A charity is urging families with children aged 4 to 18 to join two informative workshops on mental health this month.

Family Centre will partner with the Bermuda Hospitals Board’s child and adolescent services unit for the free sessions as part of Mental Health Awareness month.

The first, on May 20, will focus on anxiety, with depression the topic of the second workshop on May 27.

The sessions from 6pm to 7.15pm will be held at Family Centre’s headquarters in Sunshine League House on King Street, Pembroke.

Each starts with a dinner from 5.30pm.

Cherise Carey, a Family Centre counsellor, will lead the discussions on anxiety while Carla Bean, a clinical psychologist at the BHB, will speak on depression.

Peter Yates, a BHB child psychologist, will take questions about medication for anxiety or depression.

Family Centre said research on the island’s adolescent mental health, carried out by Daniel Cavanagh of the University of Melbourne in partnership with the BHB, showed adolescent anxiety and depression up 5 to 6 per cent on post-pandemic global averages.

Susan Richardson, director of counselling services at Family Centre, said parents and guardians would get crucial information, including warning signs and strategies to support children through mental health challenges.

Dr Yates said both organisations aimed to create “a supportive environment where families feel empowered to address mental health concerns and foster resilience in their children”.

Workshops are free, but the charity said it would accept $10 per family to cover diner costs.

Participants can sign up online at tfc.bm/family-groups or by calling 232-1116 for details.