About us
Who we are
Helping students thrive
Valley Trust is a professional, school-based counselling service. For over four decades, we’ve supported children and young people across Surrey and surrounding counties. Our counsellors provide a safe, trusted space for pupils to talk about their worries, overcome challenges, and flourish in school and beyond.
Core Values
Compassion
Listening without judgment, always putting children first.
Safeguarding
We work with schools to protect and support every child.
Professionalism
Accredited counsellors you can rely on.
Partnership
Working hand-in-hand with schools and families.
Key Stats
10,000+ hours
of 1:1 counselling delivered
3 to 24
hours per school, per week
30,000 + students
total population of the schools we work in
Academic Year 2025 to 2026
What we do
Professional
counselling services
in schools
Our counsellors work within schools to provide confidential, one-to-one sessions for children and young people. By tackling issues early, we help reduce barriers to learning and give students the tools to cope, grow, and succeed.
Our practitioners typically work with those students whose mental health needs are too complex for the low intensity school based support but who do not meet the threshold for Children and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) care.
Issues We Commonly Support
Anxiety. Persistent low mood, stress and panic
Disabling distress
Emotional eating, unhealthy body image and dissatisfaction
Low self-worth, loneliness, or bullying
Bereavement and loss
Our Approach
School-based
Sessions take place in a safe environment and familiar school setting.
Supervised and supported
Every counsellor is part of a professional network with individual clinical oversight.
Our strategy
Looking forward with care and clarity
Valley Trust’s strategy is simple: to expand access to safe, professional counselling for children and young people, while strengthening the support we provide to counsellors and school staff.
Core Values
For the future
50% of all lifetime mental health conditions are fully established by the age of 14 (World Health Organisation) We know that the best mental health outcomes happen when we engage professional counsellors to build a seamless, supportive bridge between education, professional therapy and the young person’s daily life.
For Schools & Staff
We act as an extension of your pastoral team, offering clear communication and multi-agency collaboration. We anchor everything we do in robust safeguarding, clinical integrity, and clear, transparent boundaries.
For Students
No judgement, no labels, a confidential safe space to choose how to express your experiences, thoughts and feelings.
For Practitioners
Well structured professional support network and a secure, ethically sound clinical space – one that values your expertise and gives the freedom to practice creatively in developmentally appropriate ways.
UK Children’s Mental Health Charities: A History
Valley Trust was the inspiration of one man, Bruce Pearce, who in 1985 experienced an event that was to change hundreds of lives:
1884
The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) was founded, making the beginning of organised child welfare in the UK. It become the first charity focused on protecting children from abuse and neglect.
1891
Children North East was established, one of the UK’s oldest children’s charities. By 1941, Anna Freud opened the Hampstead War Nurseries, pioneering child psychoanalysis and laying groundwork for modern children’s mental health therapy.
1941
The arrival of the NHS created a pivotal fracture: mental health support for children was split between NHS clinical services and education systems, creating two parallel tracks that would shape the sector for decades.
1948
The 1970s saw a major expansion of the therapy toolkit for children. In 1985, the Valley Trust was established. In 1986, Childline launched as the UK’s first free helpline for children in danger or distress, receiving 50,000 calls in its first week.
1986
YoungMinds was founded in 1993, becoming the UK’s leading charity fighting for children’s mental health. In 1994, Place2Be began providing school-based counselling. By 1995, CAMHS introduced its four-tier model of specialist care.
1993
The NSPCC and Childline merged, combining forces to expand reach. In 2009, Kooth launched as a pioneering digital mental health platform for young people. In 2010, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition (CYPMHC) was formed.
2006
Children’s Mental Health Week was launched in 2015 by Place2Be, raising national awareness. The 2020 Fund the Hubs campaign pushed for community-based mental health hubs. By 2024–2026, trauma-informed and early intervention programmes are reshaping care.
Today
Today, UK children’s mental health charities are at the forefront of early intervention, digital outreach, and school-based support. From the NSPCC’s founding in 1884 to modern trauma programmes, over 140 years of advocacy continues to shape young lives.