A CHARITY run campaign has been launched to support children struggling with mental health.

The campaign, Nobody is Normal, is being run by Childline, a service provided by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

It aims to help children understand that lacking confidence, feeling not good enough or that you don’t fit in, is a shared experience.

Developed with young people, the campaign features an animation of a young boy who is struggling with anxiety while desperately trying to appear ‘normal’.

It is said to remind young people that no matter how isolated they feel, they are not alone and Childline is here.

Childline Founder and Hampshire resident, Dame Esther Rantzen said: “The pandemic has cut children off from the reassurance many of them need.

|"When young people are facing mental health issues such as anxiety or depression or are struggling with eating disorders or self-harm, they often hide it from their parents and families.

"A lockdown intensifies stress in all our lives, and the Childline team know from past experience that it has made many children feel especially isolated.

“The Nobody is Normal campaign encourages any children feeling unable to discuss their anxiety and distress to reach out to Childline for support."

Since lockdown measures were first introduced Childline has delivered nearly 43,000 counselling sessions about mental and emotional health.

The number of contacts about body image, gender and sexuality also increased since the first national lockdown began at the end of March.

Childline’s volunteer counsellors are said to have heard from many children who, after being cut off from important support networks, shared that they were feeling isolated, anxious and insecure.

Childline is now encouraging children to not to suffer in silence and reach out for help through this new campaign.