We're really grateful to The Pixel Fund for donating to us for our work around mental health support for young people. Whilst a lot of our work is in a group setting, our Youth Social Prescribing service is 1:1 for young people aged 11-18 at risk of social isolation and needing early intervention support to reduce long term mental health concerns.
Our Youth Social Prescribing service has already been a great link for young people to build their confidence and start getting out in social settings where they engage with and enjoy the activities. Over the summer we worked with Chris, who had recently turned 11 and was going to a more specialist secondary school in September that none of his friends were going to. He was feeling unsupported at primary school and despondent due to his additional needs. Our Social Prescriber met with him a few times, built up a relationship and convinced him to attend our Summer Holiday Youth Club. He really enjoyed this, he liked the new young people he met and it gave him a positive feeling about going somewhere new in September. When he started at his new school our Social Prescriber continued to meet with him and that consistency helped to establish the new routine as something positive. As a result, Chris settled into his new school really well and continues to engage with our group youth activities too.
Through the support received from The Pixel Fund, we will be able to continue to help young people like Chris going into 2025.