Recently, our grant panel met to discuss this year’s Young Women in Mind grant applications.
The five-year programme was set up in 2021 to help improve the mental health of young women aged 16-25 in the UK. We award approximately £1m a year to charities that understand young women’s distinct needs.
Since the programme began, we have been determined to include the voices of young women in our decision making, by including young panel members who have knowledge of accessing community and statutory mental health services for support. This year was no exception.
The grant assessment panel included three young women who are experts by experience, who once again gave us valuable insights we wanted to share.
Grants Manager, Sonja Forbes, explained the importance of their involvement:
‘Their perspective and insights were incredibly helpful. Our grant-funding decisions are richer and more informed thanks to their willingness to be open about their personal experiences. They genuinely made an invaluable contribution, and we are so grateful to them for their time, insights and wisdom.’
Among their many insights Sonja reports, they had five key take aways for improving access to young women’s mental health services.
Young women must be able to self-refer to mental health services.
This was seen as vital because referrals from GPs, CYPMHS (Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services, formerly CAMHS) and other statutory mental health providers can present major barriers for young women trying to access support due to long waiting times and the high thresholds for acceptance into some services.
Pre-counselling sessions can help young women get the most out of counselling sessions.
Pre-counselling and drop-in sessions can offer valuable support while waiting for longer-term counselling. ‘Listening ear’ sessions (in person, via phone or online) can also offer emotional support to young women while they wait for more formal counselling to begin.
Help with transport costs and providing childcare removes barriers.
Travel and childcare costs can be major barriers to accessing services. Organisations which can provide childcare and help with travel costs can really help make services more accessible.
Offer a range of therapeutic activities.
What works for one person may not be suitable for another. Creative activities such as art therapy and dance and so on may be helpful for some people, while talking therapies may be more appropriate for others.
‘Walk-through’ videos published on an organisation’s website can be reassuring.
A walk-through video can provide young women with a helpful insight into the layout of the physical space they will attend. This can be very reassuring and help to remove some of the uncertainty about what to expect before arrival.
We believe their tips will be valuable to service providers and resonate with many young women facing barriers to accessing vital support.