Mental health: Workers appeal for unit despite NHS budget cuts

Cambridge Young People's Service has helped thousands of young people with mental health problems over the past 33 years. But Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trusts have decided to close the service this autumn, saying it has to "live within its means".

Staff have responded by setting up a charitable foundation to establish a 170,000 fundraising appeal to preserve the service.

Dr Shankarnarayan Srinath, a consultant psychiatrist who is chairing the Cambridge YPS Appeal charity, said: "Twenty-six per cent of the population in Cambridge are aged 16 to 25 compared with the national average of 11 per cent, so it will be all the more tragic if this unit has to close. It is a short-term measure, which in the long term will be more expensive."