DROP-in cafes for young people suffering from mental health problems will be set up under a new scheme.

A shake-up of children and young people's mental health services in Warrington has seen the establishment of the Mind Works project.

The scheme will allow young people to speak with a trained mental health professional in an informal setting in order to receive assessments, advice and signposting to support services.

Tania Woods, clinical lead for children and adolescent mental health services at North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Following national recommendations that the NHS and other local providers should work together to provide mental health services that meet young people's needs, we have worked closely with young people and our partners to develop a new model which addresses these recommendations and is much more responsive to the needs of the young people who use our services.

"We are confident that by working together with our local partners across the whole system we can provide better, joined-up care for young people with mental health needs and their families - to support them to have positive health and wellbeing."

Drop-in mental health cafes will take place weekly at Orford Youth Base on Mondays from 3.30pm to 6pm and Wednesdays from 4pm to 5pm, as well as at the Warrington Youth Cafe on Tuesdays between 12pm and 1pm and from 5pm to 6pm on Wednesdays.

Claire Hammill, commissioning manager for children and young people's mental health at NHS Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "We are proud to have developed this new service through co-design with children, young people, parents, carers, mental health staff and colleagues across health, education and care.

"By doing so, we have given children and young people more control over how they access services based on their feedback and enabled informal access to early support - together with streamlining their journey into and through the rest of the service if needed.

"As part of the new way of working, we have also worked with local schools to support teachers to recognise mental health issues and to enable - where necessary - the offer of earlier support.

"We hope the new services goes from strength to strength as it develops and improves over the coming year so that children and young people have the best outcomes that they can."

Further developments will be introduced in the coming year as North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust pledges to work in a 'more joined-up way' with organisations including Warrington Borough Council, schools and third sector providers.

Cllr Jean Carter, the council's executive board member for children's services, added: "Nationally, nearly half of our children are unable to access the children and adolescent's mental health services care they need to help recover.

"At the same time, schools are facing huge challenges in dealing with mental health issues due to the impact of pressures such as social media, online bullying, anxiety about exams and family problems.

"That means there has never been a better time for us to adopt a whole-family and multi-agency approach in Warrington.

"These services and this approach are vital for the welfare and safeguarding of our children and young people.

"We want to make sure that in Warrington children and young people have the right support when they need it."