Over £1m awarded to 11 charities that support young women’s mental health, through our Young Women in Mind grant programme.
The Pilgrim Trust has announced today that over £1m has been awarded to 11 charities that support young women’s mental health, through its Young Women in Mind grant programme.
Set up in 2021, the programme aims to improve the mental health of women aged 16-25 in the UK by increasing their access to high quality, age and gender specific mental health services. So far, we have awarded over £4m to organisations across North East and North West England, Yorkshire and the Humber and Northern Ireland.
Young women are the highest risk group for mental ill health. They self-harm at more than twice the rate of young men. They face particular challenges which are exacerbated by social factors and structural inequalities including: lower income, caring responsibilities, perinatal mental health issues, domestic violence, sexual abuse, age discrimination and misogyny. The Young Women in Mind grant programme aims to find effective ways to address the impact of such experiences on young women’s mental health.
We fund charities that have developed targeted mental health support specifically for the needs of young women. This means designing services that create safe spaces for young women, are delivered in a gender and trauma informed way, and with input from the young women themselves. We fund regular facilitated meetups for our grantees to share best practice, to encourage collaboration and to build a supportive peer network. We are building on existing evidence of the value of age and gender specific mental health services. An interim review of the programme by Centre for Mental Health will be published later this year.
Once again, the programme attracted a large volume of high-quality applications, each demonstrating the rising demand for services. We are pleased to share more about the most recent charities who have received funding. The funding is the total amount spread over three years and includes a contribution to core costs.
Maternal Mental Health Alliance
Maternal Mental Health Alliance helps women and families affected by perinatal mental health issues to access high quality care and support. It also campaigns to improve policies and practice within the maternal mental health sector. Their partnership bid with Sunderland Counselling Service and Ways to Wellness is to fund specialist Young Mothers Link Worker provision in the North East.
Young mothers are at particularly high risk of experiencing mental illness in the perinatal period. They often face age discrimination, stigma and judgement. Concerns that they are not being taken seriously and fear of child removal often prevent them from accessing support. Our grant of £95,400 will go towards the salary of a Young Mothers Link Worker who will provide a dedicated resource for young mothers to support their mental health recovery. As well as developing expertise they will set up a peer support group. The three partner organisations will work together to share knowledge, develop policy and influence change.
Tyneside Women’s Health
Tyneside Women’s Health supports women and girls to manage mental health conditions, reduce social isolation and participate in their communities. They also support women and girls to recover from abuse and the impact this has had on their lives. They provide mental health courses; peer support groups; a counselling service, workshops and outreach programmes – as well as creative sessions.
Our grant of £96,280 will help pay for two part-time mental health staff to support vulnerable women through the Young Women’s Outreach Project. They will work to prevent young women from disengaging from mental health support services as they move from youth services into adult women’s community-based mental health services when they reach the age of 21.
Invictus Wellbeing Foundation
Invictus Wellbeing Foundation works to support and improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people across West Yorkshire. It delivers a range of services for young people including those who are self-harming or experiencing suicidal thoughts; young people dealing with bereavement; young people in the care system and young people at risk of offending. It also delivers therapeutic work in schools.
Our grant of £95,250 is to develop an existing support pathway, specifically for women and girls living in Calderdale. Staff will be given additional training around cultural competency, working with victims of sexual and domestic abuse and other gender-specific forms of abuse such as honour based abuse and Female Genital Mutilation. Facilitated peer support groups will be set up with a focus on building confidence, assertiveness and using goal-based outcomes. Young mothers, young carers and other groups that may experience increased stigma or access issues including South Asian young women will be offered tailored peer support groups.
Women’s Health Matters
Women’s Health Matters works to reduce health inequalities experienced by women and girls from disadvantaged communities across Leeds. It supports women who have unequal access to health and support services due to poverty, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or traumatic personal experience. The charity delivers facilitated peer support and education groups, combined with one-to-one intensive support. Specialist services include groups for women who have experienced abuse, young mothers, asylum seeking women and women with complex needs.
Our grant of £99,927 is for art therapy groups for young women aged 16-25 years who have mental health issues. The groups will be led by an Art Psychotherapist, who will assess the broader needs of each individual participant, referring to other services where necessary. The young women it currently supports have significant mental health needs. The aim is to support their recovery, improve self-confidence and utilise peer support to reduce feelings of isolation.
Image courtesy: Women’s Health Matters
Kyra Women’s Project
The Kyra Women’s Project, York, aims to help local women make positive and lasting improvements to their lives. They work to reduce the health, economic and social inequalities experienced by women and to help them participate fully in society. They have programmes on domestic abuse, building self-esteem, anxiety, and setting boundaries; they offer a counselling service; mentoring and a young women’s mental health support group. The charity established its ROSE (Reaching Out, Supporting, Empowering) project in 2019 to support young women who are at risk of, or recovering from serious mental illness.
Our grant of £72,822 is for their Steps into ROSE project to work with young women who feel unable to access the ROSE project due to very poor mental health, isolation and lack of support. Our grant will support the costs of the project lead, a neurodiversity coach, and counselling costs. The project will help provide access to gendered and age-appropriate mental health support for young women with significant mental health needs.
Image courtesy: KYRA
Young Women’s Housing Project (YWHP)
Young Women’s Housing Project, Sheffield, provides secure accommodation and specialist therapeutic support services for homeless young women, girls and their children affected by sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and domestic abuse. The charity also helps young women to develop independent living skills and learn how to keep safe; it provides help on training and education and parenting skills. It delivers workshops developed specifically for young women and girls to improve their understanding of healthy relationships, coercive control and consent.
The charity supports young women who experience a range of risk factors including homelessness, poverty, single parenthood, isolation, family estrangement, being at risk of further exploitation, offending, substance abuse and exclusion from education. Our grant of £93,000 will fund an additional therapist. The charity cannot meet the demand for its services and does not want to keep traumatised young women on long waiting lists for therapy.
Everybody Arts
Everybody Arts champions inclusive and accessible approaches to the arts so it is available to everyone. It enables people from diverse backgrounds to exercise their creativity to improve wellbeing. It also provides ‘sanctuary spaces’ to minoritised groups, including refugees and asylum seekers offering free studio and exhibition spaces for artists to showcase their work; and delivers art workshops in primary and secondary schools and in community hubs. The charity works in partnership with other organisations, including the NHS, to deliver projects in hospitals to improve mental health; and runs programmes for young people who have been unable to continue their education in mainstream schools.
Our grant of £97,825 is for the Bloom project, a female-led support, training and mentorship programme with an associated support network for young women that will help to improve their mental health while supporting them to develop a career in the cultural-health sector. The project will recruit three women with lived experience of mental illness and adult mental health services. The young women will have guaranteed employment once they complete their training.
RASAC – Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre
Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre provides specialist therapeutic, advisory, and helpline support for individuals over the age of 8 who have experienced rape, sexual, or domestic abuse in the Kirklees, Calderdale, or Wakefield areas. Its core services include: therapeutic support services such as counselling, support work, art therapy and alternative therapies. They help young women to navigate the criminal justice system with the help of specialist Independent Domestic/ Sexual Violence Advocates. They also help women to develop healthy coping mechanisms, and engage with education, housing, and substance abuse services.
Our grant of £90,000 will help fund the staff costs associated with providing specialist creative counselling for young women (16-25) who have experienced rape, sexual or domestic abuse to meet the increasing demand for specialist therapeutic support for young women. By integrating creative methods, such as art, music, or other expressive therapies, the creative counsellor will enable young women to communicate their experiences and emotions in a more comfortable and effective way.
Youth Education Health Advice
Youth Education Health and Advice (YEHA) is based in North Belfast and is dedicated to supporting young people experiencing or at risk of experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing. They offer focused group work, counselling, wrap around support, training, mentoring, and life coaching.
Our grant of £99,387 will fund a dedicated Young Women’s Support Worker to help young women aged 16 to 25 who are experiencing mental health difficulties. As well as providing one-to-one sessions they will help with access to a wider network of community services including relationship and sexual health services, domestic abuse agencies and addiction support. She will also advocate on young women’s behalf in schools, colleges and social services. The support worker will also facilitate group work sessions and run the weekly young mother’s group. Many of its young women service users have suffered violence, abuse or coercive control and multiple traumatic events in their lives. Young women increasingly present with eating disorders and self-harming, suicidal ideation and other mental health conditions. The groups will give young women a space to safely explore their experiences.
Image courtesy: YEHA
HERe NI
HERe NI in Belfast works with LGBT+ women and their families to help improve their quality of life, elevate their voices and alleviate inequalities caused by discrimination and homophobia. Peer group support is an important feature of its work. The charity also facilitates a range of events to foster social inclusion. All its work has a focus on increasing positive emotional health and wellbeing.
Our grant of £99,991 is to employ a full time Young Women’s Mental Health Worker to provide dedicated support to young women struggling with their mental health. This will be done through one-to-one support, advocacy, signposting and referrals and group activities. The charity also has referral pathways to help with housing issues, eating disorders, sexual abuse, and to ensure service users have the specialist support they require. Peer support groups will give young women space to discuss mental health challenges including homophobic/transphobic bullying in schools or the workplace, isolation, or rejection from family or community after coming out.
Links Counselling Service
Links Counselling Service provides counselling and trauma informed interventions for children and adults across Northern Ireland. It is a cross-community organisation, offering a neutral space across sectarian divisions within local areas. It offers interventions for a range of mental health difficulties such as trauma, bereavement, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm and relationship difficulties. There are programmes on self-esteem, resilience, eating disorders and maintaining healthy relationships. It delivers counselling and group programmes to children and young people in schools.
Our grant of £100,000 will fund two part time counsellors and associated project costs to sustain and increase capacity to support young women aged 16-25 years. They will be able to access walk-in counselling, longer term individual counselling and group support programmes. The charity can offer counselling via an interpreter and has counsellors who are specially trained to work with clients who are neurodiverse.
All of our recent grants are listed here Recent Grants Awarded.
Feature image courtesy: Women’s Health Matters