York Mind are hugely grateful for the funding from The Pixel Fund, which will contribute to the running of our much needed young people’s service.
York Mind young people’s service supports 8-25 year olds, and has been developed over the past 6 years. We have delivered 1-1 mentoring, employability programmes, arts based groups, peer support groups, sport groups, life skills programmes, and most recently young people’s counselling. We have developed our young people’s service from one which supported 24 young people per year in 2013, to one which directly supported in excess of 200 young people in the last year.
We have supported individuals to achieve incredible outcomes through various interventions, including supporting young people into work, education and volunteering, reducing isolation amongst young people, increasing emotional literacy, increasing confidence and resilience, and reducing negative coping strategies such as self-harm and drug/alcohol misuse.
We currently support young people through 1-1 mentoring, 1-1 counselling, peer support groups and arts award groups. We support young people with varying levels of need around their mental health, ranging from prevention work to helping young people in crisis.
Ally and Misha
In her initial assessment, Ally disclosed struggling with loneliness, chronic fatigue and depression. During the peer support group she met Misha, who struggles with social anxiety and isolation. Both young people stated prior to starting that they had no friends. Through the discussion exercises, they bonded over how they had both been called “fakers” and “attention-seekers”, and Ally was able to share how she had been affected when her dentist called chronic fatigue the “lazy disease”. They now have a strong friendship, and offer each other support inside and outside the group. They are able to have both deep discussions with each other, and also to joke around and make each other laugh.
What young people say
“If it wasn’t for Mind I’d be lost and still broken. The comfort I felt going and every single staff member are gifts from God. Trust them. They are here to help and listen. They sure helped me and I am learning new things to help with my life on the outside and I’m learning to put myself first and it’s okay. Thank you to the whole team at York Mind.”
“It made such a difference, before Mind I felt low so much more of the time, and I didn’t know how to cope with it. Now when I have bad experiences I know how to deal with it and cope, and manage my emotions. I found being given advice and support useful, and it helped using the recovery star so I could see my progress”
On behalf of York Mind