Thank you, London

THE Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the crisis in mental health amongst our young people.

That is why, at the start of this year, the Evening Standard launched the Young London SOS campaign, following an investigation that revealed an additional 500,000 children would require mental health support in 2021, on top of the one in six children identified by the NHS as already experiencing a serious mental health disorder.

Thanks to our readers and corporate donors, the appeal has raised almost £250,000 to deploy the counselling services of our campaign partner, Place2Be, across 10 schools. The money is going to an urgent and vital cause. Tom Raymond, principal of Oasis Academy Arena, a secondary school in Croydon where 67 per cent of the 525 students are on free school meals, said the pandemic has had “a very significant impact” on pupils’ lives.

The funds his school receives will help it to expand its Place2Be support to two days a week, enabling 50 pupils to receive one-to-one counselling over the course of a year. We are immensely grateful to everyone who made this all possible. Our paper and city have a proud history of campaigning to right social wrongs, and we were delighted this month when the Society of Editors awarded us with Campaign of the Year for our Food For London Now campaign, which raised more than £10 million to feed the nations poorest and most vulnerable. Thank you again to all our readers, donors and volunteers who made this possible. Our great city would not be what it is without you.