Safe spaces, support, confidentiality and community – findings from new report on young people’s needs
A local snapshot of the voices of young people, reflective of the national picture about mental health, early intervention, and knife crime, has been published in a report by No5 Young People. The report summarises the work of No5’s ‘Restart Youth!’ project, made possible through funding from The National Lottery Community Fund distributed by Blagrave Trust.
The project was devised and delivered by young, lived experience leaders from No5 alongside under-represented groups of young people, who took part in trusting and transparent conversations about their needs. The report was also compiled and written by young people. The findings of this project sit alongside No5’s Young Ambassadors ‘The Impact of COVID-19: The Voice of Young People’ report, compiled in September 2020.
The report provides simple and actionable solutions to the increasingly serious mental health challenges faced by young people especially in relation to loneliness, gang membership and knife crime. The young people who took part in this study were consistently clear on what solutions for early intervention and prevention they need. These are safe spaces, support, confidentiality and community.
Carly Newman, No5’s Operations and Relationships Manager, who delivered on the project, and compiled the report, alongside No5’s Projects Coordinator, Abbie Trussler, said:
The voices of local young people are always at the centre of our service development, delivery and training. This project has allowed us to reach young people from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, and we feel positive that the commitments and next steps outlined in this report are reflective of the wide-ranging needs of young people in Greater Reading. The young people we have worked with are a testament to the power of young people’s voices. We hope this report will inspire and drive us all to have young people alongside us in all decisions made about the services we offer.
Alyson Wylding, Director, No5 Young People said:
The findings contained in this report will support No5’s strategic development over the next 5 years. No5 is committed to hearing the voices of local young people. This is why we developed our Young Ambassador Scheme and employ young, lived experience leaders within our core team. It is only through building trusting relationships, and supporting peer-to-peer communications, that we can really hear what young people need to say. Although there are huge challenges ahead, especially for small, local organisations like No5, the voice of young people gives us the confidence and commitment we need to act on, and champion, their needs.
Finally, thank you very much to the young people for trusting us and sharing their views and concerns. Thank you also to Carly and Abbie for their resourcefulness, flexibility and commitment to this project, and making it possible.
The report is free to download here
Further information
- For more information please visit http://no5.org.uk/
- Young people struggling with their mental health can talk to a trained counsellor via No5 Young People’s Helpline. Text TALK followed by your first name and postcode to 07786 202430 to request a call.