A PHONE app created to help young people struggling with anxiety and a support team helping children and their families in Oxfordshire have been shortlisted for prestigious awards.

Both part of Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust the services have been selected as finalists in the 2019 National Mental Health Awards. Outreach Service for Children and Adolescents (OSCA) provides a mental health treatment service for children, young people and their families in Oxfordshire.

BlueIce, meanwhile, is a prescribed smartphone app designed to help young people manage negative emotions and periods of extreme anxiety.

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It is designed to be used alongside traditional face-to-face therapies and was developed by Oxford Health's Professor Paul Stallard in conjunction with patient groups.

Vanessa Odlin, joint service director for Oxfordshire mental health services at the trust, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that OSCA and BlueIce have been shortlisted.

"Each, in their own unique way, demonstrate how our fantastic teams deliver care, and put young people at the centre of everything we do."

The national awards each year celebrate people and services working in mental health.

The finals will take place on World Mental Health Day – Thursday, October 10.