EXCHANGE The voluntary and community youth sector in dialogue
Spring 2013 Issue 16
Young People and Mental Health News: Strategic Partnerships NCVYS Strategy Summary Active Citizens Policy: The case for investment in mental health Articles by: Youth Access Mental Health Foundation/ Paul Hamlyn Foundation We Have A Voice YoungMinds The Cabinet Office Diana Award ...and many more!
Caring for young minds
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Contents NCVYS news p04
EDITORIAL
Network news p05 Member news
p06
Opinion: Youth Report p07 Policy update and analysis
p08
ENVOY update
p09
Right Here, Right Now
p10
Connections and Communications p12 Ideas bank
p13
‘Depression? It’s the least of my problems’
p14
YoungMinds – what’s stopping you?
p15
National Citizen Service – It All Starts At Yes!
p16
Workforce development update
p17
Meet the Chief Executive: Tessy Ojo, Diana Award
p18
Heads up
p19
Welcome to Issue 16 of Exchange magazine
The theme of this edition of Exchange is Young People and Mental Health In the foreword for the Mental Health Foundation’s publication The Fundamental Facts, the Guardian’s David Brindle writes: ‘Mental health presents one of the greatest challenges that current and future generations will face. In health, economic and social terms, the burden created by mental health problems and mental illness in the UK is immense and growing. ... We need to find out how to turn the tide or future generations will be still further affected by mental health.’ The statistics are sobering. Over the last 25 years, the number of teenagers with depression has increased by a massive 70%; the British Medical Association have estimated that 1.1 million children under the age of 18 would benefit from specialist mental health services; and, at any point in time, up to 45,000 young people suffer with a severe mental health issue. As an overall figure, the charity Young Minds report that 11.5%, or 510,000 young people aged between 11–16 have a mental disorder, while support and treatment inexplicably remains low. Historically perceived as taboo in society, frank and open discussions about mental health still aren’t yet promoted as they should be, leaving many people feeling frightened and alone. Young people are especially vulnerable and can often be reluctant in seeking advice or help. If left unsupported, the impact on a young person can be terrible. And yet, thankfully there are organisations out there fighting for our young people. There is hope. People who are working to ensure that emotional well-being in children and young people isn’t ignored. People who do what they can to provide the right help, at the right time. This issue of Exchange will concentrate on those who strive to support young people struggling with mental health issues; organisations, movements and collectives who view healthy minds as of equal importance to healthy bodies. Sadly, this is also the last issue of Exchange that I’ll be working on as I leave NCVYS at the end of April. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on the magazine and wish to thank all of our contributors over the last 18 months who’ve written, advised, and supported us. And then there’s the NCVYS editorial team, without whose efforts Exchange just wouldn’t be the same – thank you! As ever, we welcome contributions from our members for our next issue of Exchange, so if you’ve got news or ideas for an article, get in touch with us by emailing press@ncvys.org.uk Enjoy the read, Rob Candy Editor
NCVYS NEWS Changes at NCVYS
Active Citizens
From April 2013 our business model is changing, and we will place a much greater emphasis on joint ventures. With much of our Government funding coming to an end in March, the existing formal consortia arrangements, such as Catalyst, will come to an end too. However, we are pleased that our partnership with the organisations we worked with are evolving rather than dissolving.
Active Citizens is a British Council programme designed to explore cultural awareness, citizenship and social action. Since November 2012 NCVYS has been delivering the programme, working with inspiring 18-25 year-olds and training them around issues including identity, culture and communication in communities, through discussion, reflection and creative activities. They are now putting their learning into action.
Evolution inevitably involves changes to the NCVYS staff team, so we have said good-bye to some of those colleagues who worked on initiatives that came to an end in March. However, some of these colleagues may still work with NCVYS as associates. Once our plans for new services, projects and consortia arrangements have been developed further, we will also be looking to recruit. Our core services remain, particularly in the areas of policy and representation, and you will therefore continue to receive key information including the weekly SIS bulletin. Some existing staff have moved into new positions and you can find full contact details for our staffing team on the NCVYS website: http://www.ncvys.org.uk/Who_we_are.html#staff
NCVYS appointed as leading government strategic partner on young people’s health In an announcement in April, the Department of Health named the 21 strategic partners that together form the Health and Care Voluntary Sector Strategic Partner Programme for 2013/14. NCVYS is delighted to announce that we are among those named and have been appointed to lead the Young People’s Health Partnership, a seven-strong consortium of youth organisations and networks.
If there is an enquiry we can help you with please either contact the appropriate staff member, or use our central email address mail@ncvys.org.uk.
http://ncvys.org.uk/blogs.php?act=view_topic&id=323 04
Back Britain’s Charities
NCVYS are backing a campaign from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), who have teamed together to launch a new public campaign called Back Britain’s Charities. The campaign is a response to figures in the 2012 UK Giving report, which revealed a 20% fall in donations to charity over the past year. The campaign calls on the public, businesses and the Government to stand together and lend their backing to Britain’s charities so that they continue their vital work – serving good causes and making a difference in communities across Britain.
We are currently liaising with the Department of Health to agree a work programme and more details will follow in the coming weeks. If you have any immediate questions about the partnership please contact Faiza Khan: Faiza@ncvys.org.uk
NCVYS Chief Executive Susanne Rauprich has received her honorary OBE from Education Secretary Michael Gove in recognition of her commitment to young people. Susanne said: “This award should encourage all those who believe that voluntary and community youth services are central to young people’s lives - they need championing by central government and supportive local councils in order to flourish.” Susanne took the opportunity to ask the Education Secretary to commit to spending time listening to young people about their current concerns.
http://www.ncvys.org.uk/Active_Citizens.html
NCVYS Strategy Summary 2012 – 2015
Other partners in the consortium include Addaction, the Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH), Brook, CLIC Sargent, Street Games and Youth Access. Together we have strong networks and links to front line professionals and young people as service users right across England.
Honorary OBE for NCVYS Chief Executive Susanne Rauprich
One NCVYS Active Citizen, Adam Reeves, is currently working with We Have A Voice on a social action project looking at the coming out process for people that have Autism, ADHD or mental health conditions. The project is currently taking shape and will hopefully be ready by the end of May 2013. The aim of the project is to provide a resource for young people who are exploring their sexuality and professionals supporting them. If you have any questions about the project please contact adam.reeves@canterbury.ac.uk
Written to pull out the headline points from our in-depth organisational strategy, this summary presents an easy-to-read overview of who we are, where we’re going, and how we plan to get there as an organisation. You can read the document on our website: http://tiny.cc/StratSum
Many people’s lives are touched by charities – and we know that the British public continue to contribute generously to good causes when they can. But in tough economic times we have seen many charities’ income squeezed and this fall in donations comes on top of cuts to public spending, increasing demand for the services charities provide and rising costs. Many charities across Britain now face an uncertain future. Britain benefits from a diverse and vibrant civil society. It is vital that action is taken now to boost those organisations that contribute so much to good causes here and abroad. You can sign-up for free and lend your support to charities by signing up here: http://backbritainscharities.org.uk/ back-the-campaign @backingcharity #backingcharity Every additional supporter bolsters the voice of our charities.
NETWORK NEWS Addressing the policy deficit Youth Access is working to address long-standing failures in policy-making, planning and practice related to young people’s mental health. The overly bureaucratic and medicalised service models provided through statutory mental health services have a lamentable record in meeting the needs of young people. Young adults have been let down particularly badly, often falling through the gaps between services for children and adults. Despite recent efforts to reform services and substantial cuts to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and AMHS (Adult Mental Health Services), there remains huge scope to achieve better value for the money that continues to be invested. Youth Access is very vocal in arguing for a step change in young people’s access to age-appropriate, young person-friendly mental health services that take a holistic delivery approach. Barbara Rayment, Youth Access’ Director, is the current Chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition (CYPMHC), which brings together leading charities to campaign with and on behalf of children and young people in relation to their mental health and wellbeing. Youth Access is also involved in a range of national initiatives aimed at improving young people’s mental health services, such as The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme, the BOND Consortium and the development of outcome tools for youth counselling services.
Under One Roof It is now widely recognised that mental health is closely linked with many other factors, such as physical health, unemployment, low income and housing. Youth Access supports a national network of 170 local Youth Information, Advice, Counselling and Support (YIACS) services that offer young people and commissioners a joined-up early intervention and prevention model that is proven to be both effective and cost-effective.
The YIACS model Open to all young people, YIACS offer a universal access point to targeted and specialist services, supporting young people with over a million often inter-related problems each year, including: • mental and emotional health (e.g. depression, self-harm, low self-esteem, stress) • wider personal and health issues (e.g. relationships, sexual health, drugs and alcohol, healthy eating) • social welfare issues (e.g. benefits, housing, debt and employment) • practical issues (e.g. careers, money management, independent living skills). Through interventions such as counselling and other psychological therapies, advice and advocacy, health clinics, community education and personal support, YIACS offer a unique ‘under one roof’ combination of early intervention, prevention and crisis intervention for young people. Youth Access provides the training, resources, research, campaigning and other infrastructure support to ensure high quality services exist to meet young people’s diverse needs.
“NPC estimates that collectively YIACS see approximately 44,000 young people a week in England…. to get this range of support from the statutory sector a young person would typically have to access two or three different services. YIACS provide a ‘one stop shop’ and young people like being able to access a range of services in this way”. – New Philanthropy Capital.
Joined-up commissioning It is vital, however, that mental health policy, planning and delivery does not develop in a silo. Youth Access believes that with local authorities and the NHS being forced to find huge savings in their budgets, the only viable solution is for local planners and commissioners to come together across youth, public health, housing and social care boundaries to reconfigure poorly performing statutory services and jointly commission the early intervention advice, counselling and support services vulnerable young people need. Youth Access has some funding to work with local youth organisations and commissioners to achieve this kind of joined-up planning. For further information, please contact James Kenrick at James@youthaccess.org.uk.
GP Champions for Youth Health This is a three-year project funded by the Department of Health and run by the Association for Young People’s Health in co-ordination with the Royal College of GPs Adolescent Health Group and Youth Access. Its aim is to transform the delivery of health services for young people through jointworking between GP practices and voluntary youth organisations. The project is being piloted in 10 areas: Washington (Tyne & Wear); Sheffield; Manchester/Salford; East London; South London; Sussex; Southampton; Cornwall; Bristol; and Liverpool. For further information, please contact Amandeep Hothi at Amandeep@youthaccess.org.uk
The role of advice services in mental health Youth Access has recently published robust and compelling research demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of social welfare advice as a mental health intervention for young people. Around two-thirds of young people presenting at youth advice agencies for help with housing, benefit and debt problems were found to have scores on a standardised mental health scale that met or exceeded common cutoff points for cases of mental illness. Forty-five per cent had experienced problems with their mental or physical health as a direct result of their social welfare problems, with many making avoidable visits to their GP. A typical advice intervention in a youth advice setting costs under £100, after which 70 per cent of young people report improvements in their mental and/or physical health. The analysis indicates that the resulting savings in GP costs alone are likely to exceed the cost of the advice intervention. The full research report and a briefing aimed at local commissioners is available at: http://youthaccess.org.uk/publications
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MEMBER NEWS 17-year-olds in custody Mentoring
The High Court has ruled that young people aged 17 who were taken into police custody should be treated as children rather than as adults. This would ensure that the parents were informed of the arrest and that the young person received the support of an appropriate adult to help them through the legal process. The judicial review was brought by Just for Kids Law.
The Diana Award has launched a new Mentoring Scheme to support Award Holders with their community projects. For the first time they are able to able to offer mentoring to non Award Holders and particularly want to help disadvantaged young people. They are particularly interested in signing up mentees from low income families, young carers and those at risk from exclusion.
http://tiny.cc/JFKL2
Self-harm ChildLine, YouthNet, YoungMinds and the website selfharm.co.uk have released new figures on selfharm. They show increasing numbers of children are self-harming, with ever younger children being affected by the issue. ChildLine says that it has seen a 167% increase in people getting in touch about the problem over two years. It adds that children as young as 10 are calling helplines to say they have self-harmed. http://tiny.cc/Self-harm
Teenage Relationship Abuse The Teenage Relationship Abuse campaign will re-run from February through to April 2013. The campaign is targeted at 13-18 year old boys and girls and aims to prevent teenagers from becoming victims and perpetrators of abusive relationships. It encourages teenagers to re-think their views of violence, abuse and controlling behaviour in relationships. A Campaign Brief with background information and details on how partners can order support materials is available. http://thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/
http://tiny.cc/DAmentoring
Mest Up Project
Depaul Box Company
The Mest Up Project (Mediation Education Support Team Umbrella Programme) is a project run by 16-21 year old members of Woodcraft Folk to improve young members’ mental health through peer education. Every year, hundreds of young members are given access to engaging workshops on gender, sexuality, identity, consent, eating disorders, mood and anxiety disorders and much more. Mest Up’s guiding principle is always non-heirarchical education. It doesn’t advise or counsel young people, it provides no more and no less than a lot of information and a safe space to talk, think and share. The project is sustained by an everimproving and always dynamic team of young people who are regularly trained to support their friends and peers in a field where education and information is often missing. Mest Up works in many ways, from workshops on cross-dressing, bulimia or sex toys to having people on duty at all times on residentials to talk to when a young person is tired, stressed or just wants a digestive and a cuppa.
The Depaul Box Company will sell boxes to people moving house. The new company will donate all profits to Depaul UK, which raises funds to support young homeless people, by asking people to buy a product they would already plan to buy, rather than trying to solicit donations. Publicis has designed the boxes, which feature line illustrations telling the stories of young homeless people, to raise awareness of Depaul UK’s work; “The launch of The Depaul Box Company flips that association to a positive one. No one should have to make a cardboard box their home. Buying our cardboard boxes will ensure nobody has to.” The Depaul Box Company will sell boxes priced at £30 per pack of 10, £40 for a pack of 20 and £60 for a pack of 30. http://depaulbox.co.uk
Mest Up will be delivering training to youth workers of any age on how to teach sex education healthily within a youth organisation this Autumn, including on LGBTQ+ issues, gender, consent and sexual identity. Contact mestup@spanthatworld.com for more information on getting involved. http://www.spanthatworld.com/projects/mest-up
Send in your member news We are always on the lookout for stories and news about our membership. If you have a story that you would like to share with our network of almost 300 members and the readership of Exchange, please contact the Exchange editor via press@ncvys.org.uk
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OPINION
Youth report – a new venture from NCVYS to support smarter solutions for young people Our young people are having a tougher time than ever. We all know that the statistics point to poorer outcomes for our young people than any other part of our social demographic – yet as youth organisations are we more concerned with turning the curve for our young people or profiling our own organisations? As the economic climate continues to hit our services and the young people we serve it is perhaps natural to buckle down and look inward at our own organisations. Yet while we focus on short term survival we risk missing part of the bigger picture. As you may have heard from the Secretary of State for Education recently, youth policy is not seen as a priority for central government (http://www.parliamentlive. tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=12362&st=10:10:00). This clearly demonstrates the urgent need to use better intelligence in making the case for prioritising young people. Youth organisations have a wealth of evidence on how young people are faring. As a sector we are uniquely positioned to know the challenges young people face as well as the positive difference they can make to their communities when given the chance. Yet despite being evidence rich at the frontline, the youth sector struggles to coordinate intelligence in a way that powerfully articulates why we as a nation should invest in young people at times of austerity.
In response to this challenge, NCVYS has spent time exploring how organisations could work together to make better use of their intelligence and how that intelligence could be used to empower youth organisations to work in more effective ways. After nine months of discussions we are launching Youth Report, an intelligence hub focused on young people. Youth Report will be the go to place for anyone whose job it is to design, plan or commission investment or services for young people. Most importantly it will provide a mechanism for experts to work together, finding strength and influence in numbers, so we can address the issues that hinder us from making the arguments needed for better investment in young people. Youth Report will offer evidence-based solutions that break boundaries and present a true picture of what is happening to our young people today.
Calling experts Youth Report is ambitious – nothing else will do for young people at this time. To realise our ambitions, we are inviting expert youth organisations to be partners to Youth Report, both by co-investing in this new venture and by sharing their intelligence. NCVYS is looking for between 10 and 20 organisations who want to lead evidence hubs that focus on a particular policy or practice area. As co-investing partners, organisations will gain lead status for their priority area and will guide others in developing solutions. Spaces for partners are limited – if you are interested in working with us on this venture please contact our Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy and Communications, Faiza Chaudary, at Faiza@ncvys.org.uk as soon as possible to register your interest. 07
Policy Analysis
Policy Update
The case for investment in mental health
NCVYS consultation responses
As major changes take place to our health and social care system, it is vital that mental health is given parity of esteem with physical health.
NCVYS continues to submit consultation responses in order to inform and influence policy that impacts on young people and the voluntary sector at a local, regional and national level.
So argued Paul Burstow MP in a Telegraph article in March. The former Minister at the Department of Health is now Chairing a Commission on Mental Health set up by the think-tank CentreForum. Burstow is also calling for the new, GP-led clinical commissioning groups to act on the economic case for investment in mental health when they decide local spending priorities. He praises the Time to Change anti-stigma campaign, which has committed £400 million to make psychological therapies available for adults of all ages – the latest evaluation of the programme has found significant reduction in discrimination.
With Community Matters we published a response to the Ministry of Justice consultation on Transforming Rehabilitation. We welcomed the clear commitment to holistic, ‘through the gate’ provision and the recognition of the key role of the VCSE Sector in the effective rehabilitation and resettlement of offenders. However we expressed concern about the capability of large-scale commissioning and results-focused models for reducing reoffending.
Yet there is much to be done to support young people. Time to Change statistics show that a quarter of young people with mental health problems say the stigma attached to their illness has made them want to “give up on life”. A 2012 report from the London School of Economics found that three quarters of the 700,000 children with problem behaviours, anxiety or depression were receiving no treatment. It called for better training for GPs and increased access to talking therapies in order to tackle inadequacies in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). These inadequacies have been exacerbated by cuts. YoungMinds have found that staff working in children and young people’s mental health are very concerned about the effect of financial cuts on their services, with 77% of CAMHS staff reporting a cut in their 2012/2013 budget and 66% reporting that quality of care had been affected because of cuts of budget changes. Dedicated support services are crucial; research by the Right Here project in Brighton and Hove [see page 10 and 11] found half of young people in the area would not feel comfortable talking to their GP about emotional or mental health issues. There is also concern, detailed in a report from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England, that young people feel unable to complain about poor quality health services for fear of receiving inadequate treatment as a result. Mental health is a prominent issue for many young offenders: health and justice services must work together to ensure that young people caught up in the criminal justice system get the right support. A recent IARS study also found that underlying mental health issues in young women in custody can go unnoticed and undiagnosed by police officers, with research participants often victims of abuse and violence, suffering symptoms of depression and with a history of self-harming. It is hoped that a new Independent Commission on Mental Health and Policing, chaired by Lord Adebowale, will look closely at young people’s concerns. There have been some positive developments in 2013 – the new Mental Health (Discrimination) Act ends automatic blocks on those receiving regular treatment for any mental health disorder from sitting on a jury and from continuing to work as a company director, and repeals a law which automatically removed an MP from their seat if they have been sectioned for more than six months. With the cost to England’s economy of mental ill health thought to be over £100 billion a year, progress on the issue must continue.
Our response to the Department for Education’s discussion paper on Traineeships noted that NCVYS members already provide huge amounts of support to young people to help them develop their skills and confidence and prepare them for Apprenticeships and employment. We called for the Government to put the sector at the heart of their proposals, make pastoral support integral and ensure employers are supportive and have the skills to work with young people. Our joint response with Community Matters to the Department for Education’s Consultation on Reforming Key Stage 4 Qualifications called for recognition of informal as well as formal learning achievements within the core curriculum for young people. It challenged the lack of reference to the role of the VCSE sector in providing educational support to young people. If you would like to inform NCVYS’s responses, please contact Dom Weinberg, Policy Manager E: dominic@ncvys.org.uk
Briefing papers NCVYS has published a briefing on Welfare Reform, updating a previous briefing with new details and further analysis of the potential impact of the Universal Credit. It also has information on the impact of the Welfare Reform Act on the Housing Benefit system. Our briefing on Youth justice includes details of the current state of affairs for youth offending and youth justice bodies, the implications of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, as well as information on education, funding, transitions and resettlement. We have also published a briefing on the Elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). It includes details of those who signed up to NCVYS’s Youth Charter for Police and Crime Commissioners and the Howard League for Penal Reform’s U R Boss pledge. Catalyst partners Social Enterprise UK have published briefings on Preparing for the Social Value Act – providing background information on the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and giving practical tips to VCSEs – and Social investment: an overview of the landscape for VCSEs in the youth sector – providing an introduction to the social investment landscape for youth sector voluntary and community organisations and social enterprises. The National Youth Agency has published The relationship between local authorities and the voluntary and community sector: a snapshot of the youth sector, which draws on knowledge gained from NYA’s work with forty local authorities in 2011/12. On behalf of the Department for Education’s Overarching Strategic Partnership, NCVYS also held a number of events to support those working in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector with children, young people and families. We held a commissioning roundtable in the South West, supported a Welfare Reform conference in the East of England and supported a Health and Wellbeing event in the North West. Notes and briefing papers from the events are available on the events section of our website. To find copies of our consultations, briefing and policy papers mentioned in this article, please take a look at the Influencing Policy pages of our website: http://www.ncvys.org.uk/influencing.html
08
Envoy Youth participation matters in mental health
New Young Facilitators
Mental health is one of the services that can slip through the net when thinking about youth work but as we love a good bit of youth participation practice the charity “Student-Run Self-Help” was right up our street.
Since the last edition of Exchange, four new Young Facilitators have begun at NCVYS to work on the ever-dynamic Young Partners Project. Joshua, Louis, and Chloe are continuing on from last year in the West Midlands, London and East of England Regions respectively, while Rachel’s time working on Young Partners is sadly drawing to a close.
They were set up in 2009 to tackle mental health problems for students. When we asked them why they chose to be student-run, they explained: “Student-run is not a unique concept, but in the field of mental health it is somewhat rare to hear of projects run by students for students. We believe that peer-to-peer support for mental health is fundamentally important for breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health. The ethos of our charity is all about saying that talking changes lives and we believe that, with the right support, everyone has the ears to listen! We facilitate a national network of support groups. Each of our groups is run by students, for students.” The charity has been running since 2009 with successful projects such as “How to Save a Life”. Nicola, the founding director told us a bit about it: “The project worked with eight young people who had personal experience of eating disorders, to support them to share their stories of recovery for a student audience. These events were incredibly successful. Part of that success came from the honesty of the young people and the open dialogue that could be achieved when speaker and audience are on the same footing.” Nicola explained that when dealing with mental health issues that are student-run, the charity’s responsibility in workshops is “to ensure that the student speakers feel confident about the event and feel supported. We set ground rules and boundaries to ensure that conversation is supportive and never triggering.” See more at www.srsh.co.uk
So now, meet the new ones: Sakib (South East) was a National Envoy Member before joining the staff team and he loves cooking! He reads a lot and got involved with youth work through Aik Saath, who promote peace and equality. Saskia (South West) has been a trustee and a volunteer youth worker over several years. Nothing can deter her from going on camps – not even subzero temperatures! Emma (East Midlands) has family from Bombay, Goa and Kenya but she grew up in the UK and she studied Creative Expressive Therapies in Derby. Emma is interested in using arts as a tool for communication and development. Matt (North West) has set up his own Social Enterprise in Liverpool. He has lived in places such as Mumbai and the Amazon and likes teaching drumming to young people, which gets noisy!
Young Partners Award is getting even better For some years now, the Young Partners Award (YPA) has rewarded organisations that excel in youth participation with a grant, publicity and the chance to showcase their work at NCVYS events throughout the year. However 2013 will see the ENVOY team push the YPA further than ever before by moving from region-based competition to categories based on organisations’ fields of work. We are now taking nominations for Community Action, Environment, Arts and Culture, Media, Health and Wellbeing and Social Enterprise organisations.
Young Facilitators at the YPA 2012
Young Partners Award 2012
This shift in focus means that we can celebrate youth participation within the context of each organisation’s unique work. Best-practice sharing by our winners will be made more relevant to organisations across our membership as a result. One Young Facilitator, Saskia, said: “It’s exciting to see the Young Partners Award develop so that we can properly celebrate the diversity of ways in which youth participation can be life-changing.” This means that ENVOY will be able to get much more out of it too. Once the nomination period closes on 16 May, ENVOY Members will focus on the area that best suits their interests, develops their experience and makes the most of their knowledge and experience. Although the Awards are changing, the key parts aren’t: • the YPA will remain a competitive, respected award that enables its winners to attract funding, partnerships and a wider audience • winners will still be publicised by NCVYS, as well as being able to share best practice within their work at NCVYS events • most importantly, the YPA will continue to be run and judged by young people, putting into practice the Youth Participation principles that we celebrate.
Summer Residential ENVOY is looking forward to what promises to be a memorable summer: this year’s residential will include training, team building and much, much more. It will take place from 25 to 28 July involving ENVOY members from across the country. Previous residentials have boosted participants’ skills and confidence, and many young people leave having made friendships, memories and been inspired by the possibilities of young people. This year will be every bit as exciting. To find out more email: envoy@ncvys.org.uk
Find out more about ENVOY: http://www.ncvysenvoy.co.uk/
09
Young people design new mental health services in youth settings
RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW
Over the last three years young people aged 16-25 have been given the exciting opportunity to work with youth workers and mental health professionals to design, commission and deliver their own early intervention mental health services through the national Right Here initiative. Run in four pilot projects across the UK, the Right Here project is specifically hosted by youth organisations. Its premise was the idea that vulnerable young people should be involved in designing services in order to make them more attractive and efficient in supporting young people’s mental health at an earlier stage. ‘The group was first of all about the participation side but it’s developed into a lot more than that. It’s as supportive a group as possible though it’s not a support group. But we gain from sharing our experiences.’ – Young people’s panel member, Right Here Sheffield Right Here National Champions share decision-making
The issue Data on children and adolescents aged between 5 and 16 has shown that as many as one in ten has a clinically recognisable mental health problem. It is estimated that one in 15 of 11- to 25-year-olds self-harm, usually by cutting. Alcohol and drug misuse among young people have been identified as a cause for concern, partly because of associated mental health risks. Data on adults has shown that one in six has a mental health problem, with depression and anxiety being the most common problems.
The impact of mental health problems on young people There are many potential impacts, including poor educational achievement, disruption to family life and increased risks of becoming homeless, being unemployed and developing physical health problems. In addition, more young people in prison have mental health problems than adults and young men aged 15 to 17 in prison were found to be 18 times more likely to commit suicide than men of the same age in the general population. Stigma and discrimination have been found to be major problems for people with mental health problems; they can help to impede recovery, make symptoms worse and stop people from getting help when they need it. One of the main issues for vulnerable young people is that they are not currently accessing help early on
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because of stigma and services not being youthfriendly or attractive. As a result their mental health issues can become entrenched and lead them to access services only when reaching crisis point, which is what Right Here is aiming to address. ‘When I heard about Right Here, it was a project that seemed perfect to me in the sense of my ideas and the passion that I already hold for tackling mental health issues. Needless to say it has lived up to its name. It’s been a perfect opportunity for me to find out about the work that is already going on, meet other young people interested in mental health and help projects around the country revolutionise mental health services and allow young people access to services they truly need.’ – Adam, Right Here Youth Champion
Involving young people While youth involvement is omnipresent in policy, it is still rare in practice to see young people taking charge of budgets and mental health service design and commissioning, especially in youth settings. One of the singularities about Right Here is the fact that young people who had used mental health services and young people who hadn’t came together to design new interventions, ensuring these would be attractive to as many local young people as possible. Every Right Here pilot project has their own youth involvement mechanisms to suit the needs of local young people (ranging, for instance, from an overall youth panel, to three groups of expert volunteers, to gendered well-being champions/ambassadors), but all strategic decision-making meetings are made
with young people present, which is also true of the national Right Here youth involvement mechanisms. Indeed, one of the tenets of the Right Here initiative is to ensure young people feel informed and comfortable enough to make decision jointly with mental health and youth professionals at the highest level. ‘We have learnt how to set up events and help each other. We have shown our own initiative. We have been trusted to do it and have not been stood over.’– Youth Panel Member, Right Here Fermanagh
BOXING FOR MENTAL HEALTH Right Here Newham’s boxing activity is one of a number of services funded by the youth panel through a special commissioning programme. The boxing has been run by the co-ordinator for ten years and its impacts on the wellbeing of those who take part cannot be overstated. The coordinator and his volunteers train the young people to box, but they do much more besides. The club has become a social hub, with some people just coming to hang out. For many, the club seems to be the only place they feel at home, with the relationship between the co-ordinator and the young people being particularly important.
‘STAMP out stigma!’ campaign: Right Here Sheffield’s STAMP panel have raised awareness amongst other young people about mental health and carried out peer research around mental health and stigma. They designed and produced their own board game ‘Dare you Share?’ which is based on a theme park to show the ups and downs young people experience.
The game aims to promote discussion around mental health in a fun and interactive way.
Innovative mental health services
Impact of youth-designed mental health services
As a result of involving young people in the design of mental health early intervention services, Right Here projects have been running some of the following services with over 3,000 young people in places such as barber shops, concerts, schools, shopping centres, gyms, youth clubs and universities:
While the Right Here project is still being evaluated independently, with a final report due at the end of 2014, initial findings include a significant increase in young people’s psychological, social and emotional well-being across the four projects. One of the factors for this is the strong participatory approach of the interventions.
• Anti-stigma campaigns and mental health awareness activities in their communities • Resilience-building activities using sports, creative arts, cooking and music as a non-stigmatising way of engaging young people around discussing their mental health and accessing early support • Therapeutic activities run in youth-friendly and attractive contexts (e.g. anger management, fishing or boxing for mental health, chill out sessions, mental health awareness in schools/colleges, etc.) Common features between these youth-designed mental health services include: • Out of hours appointments/sessions • Interventions delivered in general non-stigmatising settings like youth clubs, community centres and schools • Youth workers involved in the intervention (i.e. staff known and trusted by young people) • Group interventions responding to local young people’s need (e.g. an Anger Management course designed and delivered with young people in Right Here Brighton and Hove and Right Here Sheffield) • Attractive universal interventions such as boxing, rock-climbing, music production and other activities attractive to young people, all with a mental health focus and mental health-trained facilitator.
This is what young people are saying about the impact of the project on their lives: “I didn’t know nothing about it before – automatically thought it was bad, but I’ve learnt you can have good mental health and bad mental health and that you can control it.” – Youth panel member, Film makers, Newham “I’ve found a big change in myself. My form tutor told my dad that I should drop this session as I was so behind in my work. I had to work so hard after that point but I decided to bring my work up to date and now it’s fully up to date.” – young participant, Cage the Rage, Sheffield “It’s just me but I am a voice and if all voices unite we can achieve something big. We can make a difference. We can change perceptions.” – Katie, Right Here Youth Champion. For more information please visit www.right-here.org.uk or contact Elise Leclerc at eleclerc@phf.org.uk
Right Here is a five-year, £6m initiative jointly managed by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation running from 2009 to 2014. It aims to develop new approaches to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people in the UK aged 16 to 25 focusing on intervening early to help young people at risk of developing mental health problems and to tackling the stigma associated with mental health that often prevents young people seeking help. Right Here operates across four different projects in Newham, Brighton and Hove, Sheffield and Fermanagh. Young people’s participation is fundamental to how all of the projects operate, as is partnership working. Young people work with youth workers and mental health professionals to design, commission and deliver activities, while Right Here’s local delivery organisations work with public sector partners to increase the impact of their work.
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CONNECTIONS Youth Participation On Thursday 18 April, NCVYS held a new and improved youth participation conference at the London School of Economics (LSE) for individuals to explore practical and meaningful ways of engaging young people in decisionmaking processes. Winners from the 2012 Young Partners Award were invited to deliver thoughtprovoking and interactive seminars which explained and demonstrated the methods they use to work with young people, providing others with a range of useful tools and tips to take away.
Spaces at the event were quickly snapped up and over 70 participants took part, from organisations including the British Council and the Prince’s Trust as well as local and regional organisations. The event brought together a range of individuals to showcase and share good practice from specialists in the sector, offering a chance for insightful dialogue and exploring areas and solutions for young people now and in the future. Key speakers included Ross Hendry from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner who spoke on investing in young people, and Nick Wilkie, Adviser at the Cabinet Office, who discussed the Decade of Social Action.
areas of their work and youth participation. Eric Mtungwazi, Head of Recruitment at City Year, spoke about recruiting young people and how to retain them. John Loughton, Founder of Dare2Lead, explored the case for investing in leaders. The event closed with a panel session where speakers were also joined by the Chair of the British Youth Council, Rosina St James.
Expert and specialist talks took place after lunch where professionals in the youth sector spoke on different
To find out more about NCVYS and other services we offer, please visit our website: www.ncvys.org.uk.
The event was a great opportunity for delegates to meet and network with other voluntary and community sector organisations and projects, as well as to find out how they can boost their engagement with young people.
COMMUNICATIONS Young people design digital tools to support their mental health • Medfacts: A straightforward and reliable online information and advice service on how prescribed drugs may influence mental and physical health • Keep the trust: A sympathetic online support, advice and informal training service that can be used to support adult non-health professionals, who have been identified by young people as influential or important people in their lives • My Places: An online tool that maps local services and helps young people to identify reliable and trustworthy support networks, with the ability to rate services and leave feedback • MiniMe: An interactive recovery guide that uses personal information inputted by the user on their activity, environment and mood, with the ability to issue an alert to friends and family when in need of support.
To find out more about the Innovation Labs Project please visit: www.innovationlabs.org.uk or contact Elise Leclerc at eleclerc@phf.org.uk The latest statistics reflect that mental health problems affect around one in ten children and young people. To help combat this problem, Comic Relief, Nominet Trust and Right Here (Paul Hamlyn Foundation/Mental Health Foundation) have come together with young people to create the Innovation Labs Project and develop digital products to support young people’s mental health. The seven products derived from these ideas will be developed between February 2013 and June 2014 by seven organisations (sometimes working with partners).
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The products to be developed are: • Mind’s Eye: An online mood monitoring and wellbeing tool to maintain good mental health that reflects and links moods to young people’s everyday lives • Madlyinlove: A website dedicated to young people’s relationships and mental health issues, offering support and information to young people with mental health problems and their partners • Doc Ready: A digital tool which will support young people to ensure that when they visit their GP they use their consultation time effectively
Ideas bank
A brief update on yeah CIC As we reach the end of Catalyst funding and consider the learning from the last two year’s work, NCVYS has decided that further development of yeah CIC will cease until such a time presents itself to re-introduce the business as a vehicle to the youth sector again, once the resources are available to continue the work with the dedicated focus it needs. yeah CIC was created with the express intention of offering NCVYS and the wider voluntary youth sector a cost-effective method for accessing wider markets for their products and services through licensing and social franchising. Getting ourselves to a point where we could at best cover our costs proved difficult in the limited time we had for two main reasons: • Convincing voluntary organisations of the benefit of replication and its potential to generate income proved particularly difficult as there are few tangible examples of successful social franchising in the youth sector. • The concept of selling services delivered by existing experts in voluntary youth services to those who needed to provide them in the public, statutory or private sectors seemed viable enough but we had no actual evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that this was the case. Our contacts with those outside the sector were not sufficient enough for us to make the case in the time we had to do so – relationships with new partners take time to develop. NCVYS is however convinced there is viability in the concept and as a result has not wound up operations completely. The Service Development team produced a number of valuable resources and publications over the period of Catalyst both around social enterprise and social investment, all of which can be found here: http://www.ncvys.org.uk/UserFiles/SDT%20 Resource%20Hub.pdf. For more information, please contact: mail@ncvys.org.uk
Beth Parker, our Director of Service Development until the end of March 2013, has gone on to work on a social enterprise collective of her own called ‘Bonsai Bison’ (www.bonsaibison.com). One of the initiatives under the collective is Brendan Lloyd & Me (www.brendanlloydandme.org) which works under the premise that the arts, in all its shapes and forms, can act as a tremendous life-line to those suffering with mental health issues of any degree. At some point in our lives we all encounter problems and we all have different ways of dealing with them. What those problems are and however big or insurmountable they may seem to you or anyone else doesn’t matter. But our well-being depends very much on how we deal with them. In very simple terms, we all need a way to express ourselves. The Brendan Lloyd & Me initiative aims to give people the space to express themselves through the arts and gives support where it’s needed, if it’s wanted. It will initially run in a ‘virtual space’ as a research project. We want to find out where the gaps in arts reconciliation are, both in the commercial and social sectors, with the aim of finding ways of filling those gaps in the future. Initial contributors are sought to answer a few easy research questions and to provide ‘works of art’ of their own to share. If you’re interested in finding out more, please contact: Beth@BrendanLloydandMe.org
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DEPRESSION?
It’s the least of my problems
For example, breaking down anger into whether it’s really fear, hurt or frustration, either from recent events or things in their past, is something that can really help. Enabling all those organisations that work with these young people to understand their needs is vital, which is why we have introduced a We Have a Voice membership, so that we can share simple ideas and solutions.
‘About one in 15 individuals with Asperger Syndrome suffer from depression, whilst with ADHD the numbers are even higher.’
“Depression? It’s the least of my problems” – so said a young person to me very recently when they came along to see us at the project. We find time and again that mental health issues in young people are not recognised or taken seriously. The impact on being bullied, going through bereavement, feeling isolated, coming to terms with their sexuality are often seen as ‘character building’ or ‘just ignore it’. Yet the impact can change their personality and create long term issues. An adult would be signed off work for a month, but young people are expected back in school very quickly leading to even more anxiety, behaviour issues and poor self esteem. Put into that mix ADHD or autism and it gets bigger. Here at We Have a Voice, we work with young people to understand what is going on. Young people with ADHD are not just very active, they also have a wide range of other behaviours that can lead to them becoming victims of being bullied and feeling isolated. The same happens for those with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Indeed, some have even themselves been accused of harassment and bullying in their attempts to make friends and fit in, something that can only add to their depression and anxiety; “I did not know how to approach people and ask them to go out with me. I would just walk up and talk to them, whether they wanted to talk to me or not. I would get accused of harassing them or being a bully, but I thought that was the way everybody did that.” 14
About one in 15 individuals with Asperger Syndrome suffer from depression, whilst with ADHD the numbers are even higher. Anxieties caused by misunderstanding and lack of environmental adjustments add to this, leading to suicidal thoughts, self-harming, and increased obsessional and anti-social behaviours. Many end up in the criminal justice system or being excluded from education, with mental health services for young people not having the capacity to respond to the level of need. In addition to this, the level of mental health issues in their families, sometimes caused by caring for these young people, is above the national average, making the day-to-day lives of everyone involved exceptionally challenging. Our experience has shown that steps to reduce the impact and power of some of these issues can successfully be put in place. Every single one of the young people that we have worked with will tell you the key to improving their situation was that someone spent time to build a relationship with them. “No one ever just spent time and got to know ME. When the team at We Have a Voice said they could help me I just thought they were the same as everyone else and I didn’t trust them. But they really did believe in me and gradually I started to share things with them.” For us, understanding and action is the key. Time spent understanding the root cause of the behaviours enables improved strategies to be introduced, while also helping the young person to feel emotionally safe enough to be ready to hear what needs to be said. They are then more likely to take things on board.
Challenging their peer group through mentoring programmes and curriculum delivery is essential, as is providing regular, readable, interactive and up to date training for all staff, with the same being given to families. This is why we have produced our e-training resource for members. It has an approach that discusses an issue, and then gives understanding and possible solutions, with young people themselves providing this information through articles, videos, music and radio.
‘For us, understanding and action is the key. Time spent understanding the root cause of the behaviours enables improved strategies to be introduced’ Mental health services for young people needs to be improved and extended, in order to deal with the more serious issues, but so much could be done at grass root level. Society, environments and lack of understanding are the biggest cause of anxiety and mental health issues in young people with Autism and ADHD today, and everyone needs to look at themselves and how they can change. Only then will they find their voice, flourish and shine. To find out more, try the following links: www.wehaveavoice.org.uk www.autism.org.uk www.addiss.co.uk www.youngminds.org.uk
YOUNGMINDS – what’s stopping you? What stops young people and families accessing help for mental health problems? One in 10 children and young people has a diagnosable mental disorder but only about half access a service and only one fifth use specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
Last year YoungMinds and the Cello Group conducted research into attitudes with 2,500 young people, parents, teachers and GPs. Our findings revealed that:
Research has shown that children, young people and their parents or carers are often reluctant to seek help. According to a recent review young people are deterred from seeking help for reasons that include: difficulty identifying the symptoms of mental illness; reliance on self-help; fear or stress about the act of help-seeking or the source of help itself and others not recognising the need for help or not having the skills to cope.
• A third of parents would not seek professional help if the ir child was self-harming
At YoungMinds, we have carried out research into children and young people’s views on services, which has repeatedly found that having a good relationship with health professionals who take their concerns seriously, is important in encouraging them to seek help. Young people from our Very Important Kids project (VIK) and studies which have sought young people’s views on CAMHS and accessing help for mental health problems have consistently shown that many young people have very negative experiences of seeking help from their GP for mental health problems. One young person from our VIK project told us that when they went to their GP because they were very depressed and suicidal, they were told that they couldn’t help them and that they should phone the Samaritans.
• 3 in 4 young people don’t know where to turn to talk about self-harm
• Almost half of GPs feel that they don’t understand young people who self-harm and their motivations • 2 in 3 teachers don’t know what to say to young people who self-harm Negative experiences potentially put young people off accessing help. It is often the case that many people with mental health problems do not seek help at an early stage and are only picked up by services when they are in crisis. The Mental Health Strategy, published by the Department of Health in February, notes that half of those with lifetime mental health problems first experience symptoms by the age of 14, and three-quarters by their mid-20s. So encouraging young people to access help at an early stage is important in preventing mental health problems from becoming chronic and entrenched. Talking about difficult issues or expressing painful emotions is difficult for anyone but young people especially need to feel that they trust someone before they can open up to them about their problems. Services that are built around the needs of the patient would enable them to spend more time if required with professionals such as GPs. So there needs to be flexibility around the length of appointments with the healthcare professional of their choice. This should help develop the trust necessary to seek help and discuss sensitive and difficult issues.
For parents and carers the prospect of asking for help for their child can be difficult. Research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2010, which looked at what influenced parents and carers to seek help from primary care services, found some parents believed they should not approach their GP because their child’s problems were not a medical matter, while many others felt short appointments with their doctor did not give them the time to discuss their child’s problems, or for the GP to observe the child’s behaviour. Others felt health care professionals didn’t take their concerns seriously. One parent said that her GP described her as an “over-anxious parent”, which meant she then avoided the doctor. YoungMinds is working to increase youth participation in the design and delivery of mental health and wellbeing services throughout England. We do this by offering training, consultancy and guidance to CAMHS services and universal service providers, such as GPs and mental health practitioners. We also provide a Parents’ Helpline service which is for any adult who is concerned about the mental health and emotional wellbeing of a child or young person. We receive around 10,000 contacts a year from people via our free telephone number or via email. You can find out more about YoungMinds work at www.youngminds.org.uk
‘YoungMinds is working to increase youth participation in the design and delivery of mental health and wellbeing services throughout England.’
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Case study National Citizen Service – It all starts at YES! Over Easter hundreds of 16- and 17-year-olds have been braving all types of weather to take part in their once-in-a-lifetime National Citizen Service (NCS) experience. NCS is the government’s leading personal and social development programme which equips young people with the tools and self-belief to unlock their potential and enhance their future prospects. NCS also runs during Summer and Autumn holidays, so don’t let the young people you work with miss out! Now in its third year, the 2013 NCS has more places available than ever before, bringing up to 50,000 young people of all abilities and backgrounds together across England. NCS aims to give participants sought-after employability skills, provides a rare opportunity for young people of different backgrounds to meet and form real friendships, and gets young people involved in meaningful long-term social action. The benefits of taking part in NCS have been found to extend far beyond these core aims1. NCS has a powerful personal impact, increasing participants’ sense of wellbeing and self-confidence.
92% of participants said they would recommend NCS to other young people
What NCS involves NCS is designed to get participants to step outside their comfort zones. In a first residential week participants meet and are thrown in at the deep end with outdoor activities like white water rafting, gorge scrambling and rock climbing. During a second residential the newly bonded team work with local charities, businesses and social leaders to gain skills and learn about their local area. Participants then put these skills into practice, designing and delivering a social action project they are passionate about which will benefit their community. Each phase of NCS is underpinned by guided self-reflection, which enables participants to develop a deeper understanding of their own attributes, behaviours and skills. Participants’ successes are celebrated at every step, culminating in a graduation ceremony where they become NCS graduates, inspired young people with the ability and opportunity to prosper and to help others through ongoing social action.
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Increasing wellbeing and self-confidence The combination of these challenging and rewarding elements is precisely what makes the NCS programme such a valuable way of helping improve each young person’s wellbeing. After NCS participants reported increased feelings of happiness, self-worth and personal effectiveness. Research also saw a correlation with reduced levels of anxiety.
Over 90% of participants agreed that NCS had made them proud of what they had achieved. NCS had even greater impacts on young people’s self-confidence, teamwork, communication and leadership skills. The proportion of young people who felt confident being the leader of a team increased by 13% more among NCS participants than among a control group of other young people.
Raising aspirations NCS empowers young people to believe in themselves and their ability to achieve. NCS raises aspirations by giving young people a taste of new, exciting and different experiences. Examples includes: presenting their own project idea to a Dragons Den style panel; staying in university halls of residence; trusting people they have just met by pairing up for abseiling; leading a team to deliver a volunteering project; and attending an amazing five star venue to receive a graduation certificate signed by the Prime Minister. After NCS many participants felt more in control of their own lives and destinies. Tens of thousands of young people have already reaped the benefits of these experiences, people like Saad from Harrow who said: “before the programme, I was just a guy on the streets, fighting, getting kicked out of schools. I was all negative with no positive inside of me. The staff who introduced this programme to me have opened doors – if it wasn’t for them I’d probably still be on the streets. I’ve learnt there is so much in this world that you can do.”
Support NCS You can help the young people you work with take part in NCS, simply by telling them about NCS and helping them sign-up with their local NCS provider. Participants are asked to contribute up to £50, but if this is unaffordable financial support is readily available from the NCS provider. You could also contribute to the success of NCS by volunteering or working on NCS as a Team Leader or mentor.
Developing skills and opening doors The skills and attitudes developed through NCS make great additions to young people’s CVs, particularly as businesses continue to report that many school leavers are not fully equipped with the qualities they are looking for when recruiting. NCS provides opportunities to work with employers and demonstrate employability skills and reallife experience. A recent NCS survey found that employers value extra-curricular activities highly, and are particularly keen to recruit young people who are team players, are confident, can mix with people from different backgrounds, have interests outside of school and have volunteered for community projects2. As Clare McDougall, Head of Community and Education at RWE npower says, “I’m confident that every single graduate of the programme stands head and shoulders above many of their contemporaries because of their NCS experience. Npower values the skills learnt during NCS and looks for that when recruiting staff.” NCS also gives a boost to college and university applications and features in UCAS guidance as an achievement admissions staff like to see in personal statements.
Sikander Ali, youth worker and NCS Team Leader, would recommend getting involved: “The job satisfaction working with these young people and following their journeys is awesome. Through NCS young people push themselves in many ways, and seeing firsthand how young people’s perceptions of each other change shows the value of social mixing; there are not many programmes that promote social mix more than NCS. The success stories are really rewarding.” To find out more, please visit www.ncsyes.co.uk.
1 Findings of an independent evaluation by NatCen (National Centre for Social Research), see more of the findings at: http://www.natcen.ac.uk/study/national-citizen-serviceevaluation. 2
Survey of 500 employers in January 2013.
Workforce development The public health workforce
Nichola Brown, NCVYS Head of Membership and Engagement
Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Towards a workforce strategy for the public health system was a consultation paper published by the Department of Health (DH), which NCVYS responded to in June 2012 (http:// bit.ly/NCVYShealthwf). As this edition of Exchange shows, health services for young people are vital and many of the most effective are delivered by our members. So as you’ll see below, NCVYS’s response to the strategy emphasised the major role that the voluntary and community youth sector can play in the delivery of such services and the workforce development implications on its staff and volunteers.
Recognising the contribution the voluntary and community sector makes NCVYS welcomes the recognition in the paper that the sector makes an important contribution to public health and that new ways of including the sector’s contributions to health need to be identified and delivered. However we are concerned that there is limited reference as to how this is to be realised or resourced. In order to effectively support young people it is necessary that the strategy acknowledges the vital role of the voluntary and community youth sector workforce in promoting wellbeing and enabling young people to make more informed decisions about their health. It should also acknowledge the role of social enterprises working with young people.
Understanding the workforce of the voluntary and community sector We said we would like to see much more explicit reference to the workforce in the voluntary and community sector and in the youth sector – a workforce which includes paid staff and volunteers working with young people in services such as youth work, teenage pregnancy, mental health, smoking cessation and sports and leisure. For many young people their interaction with professionals who will promote their health and wellbeing comes at the level of intervention termed by DH as ‘community engagement and public action.’ Unless the voluntary and community sector is recognised for its distinct contribution to the delivery of health and well-being services, we do not think commissioners or other practitioners in the health workforce will give adequate consideration of the importance of this section of the workforce. We said that the workforce strategy must recognise how youth services align with the public health strategy and added
that the strategy should recognise the need for inter-disciplinary workforce development. We supported the idea of workforce planning at the local level, with the caveat that the voluntary and community youth sector must be included in the planning process.
Access to continuing professional development opportunities We said that youth workers should have access to workforce development training and continuing professional development offered by public health agencies. Training and leadership development for the wider workforce must recognise the importance of the voluntary and community youth sector workforce. Some public health practitioners should have youth work skills in order to effectively engage with young people. For example, we suggested that all GPs train on the Your Welcome standards criteria and that GPs should have access to good quality ‘working with Young People CPD activities’.
NCVYS careers information on health-related roles NCVYS has published a range of careers information on different occupations within the youth sector. The following two publications connect to health-related roles: • Health Promotions Officer case study – career paths and skills journey • Young People’s Health Worker Careers Information Sheet These can be downloaded free of charge from our website at http://www.ncvys.org.uk/ index.php?alias=carinfo A list of qualifications (Levels 1-4) appropriate for those that work with young people are available to view on Youth Sector Pathways (a new website published by NCVYS) at http://youthsectorpathways.org/ qualification-checker
Careers in public health We were disappointed that the consultation did not make many references to access to basic training or access at the lower levels of public health careers for young people. Volunteer opportunities or apprenticeships within the professions could be a way to help promote a career in public health to young people.
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Meet the Chief Executive An interview with Tessy Ojo, Chief Executive of the Diana Award The Diana Award is an organisation that recognises the achievements of inspirational young people. Award holders are young people that have given back to their community. So far, there are around 39,000 holders of the award. Hannah Abban met with Tessy to find out more. On 15 April I interviewed Tessy Ojo, Chief Executive of the Diana Award, to get her perspective on what it’s like working in the voluntary sector and being a CEO of a successful organisation. Katie Marple, Network Coordinator of the organisation, also joined us. My first question to Tessy is how she started out in the youth sector; “I joined the organisation in 2000 after working in the corporate sector for private companies IBM and Borders Books and Music. After having my second child I came to a point in my life where I wanted to give something back and make a difference; I was always around young people – even as an adult I spent my weekend doing some form of voluntary youth work.” One thing that sticks in my mind and is really inspiring is Tessy’s obvious passion for her job and young people, describing them as ‘refreshing’ and as people that are ‘constantly reinventing life’. For me, seeing passion as strong as hers is quite rare and to be honest, very admirable.
“It’s all about constantly signposting and campaigning, as well as working with schools, and in any way that we can, to make life better for young people.”
Next, I ask Tessy about her organisation and the work they do with young people who are dealing with mental health issues. “We have young people who have campaigned about mental health because it’s something that affects them and they want something in their community to change in order to increase the support they have; maybe better facilities or better awareness about what they are having to deal with.”
Katie Marple joins in with an example, telling me about one particular award holder – a girl who won the award in 2008 who came up with her own mental health campaign after struggling with the amount of pressure put on her during exam period; “She struggled with her mental health issues for a couple of years and eventually started a project that involved going into schools and helping students cope with the pressures they’re facing.” Picking up from Katie, Tessy continued; “There’s so much pressure on young people nowadays – pressure to look a certain way, be a certain way, get a certain number of grades. The list goes on. It reminds me of an article I read which stated that in Britain today there are more young girls aged between 14-15 on antidepressants than ever before. This is just shocking and we need to do more to help young people in these situations.” Speaking about the improvement of mental health services, Tessy is quite adamant: “I think the sector, as well as government, need to make life easier for young people, ease the pressure in any way that we can, in any capacity that we can, creating a pathway for young people to reach their potential.” Hearing this from a chief executive is really encouraging as I genuinely agree with this outlook – in my opinion every young person has the ability to achieve something and make themselves feel proud.
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Tessy Ojo, CEO Diana Award, and Hannah Abban, ENVOY member
Something I was particularly interested in hearing about during the interview was whether Tessy had anything to share with the sector in order to improve the work that everyone is doing for and with young people. Answering my question she went on to say, “It’s all about constantly signposting and campaigning, as well as working with schools, and in any way that we can, to make life better for young people.” So, did Tessy have any advice for anyone wanting to work in the voluntary sector? “Be passionate, just follow your dreams. Find what you’re passionate about, go for it and let the passion drive you.” As for me, I feel the same – follow your passion, but in order to follow that passion you need to make important decisions and choices. So do your research – read, contact and get in touch with people and organisations that can give you useful knowledge and supply you with great opportunities to gain an insight in to your chosen sector. Also, get into volunteering! It’s a fun way to spend your spare time and the experience & skills you gain are invaluable. Hannah Abban is a London National ENVOY Member
To find out more about the Diana Award visit their website: www.diana-award.org.uk
HEADS UP Do you have news for our readers? Exchange is distributed across the voluntary and community youth sector, going to Chief Executives, Parliamentarians and Civil Servants. We’re always interested in news, articles and case studies in best practice from our members. If you have a story to tell, please contact the editor: E: press@ncvys.org.uk
Young Partners Award 2013 – nominations now open! Nominations for this year’s NCVYS Young Partners Award have officially opened. This year the nominations will be shortlisted into six categories. They are: Arts and culture; Health and wellbeing; Media; Community action; Environment; and Social Enterprise. If you work in partnership with young people and would like to nominate your organisation for an award, then you can find more information via the below links. Please spread the word to organisations who you think would like to nominate themselves. For more information email envoy@ncvys.org.uk or visit http://ncvys.org.uk/Young_Partners_Award.html To submit your application, visit: http://tiny.cc/YPASubmit
Safeguarding and child protection in the voluntary and community sector We all strive to safeguard our organisations, young people and workforce but how do we know that we’re operating sound systems? The Sound Systems Accreditation scheme has become known in the sector as the quality mark for improving the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. It encourages organisations to critically examine policies, procedures and practice in all aspects of safeguarding, including safer recruitment, management and development of staff and volunteers, child protection procedures and providing safer activities. It also encourages anti-discriminatory practice and allows organisations to assess whether all their policies and practices are appropriate and sufficient, as well as understood and implemented by all staff and volunteers and understood by the young people. NCVYS are re-launching their suite of support programmes with the development of an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Endorsed Advanced Programme – Managing Safeguarding Practice in the Workplace. Please contact Isabelle@ncvys.org.uk if you would like any further information, or would like to be involved in either the development of the qualification or in being accredited.
Member benefit survey and leaflet Nichola Brown, our Head of Membership and Engagement, is currently carrying out a review of NCVYS member benefits, the outcome of which will result in a better offer for almost 300 organisations. We’ve also been working on a new NCVYS leaflet for members and potential new members. A digital copy will go up on the website and we’ll let you know about it as soon as possible.
The front cover for this issue was designed by Grace Heeley Based in the Midlands, Grace has spent just under four years working as a Marketing Assistant for a national youth charity. During her four years as a designer she has worked mainly with print, also developing a passion for typography. She is a keen photographer, focusing mainly on landscapes and architecture, with a bit of lifestyle thrown in for fun. When not designing or taking photos, chances are you’ll find Grace with a book! About the design Grace said: “I wanted to explore the impact that low mental health has on one’s overall well being [represented by the image of the brain]. The words in the background remind readers of the wider issues that surround young people who have a mental health problem and the ways they can find help. The highlighted “There is hope” on the back cover is the key message young people need to hear when they feel like the other negative words are overwhelming.” Grace’s portfolio can be found at http://www.behance.net/GraceHeeley You can contact Grace via the above website.
Exchange now online NCVYS publishes an online version of Exchange magazine, aimed at readers in the voluntary and community youth sector. Readers can view previous issues for free by visiting the link below. NCVYS will still continue to print and distribute issues of Exchange, which members receive free as part of their membership to our network. See www.issuu.com/ncvys
Exchange distribution Exchange is read across the voluntary and community youth sector. We can send bulk copies to offices requiring 10 copies or more. If you or a colleague is receiving Exchange and would like us to stop sending copies, please email the Exchange Editor at: E: press@ncvys.org.uk
Feedback and contributions Keep up to date with NCVYS’s information and policy services NCVYS publishes a range of policy and information services through a number of channels. You can follow us on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ncvys, watch videos from our events like the Young Partners Award at http://www.youtube.com/ncvys and listen to audio interviews at http://www,audioboo.fm/ncvys. We continue to provide our weekly Strategic Intelligence Service bulletin every Friday afternoon, our NECTAR ‘news from the sector’ update in the middle of each month and our funding update at the start of each month. In addition, our policy team regularly updates our financial monitoring blog http://www.ncvyspolicy.wordpress.com with details of service cuts and financial news affecting the voluntary and community youth sector. Last but not least, all our news, policy and information documents go up on the website at www.ncvys.org.uk. Check back regularly to see updates about our work.
If you have any publications, events, training or projects that you would like to be featured in Exchange or would like to send in letters, comments or ideas for future articles, please contact the Exchange Editor at: E: press@ncvys.org.uk
Cover illustration by: Grace Heeley www.behance.net/GraceHeeley
Exchange is a regular magazine, bringing together a unique collection of news, policy analysis and practical advice for voluntary and community organisations and networks working with young people. Exchange contains articles by expert contributors from the sector and beyond. The magazine is distributed throughout the youth sector, reaching around 5000 readers in print and offline. Designed/produced by arc. www.arc-cs.com
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