Parents and agencies

We are here to help young people aged between 13 and 25 with practical problems and emotional support.

Many young people self-refer but we also take referrals from parents, schools, GP surgeries and other statutory and non-statutory organisations working with young people.

Using our services

We encourage young people to get in touch with us directly but if you are concerned about your son or daughter and they are aged between 13 and 25 you are welcome to get in touch with us to see how we might help.

We try to make it as easy as possible for everyone to engage with our services so we don’t use complicated referral forms.

You can get in touch by using the contact box at the bottom of the service most relevant to their needs – choose which service you think will help from the options below. If we are unable to help we will do our best to point you towards other suitable services.

Please note

We are service for young people and the young person’s needs are paramount.

The work we do with young people is confidential.  This means we will not share any information with you or any other third party agency without their permission. The only exception is if we think that someone is at risk, in which case we have a legal duty to report it.

We are not therapeutic counsellors but our staff have appropriate training and make use of many counselling approaches and strategies in their work with young people.

The team are part-time and our resources are limited so we may not be able to help immediately.

We reserve the right to stop working with any young person who regularly fails to attend sessions or positively engage with us.

Emergencies

In the case of emergency please always call 999 or seek support through Childline – phone 0800 1111 (for young people) or the Samaritans – phone 116 123.

Free resource

If you are a parent or carer of a young person who is struggling with anxiety, you may be interested in this booklet that was produced by a group of young people to give insight into what it feels like to have anxiety.

We are a charity and while we make no charge for services (except learning services for under 16s) we rely on the generosity of our community to provide support for young people. Please support us if you can by making a financial donation.

Referrals

We encourage self-referrals from young people but welcome referrals from professionals. We try to make it as easy as possible for everyone to engage with our services and so don’t use complicated referral forms.

You can get in touch by either phoning us directly or via the contact box in the relevant service section – choose from the options below.

Professionals meetings

We often work with young people who fail to engage with statutory agencies and subject to staff availability and resourcing can attend professionals’ meetings including contextual safeguarding meetings.  However, this may not always be possible as our team is part-time and as a charity our funding is limited.

Please note

We will not share confidential information about our clients without their permission. The exception is of course if we think that someone is at risk, in which case we have a legal duty to report it.

We are not therapeutic counsellors but our team has appropriate training and makes use of many counselling approaches and strategies in their work with young people.

We do not take direct requests for in-school support from teachers – school referrals should be managed by the school’s SENCO or pastoral care department.

What we can help with

The Rendezvous have been there for me every step of the way, seeing me at my weakest and at my strongest, not once giving up on me when I could have given up on myself

In your area

We can give you the help and support you need wherever you live in Dorset or Somerset. We also have special projects running in a number of towns, including our base in Sherborne.