My Mind News investigates the Tellmi app – the only 100% pre-moderated, anonymous peer support and psychoeducational app currently available. The app is aimed at children aged 11 years upwards to support their mental health.
What is Tellmi?
Tellmi was established in 2015 by co-founders and co-CEOs Dr. Suzi Godson and Dr. Kerstyn Comley. The pair believed that digital innovation was the only way to address the mental health crisis of young people.
This is incredibly important to them as parents who set about using their engineering and psychology skills to tackle this crisis. It is from these origins that Tellmi was born. Tellmi is a social enterprise whose mission is to –
“ensure we are always doing our best for young children we support.”
Take-up of Tellmi
Trusted by the NHS, Tellmi works with numerous schools, charities, local authorities, and corporates in the UK. The Tellmi app has won 16 awards and is now recognized as the most critical innovation in education by HundrED in Finland.
Last year, the founders of Tellmi represented British social enterprise at the Dubai Expo event.
How does the Tellmi app work?
The app is free for the end user and allows users to remain anonymous. It provides peer support from other users aged 11 years upwards.
Tellmi provides support 365 days a year and is age banded for each user – age bands comprise two years in each age category above and below until 18 years old. They are ensuring that the service is tailored to each user’s age. Users must log in with a pseudonym name and their date of birth.
The app is safe, and humans moderate all posts and replies made by users within 30 minutes before going live. Qualified counselors supervise each chat, and extra safeguarding is also in place. The app allows users to tailor their experience using a broad range of categories and can filter topics to a specific subject.
The uniqueness of the Tellmi app is that it allows young people to post their problems and receive support from others who show empathy or share similar experiences.
It also enables users to update each other on their progress, adding to the community-feeling aspect of the app. Notably, the app allows users to personalize their posts by hiding specific topics or to sort and categorize posts into three levels of sensitivity (mild, moderate, and everything) as an added protection feature for each user.
Sharing of artwork is encouraged on the app as it is a vital medium that allows young people to express their feelings.
The link here provides a one-minute guide that explains how the app works.
The Statistics and independent evaluation
Not only is Tellmi continuing to achieve its vital aim of prevention, but it is solidifying its unique and growing place in this underserved space with over 70,000 users to date. The app supports underserved groups in society, such as LGBT, those with disabilities, and children in social care.
In 2022, the Evidence-Based Unit at University College London and the Anna Freud Centre evaluated the Tellmi app independently.
Key takeaways from the nine hundred users found that –
- 82% agreed that Tellmi connects them to other people with similar problems;
- 79% feel less alone when they use the app;
- 78% believe it is easier to talk about difficult things anonymously on the Tellmi app;
- 72% of young people feel better when they use Tellmi: and
- 71% found new ways to help themselves.
Tellmi’s user statistics and the independent evaluation report are impressive and reinforce the importance of raising awareness of this app.
What is next for Tellmi?
Tellmi continues to grow awareness of the app through partnerships and its first-ever billboard advertising campaign in September 2022. In addition to these steps, they also have some novel projects underway, such as –
- Developing the Tellmi app for autistic children and young people in partnership with the Autism Research Centre and the Autism Centre for Excellence at the University of Cambridge;
- Specialist support for eating disorders with charity First Steps ED with the aim of providing early intervention and recovery support for young people aged 11 – 25; and
- Created and produced the Tellmi ‘Starting Secondary School’ booklet, which was delivered to every year seven student to schools they partner with. The booklet came from University College London and Cardiff University research, which explored the factors that predict what helps or hinders successful transitions to secondary school.
Speaking exclusivity to My Mind News, Emma French, the Growth Lead at Tellmi, advised that,
“Tellmi is delighted to be creating new partnerships and exploring new methods to further support children and young people across the UK. We are working with Greenwich, Leicestershire, and Somerset NHS and local schools to enhance the current service and offer a new service to young people to be another safe place to access much-needed support”.
In summary
There is no doubt that this app not only serves underrepresented young people in our community but also provides a unique solution and safe space that is helping to tackle the growing mental health crisis in our young people.
My Mind News urges its readers to share this article across their networks to help build awareness of this free, unique, vital app. Tellmi welcomes any organization to get in touch with them for further information. Contact emma@tellmi.help.
