£11m awarded to support youth mental health projects across UK
Earlier this year UK Youth, working in partnership with the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, launched Thriving Minds, an ambitious fund for projects that improve mental health support and provision for young people through youth work. Projects will be supported for three years, both with funds and a tailored package of extra support including workshops, training and by building communities of best practice. The initial £10m pot provided by Julia and Hans Rausing has been boosted by an additional £1m from the Westminster Foundation.
The UK Youth Thriving Minds fund is open to charities or not-for-profit organisations in the UK with an annual income of less than £500,000, whose primary purpose is supporting children and young people aged 8-25. The fund received more than 1,000 applications worth over £30m a year.
Some 99 successful organisations have secured grants worth £2.6m a year, ranging from £15,000 for Boys and Girls Clubs in Belfast to fund a youth worker post that will coordinate mental health support in 25 youth organisations across Northern Ireland, to a £50,000 to M13 in Manchester. Bright Star Boxing Academy in Shifnal are awarded £15,000 a year to fund a number of 12-week ‘Counterpunch’ sessions across Shropshire designed to help young people understand their mental health and improve their wellbeing through coaching, mentoring and physical activity. Aik Saath – Together As One in Slough, a charity established in response to gang violence between young people from Asian backgrounds, which will also receive £35,000 a year to for its BOOST project that helps young people with mental health problems build resilience.
In July 2020, the prevalence of mental health problems in 5-22 year olds went up to one in six, up from one in nine in 2017. This comes at a time when support for young people is suffering. Children are waiting up to three years for access to mental health care in some parts of the UK. In the last decade more than 4,500 youth work jobs and 760 youth centres have closed, as over £1bn funding has been cut from the sector.
UK Youth hope to support new youth worker posts across a whole spectrum of different projects through Thriving Minds. A recent report by UK Youth and Young Minds found that 87 per cent of ‘trusted adults’ – often youth workers – working with under 25s in the community, frequently support young people with their mental health but feel underequipped to do so Thriving Minds will support projects with workshops, training and by building communities of best practice.
Ndidi Okezie, Chief Executive of UK Youth said: “We are delighted to be able to fund these incredible youth organisations. We know the number of young people needing support from a youth worker are only going to raise as we face the biggest cost of living crisis in a generation. Youth workers within these incredible organisations are in a unique position, they can spot the signs that a young person is struggling and can support them to open up and seek help if they need it. UK Youth are delighted to be able to help fund almost 100 organisations across the UK improving support for young people over the next three years through their incredible work with young people.”
Julia and Hans Rausing commented: “Our congratulations to all those awarded support through Thriving Minds. We are delighted to be funding this programme, which will help so many fantastic small youth organisations to make a difference to young peoples’ lives across the UK. At a time of increased mental health challenges faced by young people, it is more important than ever to invest in high quality youth work within local communities.”
13 June 2022