Arts Therapies for Children marks decade of showing up for struggling youngsters

What was once a small grassroots initiative is now a fully-fledged operation across London’s network of Jewish primary schools, as well as a handful in Manchester and Hertfordshire.

In their first year, ATFC supported 27 children. Now, with 32 therapists on their books, they were able to support more than 250 children across 38 Jewish primary schools last year.

More than 350 people gathered in central London this week to mark the ten-year milestone, raising more than £200,000 at an unprecedentedly crucial time for children’s mental health in the UK.

A recent report from the government’s children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said that in the 2024/25 period, there were more than one million children in England referred to mental health services, equivalent to one in every ten in the country.

That is a 10 per cent increase on the previous year and nearly double the number in 2018/19.

And over a third of the children were still waiting for treatment, with more than 60,000 waiting more than two years for help, according to the report.

“Childhood does not pause while the waiting list is catching up,” said ATFC’s CEO Natasha Ainley.

Natasha Ainley (photo: Rafe Igbi)[Missing Credit]

In her speech, Morgan pointed out that those numbers are not abstract, and that they affect the Jewish community as much as anyone else.

“The challenges facing children aren’t happening somewhere else – they are here, in our community,” she said.

“When children are hurting, they don’t always have the words to tell us – but that doesn’t mean they aren’t struggling. If adults struggle to ask for help, how can we expect children to explain abuse grief, trauma or fear?”

The charity works collaboratively with primary schools, with sessions delivered in the schools, during term time.

Wolfson Hillel headteacher Alex Kingston, who has experience with ATFC both in her school and as the parent of a child supported by the charity, told guests in an emotive speech that “behind every behaviour is a feeling, and behind every feeling is a need”.

“Behaviour is communication,” she continued. “When a child is struggling, the question is not: ‘What’s wrong with you?’ – the question is: ‘What happened to you?’ and: ‘How can we help?’”

Two children who had been supported by the charity also bravely took to the stage at the dinner.

Nathan, 10, said that “art has helped me to express myself when I didn’t know how to” and that it “makes hard days easier”.

He added: “After I started art therapy, I had someone to talk to with no judgment and no corrections,” he continued. “I could let everything out – happiness, sadness, and even anger.”

And Leah, 18, laid out how ATFC had helped her through her parents’ divorce back in 2017.

She said her therapist had “never pushed me to talk before I was ready – she met me where I was. It’s all out there in that room; it’s not in me anymore.”

“Sometimes a paintbrush speaks before a child can,” Ainley added.

Leah Levi with her mother, Elda (photo: Rafe Igbi)timeless moments

Speaking about the charity’s beginnings, Ainley said: “The problem was not whether therapy worked [but] was how to access it”.

She said their therapists “create safety, build trust, help children express emotions they can’t put into words… and remind [them] they are not alone. We have become more than a therapy provider… we have become a lifeline.”

The funds raised were in part through a raffle and silent auction, with prizes including a luxury hotel stay in Brussels and an in-home dining experience with a Nobu chef.

To find out more about Arts Therapies for Children, click here.