There are at least 850,000 children in the UK with a diagnosed mental health condition and the figure may well be rising.

Yet 75% do not receive the support they are entitled to and need. We are, albeit unwittingly, condemning thousands of the country's most vulnerable children to years of distress and lost opportunities. Why?

On the one hand, many mental health services for children and young people are underdeveloped and often underfunded.

But there's another key problem. Many healthcare professionals, teachers, police, volunteers and others who come into contact with them, do not know what a mental health condition looks like or how to approach the issue.