SYEDA - South Yorkshire Eating Disorder Association Information and Referral Form 

Author:  Michelle Hinde                                            Michelle Hinde <MichelleH@syeda.org.uk>

Date Published: May 2025 

Date to Review: May 2028

SYEDA (SYEDA - South Yorkshire Eating Disorder Association) is an independent charity, originally established in 1996 by a group of people who were affected by eating disorders and who were concerned that they were not able to find helpful information, guidance and help when they needed it.

We provide non-judgemental support to people affected by eating disorders. This includes a range of eating problems.

We see people whose relationship with food, and maybe their body image, dominates their lives, and we help the people who care about them. Men, women, young and old, all access our services. You don’t have to look a particular way to get support from us. 

We provide treatment which may be one to one therapeutic and practical support for people experiencing eating disorders and for families and friends. We also facilitate support groups, and we deliver education and training sessions in schools, colleges, to professionals and the wider community.

We appreciate that eating disorders can have a devastating impact on the people who experience them, and on the people around them. We have a particular focus on prevention, by working with people who might be at risk of developing an eating disorder in order to help them to become more resilient. We also try to work with people who are experiencing eating disorders as early as possible into the illness to try to stop the eating disorder from becoming more severe.

We are able to offer assessments to:

●      Clients that meet the age range criteria (age 11+).

●      Clients experiencing difficulty with symptoms related to Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, OSFED/EDNOS, Anorexia or ARFID.  However a client does not need a diagnosis of an eating disorder to access our service.

●      Clients who are not at a severely low weight (ie with a BMI below 17.5 – please feel free to contact us if you are unsure this)

●      Carers and family members supporting someone with any type of eating disorder regardless of severity level with a GP registered in South Yorkshire.

In addition to the above we are unable to offer direct support to clients who:

●      Are at a severely low weight (BMI 17.5 or below) - in this case you need to visit your GP for a referral to Sheffield Eating Disorders Service

●      Are purging (self induced vomiting/laxative abuse) 5 times per week or more. - in this case you need to visit your GP for a referral to Sheffield Eating Disorders Service

●      Are excessively abusing alcohol/substances

●      Are experiencing severe mental health difficulties (Referrals would need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, to determine the suitability for accessing Eating Disorder treatment).

●      Have attempted to take their own life within the last 6 months, or are engaging in serious self-harm/risk taking behaviours.

●      Have received bariatric surgery within the last 6 weeks, or if they are still unable to eat a minimum of 3 solid meals per day. You must also be accessing your GP for monitoring and taking the recommended vitamins and minerals.

●      If it is determined at triage that the client would require more specialised support.

●      Do not have a GP registered in Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham or Doncaster.

ARFID offer:

Group work and or 121 for those presenting with ARFID type presentation up to the age of 25 years.  This offers psycho-ed around ARFID and then goal based work around how to increase confidence around food and variety/regularity, as per client need etc. 

Offer to carers in a group format, those who are caring for someone with ARFID (person with ARFID is aged up to 25), parents, partners, friends older siblings etc, a face to face offer over 4 weeks, attendance is through completing referral form.