We are Mind, the leading mental health charity in England and Wales. Since 1946, we’ve stood side-by-side with people with mental health problems. Together we’ve pushed relentlessly for understanding, support, respect and an end to stigma and discrimination. Through our network of almost 100 local Minds, we deliver 900 different services, such as counselling, art/music therapy, crisis care, and welfare advice to over 600,000 people every year.
However, we are currently living through an unprecedented mental health crisis especially amongst children and young people. The number of children referred to emergency mental healthcare in England has soared by more than 50% in three years with 1 in 5 children in Wales reporting very high levels of poor mental health symptoms. We need to make sure that these young people get support, and we know we still have a long way to go. Hundreds of thousands of people rely on us, and every year the number of people who reach out to us grows.
For young women and girls, the situation is even worse. Young women are three times more likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder than young men, and over 1 in 3 young women has a mental health problem, compared to 1 in 8 young men. There is currently not enough trauma-informed support that addresses the traumatic experiences behind a diagnosis. We therefore want trauma-informed services that understand the unique needs of young women, girls, and non-binary people.
Mind has invested and continuing to invest in grassroots community work through our local Minds who are providing services to women, girls and non-binary people aged between 11-24 such as 1:1 therapy, group support, self-help techniques, support to navigate other services like housing and employment, all based on trauma-informed principles.
We are also embedding trauma informed training and principles across the entire Mind network, training local Mind practitioners on how best to work in a trauma informed way. Additionally, we are investing in the provision and signposting of new trauma-informed information resources for young people so that young women, girls, and non-binary people can easily search for local trauma-informed services.
We are so grateful to The Pixel Fund who invested £10,000 into the programme last year and are investing another £10,000 this year. This grant will provide a further 15 young people with direct trauma-informed support and will support many more through the provision of trauma-informed information resources and advise. This support will ultimately lead to improved mental health and emotional resilience for young women, girls and non-binary people, giving them the skills, knowledge, support and space to move on from trauma and lead more fulfilling, mentally healthier lives. A huge thank you to The Pixel Fund who recognise the growing mental health needs among young women, and girls.