Unfortunately, many teachers will not have time to read this article, and many more will feel uncomfortable about discussing its content. Poor health and wellbeing is becoming a major problem in education, and Teacher Support Network is trying its best to tackle it, partly by increasing awareness in publications like this.

Teacher Support Network is now taking on some of the toughest challenges in its 131-year history. As an independent charity for teachers, we have grown and adapted to the multifarious and rapidly changing needs of the teaching profession. The charity began as the Teacher Benevolent Fund in 1877 – providing a lifeline to teachers and their orphans in the days of shocking poverty and poor human rights. Thankfully the need for those services has diminished, but the charity still has vital work to do.

For over 20,000 teachers, college and university staff last year, Teacher Support Network was the link that they needed to vital counselling, coaching, information and financial services. All of these services are available to all teachers and lecturers – whether training, serving or retired – across the UK, regardless of union affiliation.

Our Teacher Support Line offers a free confidential 24-7 advice service to teachers. Qualified coaches and counsellors with a background in education are just one phone call away, and we also provide a range of services online. Our website – www.teachersupport.info – provides over 1500 fact-sheets – offering advice on everything from personal and work-related problems to budgeting tips and CV writing. The website also features regular news updates for teachers – available as free e-bulletins – as well as teacher consultations and Teacher Support Online – our free internet-based coaching service. In addition to these modern services, we still provide hundreds of grants and loans each year to those in need.

Our aim is to help teachers and lecturers to improve their wellbeing and effectiveness throughout their career and retirement. This is an ambitious aim that is increasingly challenging, but it is vital that we achieve it.

We all know that teaching is a progressively demanding profession, but the impact of these demands on teachers and those they teach are either underestimated or not appreciated at all. Pressure is taking its toll on teachers, and the effects of this are spreading through society.

In a survey of teachers that we carried out last year, over half of the respondents said that they had suffered from depression during the last 24 months. 70% had experienced anxiety, and nearly 90% had suffered from work-related stress. Overall, more than two-thirds had seen their physical health, work performance and personal life suffer as a result, and over a third had taken time off work to cope.

These results backed up data from our phone and online services. Most of the calls to Teacher Support Line had been on the issue of work-related stress, or similar concerns such as excess workload, appraisal/performance-related pay concerns, pupil behaviour and classroom management. There can be no doubt that these issues are causing real trouble for teachers today.

These issues form one part of a chain of events that could have a strangling effect on us all. Poor health and wellbeing in the staff room has ramifications that could spread out from school into society. Worklife Support – a sister organisation of Teacher Support Network – carried out advanced research which showed a clear relationship between teacher well-being and pupil academic performance. The conclusion is clear - if we agree that a good education is vital to the well-being of tomorrow’s society, we must improve the wellbeing of teachers today.

It is a tragedy when a child’s education is affected by an entirely preventable problem. It is equally tragic when someone leaves their profession simply because they haven’t been given the support they need and deserve. So what can we do to help?

Teacher Support Network will continue to deliver high quality services to support individual teachers, but organised change is also necessary to improve teacher wellbeing and, therefore, the educational experience of young people. Government is beginning to move in the right direction – with funding being multiplied for mental health and guidance on issues such as sickness absence anticipated - but much more can still be done. We have formed good relations with the likes of the Health and Safety Executive, and we will be working hard with stakeholders to bring about the change that teachers need.

At the same time, we will be energetically promoting and perfecting the services that we provide. We can stop teachers’ concerns from mounting into crises, but only if they know to use the following services. Please support and promote Teacher Support Network any way you can.

This article by Teacher Support Network chief executive Patrick Nash appeared in the latest edition of Improvement magazine, published by The Association of Professionals in Education and Children's Trusts.