.

Join us next month to explore a compassionate, neuroscience and trauma informed approach to understanding behaviour. 💙

Book tickets: https://www.kidsinspire.org.uk/trauma-responsive-training/helping-children-regulate-september

14/08/2026

The ultimate day of science experiments and LEGO at this week's Holiday Club🧪

The morning was packed with discovery as the children became scientists for the day, erupting volcanoes, creating colourful rainbows, and putting their astronaut skills to the test.

In the afternoon, Young Engineers got everyone building. The children worked together on LEGO challenges, solving problems and creating their own moving tow trucks and fidget spinners.

And another week, another brilliant group of volunteers gifting their time to get involved. It's clear the adults enjoyed the experiments as much as the kids! Thank you, we couldn't do it without you. 💙

Address

Hargrave House
Chelmsford
CM27FW

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+441245348707

Website

http://www.kidsinspire.org.uk/

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