A further £7.7 million has been announced by Welsh Government to provide mental health support for three more years through a free online tool.

SilverCloud Wales is a free online therapy service designed to help people who experience mild to moderate anxiety, depression, or stress, manage their wellbeing and mental health.

A pilot scheme was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and there are plans for additional services such as digital therapy for young people aged 11 and over.

More than 23,000 people accessed SilverCloud Health's mental health programmes and 64% reported positive outcomes following self-referral.

Lynne Neagle, deputy minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, said: "Mental Health affects people in different ways and we want to offer a range of resources to help people, those with low-level mental health needs can hugely benefit from using SilverCloud.

"The service is available 24/7 and no referral is needed. Feedback we have received has shown that people felt SilverCloud really helped them through a time where they needed a bit of support, and I am pleased we are now expanding the services offered."

As well as being an online self-help service, SilverCloud Wales is backed up and supported by a team of psychologists and online cognitive behavioural therapy coordinators.

It has the benefits of both being an 'access from home' service as well as a professionally led one.

Ken Cahill, CEO of SilverCloud Health, added: "SilverCloud Health is proud to be helping NHS Wales to help people across the country get the mental health support they need at this time.

"With 18 years of research behind us, our programmes, designed by clinical psychologists have high success rates to support their effectiveness. Every person helped is a success story as far as we are concerned."