A PIONEERING service will open its doors today to give through-the-night urgent mental health support to some of the district’s most vulnerable under 18s.

The safer space project’s location in a residential area is being kept discreet, but it will open 365 days a year from 10pm to 10am and will be run by compassionate staff.

It means those in crisis assessed by Bradford District Care Trust’s First Response crisis support team will be able to avoid going to A&E and potentially involving other agencies such as the police.

Referrals to the new under 18s service can be made by the young people themselves, families or health and care workers.

The service is being funded by NHS England as a pilot programme which could be rolled out across the rest of West Yorkshire,

To start off, the space will only take in two to three people at a time but will eventually accommodate up to five, said Simon Long, interim deputy director of mental health acute and community services at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust.

It will be reviewed with the help of young users’ feedback in April. If it works well, a second phase might be introduced to give after-school hours support until 10pm.

Mr Long said: “We have listened to what children and young people want and our services have been designed with them in mind. Mental and emotional wellbeing is an essential part of all our health, particular during the early years.”

It is hoped the service will help its users identify trigger points to stop escalation to future crisis.

The project follows this year’s opening of two adult support schemes, The Haven based at the Cellar Trust in Shipley which runs from 10am to 6pm, and the Sanctuary which takes over from it from 6pm to 11pm at Mind in Bradford.

The Care Trust’s First Response team, who carry out assessments for all three of the schemes, can be reached on 01274 221181.

Tomorrow, a Bradford Council committee will hear there are 8,500 children aged between five and 15 with diagnosable mental health disorders in Bradford, equating to between two and three children in each secondary school class.

The figure could rise to up to 17,000 if lower level emotional or behavioural difficulties are taken into account.

They will also hear how some young people have to wait up to ten weeks to see the adolescent mental health service.