Hillcrest Hayling Island have come up with a fantastic new initiative to help comfort children at night time

Hayling Island have started a new initiative to help some of the young people settle before going to sleep at night time.

Hayling Island, which is run by Hillcrest and is part of Outcomes First Group, offers children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties a caring, structured, and homely environment.

The idea behind the Worry Monster is that children write down or draw a picture of what’s upsetting them and put it into the toy’s mouth, which is then zipped shut — banishing their worries.

This has proven to be a really successful technique with the children we support, helping them to open up and relax before bed time.

Acting Home Manager, Jodie Parker said: “We felt introducing a Worry Monster was a fantastic way for children to confide in and talk about any worries that they may have, whilst also helping them to relax and reduce any negative feelings before going to sleep.

“Already there has been such positive results and we would recommend any parent or carer to use this initiative!”