Pause

*** Pause Drop in at Northfield closed today at 13:55 due to reaching capacity. We apologise for the inconvenience. Please check our calendar below for our other drop in times and locations***

 

Pause is a service delivered by The Children's Society, in partnership with Forward Thinking Birmingham:

 

 We provide access to immediate support & speak to an Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner.

We listen to you and help you find solutions. 

 There are no referrals or waiting lists - you choose when and how to use our service. 

 

“Need someone to talk to?

Struggling to cope with feelings?" 

Pause can help anyone under 25 years old who is registered with a Birmingham GP. 

Pause drop-ins happen at different places or 'Hubs' each day.

Each week, we publish the Pause drop-in dates, times and locations on this page. 

 Scroll down for our timetable, plus more info on how drop-in works & our hub locations.

How do I get help from Pause?

Image of the Pause Digbeth Hub

If you are under 25 and registered with a GP in Birmingham, you can receive support from Pause. Parents and carers of this group can also get support for their child or young person’s wellbeing.

 

Never used Pause before?

Please register via the link below, then come along to drop-in (check our timetable below).

Register for Pause here

 

Dropped in to Pause before?

No need to re-register - just drop-in for a session, check our timetable below.

 

Please Remember

We are not an emergency service – if there is any risk to life, please contact the emergency services.

Double-check we are open before setting off to drop-in, the website will be updated if we are forced to close.

We cannot offer sessions in the last 30 minutes of the drop-in but you are welcome to register and get some information on how the service works.

We update this page weekly. In unforeseen circumstances, we may need to close unexpectedly, we will update here as soon as practicable. 

Drop-in sessions are provided on a first-come, first-served basis. We cannot guarantee you will be offered a session if you drop in, as demand can be very high.

If you attend drop-in during school time, we can provide a letter to prove it was a legitimate absence.

Service Closed

  • Type Service Closed
  • Start 13 Oct 2025 11:00
  • End 13 Oct 2025 17:30

Details

Please note: We cannot offer sessions in the last 30 minutes of the drop-in but you are welcome to register and get some information on how the service works.

If you attend drop-in during education/work hours, we can provide you with a letter to prove to education or employers that you were accessing support and had a legitimate absence. Please ask staff for more info.

Meet at…

Pause, 21 Digbeth, B5 6BJ

How to use the Pause Drop-In calendar

We only publish two weeks of drop-in and events at a time, so if you can’t see any drop-in times for the week you are in, please check you are in the right month and year.

Once you click on a specific time or event on the calendar, scroll down to find the details.

Sometimes we close because we are at capacity or to manage risk. If this happens, we will add an update at the top of the page and also on the calendar.  Please remember to check the calendar before you set off so that you are aware of any last-minute changes.

Some of our service users told us that the table we had before was confusing, so we have developed this timetable which hopefully should be clearer. Please feel free to share any feedback with us pause@childrenssociety.org.uk

How to get to Pause's Digbeth Hub

Pause Digbeth Hub view from outside, doors open.

Our Digbeth Hub is in Birmingham City Centre.

A short walk from Birmingham New Street and the Bull Ring Shopping Centre. Our Digbeth Hub is on the High Street, which leads from the back of the Bull Ring and St Martin's Church down to the Digbeth area of the city centre.

Address - 21 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6BJ

Our Hub is opposite the Adagio Hotel, just before Digbeth Police Station. 

When we are open for drop-in the silver doors will be open and you can just walk in! 

How to get to Pause's Sparkbrook Hub

We operate from 2 spaces when in Sparkbrook, please check the timetable for which space we are in each day. 

External view of Sparkbrook Hub Location

Usually, we are first at Sparkbrook Community & Health Centre. 

Address - Sparkbrook Community & Health Centre, 34 Grantham Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham B11 1LU

More info on how to find this venue here:

Pause banner at Sparkbrook hubWe may be at Christ Church in the evening, directly opposite the Community & Health Centre. 

Address: Christ Church Sparkbrook, 32 Farm Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, B11 1LS. 

Again, please look out for the Pause banner at the entrance. 

You don't have to be from Sparkbrook to access this Hub, anyone under 25 years old with a Birmingham GP can drop in, and check the timetable for days and times our Sparkbrook Hub is open. 

The Church is directly across the road from Sparkbrook Health & Community Centre.

 

How to get to Pause’s Northfield Hub

Pause is excited to launch our new drop-in hub in the Northfield area of the city. 

You don't have to be from Northfield to access this Hub, anyone who is under 25 years old with a Birmingham GP can drop in and check the timetable for days and times Northfield Hub is open. 

We will be based at Frankley Plus Children’s Centre, 131 New St, Rubery, Birmingham B45 0EU.  

This location is accessible on the 61 bus route, plus there is some on-street parking close by.

How to get to Pause's Erdington Hub

Outside view of the Lakeside Children's Centre

We are excited to launch our new drop-in Hub in Erdington.

We will be based at Lakeside Family Hub, Lakes Road, Birmingham B237UH. 

You don't have to be from Erdington to access this Hub, anyone who is under 25 years old with a Birmingham GP can drop in, and check the timetable for days and times our Erdington Hub is open. 

This location is a short walk from the 16/16A and 907 bus routes. 

Pause Current Workshops & Events

Pause Current Workshops & Events

We are currently offering a range of workshops, designed to help you learn new skills and strategies to boost your wellbeing while having fun. Book your place. We will require you to register with Pause, if you have not already registered. 

Pause Wellbeing Workshops

Who can access Pause?

If you are under 25 and registered with a GP in Birmingham, you can receive support from Pause. We also provide support for parents and carers who are concerned about their child or young person’s wellbeing.

If you are under 14 we require a parent/carer to complete the registration with you and support you to come to a session, however, once you are here you can have space to speak on your own without your parent or carer.

We do not accept registrations completed by professionals. If you think our service may be suitable for young people you work with, please send them the link to this page and they can make the decision to register or not.

What if I struggle with forms/don't have access to the internet?

You can also register by leaving a message on our registration line: 020 784 14470 (Please note local call charges apply), one of the team will call you back and get you signed up for support.

We are led by you – the young person - we don’t book you in for regular sessions. It’s your choice when you contact us for support and how often – we are here when you want to talk.

How old do you need to be to get support from Pause without a parent/carer?

You can access Pause without a parent or carer if you are 14 years old or over. This means you can come to drop in or request a phone or video call without an adult if you want to. However, we ask you to provide an emergency contact who we will contact if we are worried you are at risk of harm.  

What can Pause help with?

Anything relating to emotional wellbeing.

But what is emotional well-being? In simple terms, it is emotional health & happiness. 

When we are emotionally healthy we:

  • Function in society, whether that is at school, college, uni or at work, or when we are with friends and family;
  • Cope with life’s challenges by drawing on our strengths;
  • Understand and manage our emotions, expressing them in appropriate ways;
  • Accept ourselves and show acceptance of others.

Our aim is to help you boost your resilience as well as develop coping skills for when life presents challenges.

Our team is made up of experienced wellbeing practitioners & wellbeing volunteers who will take the time to listen to whatever it is that is troubling you.

Pause can:

  • We can recommend strategies and techniques that aim to make life easier – for example, how to manage a panic attack, how to improve sleep or how best to communicate with family and friends etc.
  • We will give practical suggestions and advice – this might be suggesting you look at a website or contact another service.
  • We can provide a listening ear if you have something you want to get off your chest.

Pause won't:

  • assess or diagnose any conditions.
  • automatically make referrals to other services.
  • necessarily have to tell anyone that you have spoken to Pause. (There may be times when we feel we need to speak to other people, services or agencies. We will try and speak to you about this before we do.)

Pause's Drop-in Operating Hours

Our service operates 5 days a week, from Monday to Saturday. We are open every other Monday and every other Saturday.
We are closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays. See our timetable above for when drop-in is open this week, we update our timetable weekly.

Quick Links

  1. Pause hubs
  2. Crisis Team
  3. Make a referral
  4. Latest News