Young people collaborate with Unloc & Southern Health to build site to support peers with their mental health

After a lot of hard work we are excited to finally launch the new Youth Mental Health & Wellbeing mini-site designed & co-created with members of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Youth Board

This collaborative new site has been produced with young people aged 12-21 from across Hampshire in order to provide relevant, engaging and youth focused information covering important topics such as:

  • Self-Care
  • Supporting Others
  • Race & Mental Health
  • Young Men’s Mental Health
  • LGBTQ+ Mental Health
  • Where to go for help – information about Hampshire & national youth mental health services all in one place

The site – available by clicking here also caters for parents, teachers and other adults in young people’s lives. The ‘What we wish adults knew’ section helps older generations to understand the complex needs of modern young people, and helps them support their young people’s mental health better.

We know that 1 in 8 under 18s will experience a serious mental health problem each year, and that certain groups of young people, including young men, members of the the LGBTQ+ community, and racialised young people are at higher risk of experiencing mental illness.

Southern Health’s Youth Board wanted to pay particular attention to raising awareness and signposting to support services for these groups, highlighting the changes that need to be made to ensure all young people receive better mental health support.

As part of this work we recently also produced a video for Men’s Health Week highlighting why men’s mental health is so important, and what changes Youth Board members would like to see. You can watch the video by clicking here.

We hope the site will be a useful resource for both young people, staff, and parents to refer to, and find out more about the mental health support available for young people. The site offers both Hampshire specific and national signposting to support services – so is a great resource for young people in the Solent region, but can also be used by young people and organisations further afield.

Creating the mini-site has not only been a way to share information about mental health and wellbeing support with young people across Hampshire, but has also provided the Youth Board members who have co-produced the site with the opportunity to grow their skills.

Southern Health Youth Board member Lucy, who has been supporting the design and creation of this website since October 2020 said:

“I really enjoyed working on the webpage as it was such a collaborative but also independent project to try. I got to receive advice and tips from others in the group and explore new technology and techniques recommended by them, but I still got to work on my own on topics I am personally interested in and try out my own way of creating it.”

Young person?

Please enjoy exploring the site and finding our more about all the support and services available to you! We hope you find the information useful and please do reach out for further support if you need it.

School or college in Hampshire?

Please share the link with your whole school/college community unloc.online/youth-wellbeing. As well as supporting students to access information about local & national support all in one place the mini-site can be used as a resource alongside PHSE lessons to support further learning and shared with parents to include them

Youth, Sport or Community group?

Creating more spaces where young people feel safe and can be open about mental health is essential. Start the conversation with your young people by sharing the mini-site with your community.

Positive role models who are open about mental health can be particularly helpful in supporting young men and racialised young people to speak up and access support.

Applications for Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Youth Board will open again in September.

Interested?

To be part of the Youth Board’s future work sign up to Unloc’s opportunities newsletter to hear first when applications by clicking here!

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