In this article I want to reflect on some of the influences and experiences that can impact on young men, that may well trigger feelings of anxiety and depression. I hope to reach out to any young man struggling with their feelings and ways of coping that may not be helping them. To highlight to them that they do not need to be struggling and that it is OK for them to ask for help, and that counselling can be a place where they can start to make changes to their lives.
What is it like being a young man?
Life can feel so much more confusing these days for many of us, yet what is it like to be a young man trying to negotiate your way in the world? What of the pressures to belong and be accepted by your peers, let alone to do well in education, to get all the qualifications you are told you need, have a well-paid job and be in a relationship. Then what of the perception that everybody else is doing well and are living a fun life on social media – yet what is the reality for you? Do you feel you need to show the world you are OK?; that you are coping and that everything you post online says you are fun to be with and are happy? I wonder how easy is it to keep leading this life?
Experiencing anxiety and depression
Then things might start to change; you begin to feel an anxiety that cripples you in social settings. To cope, you choose to use alcohol and perhaps drugs, however, this only seems to work initially then the anxiety returns, and it feels a spiral of lesser returns for more of a need for a chemical fix. You dare not tell your friends that you are feeling anxious, and instead make excuses to not go out socially, for fear of being anxious. Thus the anxiety feels it is getting bigger and has a hold over you. You now feel depressed because you cannot face your friends, and increasingly make excuses not to meet up with them, and stay at home playing video games.
Another scenario could be that you become dependent on alcohol and/or drugs to be able to go out socially. Your need for alcohol and or drugs increases as you try to stop feeling anxious, however, you start to feel depressed, deeply unhappy and short of money. Your friends become increasingly concerned about you; they try to help you, yet get exacerbated by your continued behaviour and then distance themselves from you. You find you are left associating with young men who drink alcohol excessively and/or take more and more drugs.
Do either of these situations sound familiar to you, or someone you might know? While it could feel impossible to change how you live, I want to convey that while it might feel like you are stuck, it is possible to unstick yourself and to change how things are for you.
Is it OK to ask for help?
It may possibly feel this life can be tough to live, and that you should be strong enough to cope, yet I want you to consider how you judge yourself, and whether it is OK for you to ask for help? The first step to change how you feel and behave is through you wanting to help yourself. Then, asking for help would be the first and most important step you can take. Seeing a counsellor could be the best thing you could give yourself; a place where you can start to make sense of how you are feeling and to look at how your behaviour might not be helping you.
Deconstructing myths around masculinity
It can still be true for many men, that to be a man you feel you need to convey your manliness by showing the world you are tough physically and emotionally. Yet building a perfect body doesn’t make you immune to feelings, and you could be hiding how you feel because you fear what others might think of you. Well, let’s burst that balloon of perception; the greatest strength you can show to yourself and the world is that you are not afraid to talk about how you feel. Muscles can with exercise grow, and emotionally, with a willingness you might put into a gym workout, you can too become more emotionally able.
So let us turn this myth around that men need to be strong (and strength means not to show you are upset). Yes, you may have received messages growing up that men should not cry; well let me debunk that and consider it is a strength to show how you feel. To be healthy you need to be able to allow yourself to experience what you feel instead of denying your feelings. None of this is radical stuff, yet somehow old messages stick and possibly, how you might have experienced your own father’s behaviour could still be an influence – even if you have said to yourself many times; “I am going to be my own man”.
Wanting to change feelings and behaviours
Entering into a counsellor’s room could mean you are ready to consider your behaviour is no longer helping you, and are prepared to look at making changes. Then in some aspects, you are halfway to helping yourself, yet there is work to be done; and it does not have to be as hard as you might have imagined. Behind the anxiety you have felt, could be issues around how you have learnt to cope, and how you might have felt about yourself; but actually, sharing all this with a counsellor could feel like a personal liberation. It might not be rocket science to learn that if you do not reinforce feelings of anxiety through your behaviour, and instead start to face what is making you feel anxious, then your feelings of anxiety will begin to dissipate. And it could feel like a science you were not aware of before. You will need to continue not to fear your feelings and to stop avoiding situations that have made you feel anxious. With the help of your counsellor, you could learn how you can live more freely without feeling your anxiety has become you. Through all this work on helping yourself, you might surprise yourself and start to feel you actually like yourself.
This adage is as true now as it ever was; that a problem shared is a problem halved, so please do not suffer your feelings of anxiety and depression alone, there is help out there if you are prepared to ask for it.
We are all mothers whose sons were stabbed to death.
We know people find it hard to call and report information on knife crime, but when our sons were murdered, we had to make much harder calls.
We’re sharing stories of the sons we lost and the calls we had to make here, in our own words. We want to show what knife crime does to families, and ask people to help save other families from losing their son or daughter.
Support this amazing and sadly much needed campaign
A Metropolitan Police commander has insisted London knife crime “is not out of control”, despite 13 teenagers having lost their lives to fatal stabbings so far this year.
He added: “We need to understand why people carry knives. We also have a job as police to prevent violence right now. The key role of policing is, at first, to stop the bleeding.
“While we need to understand the causes, right now we need deal with the acute issue of people, often young, carrying knives.The tragedy and irony is that it is a for a feeling of safety.
“The irony is that the data is incredibly strong that if you carry a knife, you are so much more likely to be a victim of a stabbing.
“You can just imagine, if you get into a fight and you’re not carrying a knife, it is going to end in one way, but probably not with someone being stabbed or being stabbed yourself, but if you are carrying a knife it is a totally different picture.
“The other one is the credibility and prestige, unfortunately. That is something we as society, communities and families need to consider around making it not credible to carry a knife.”
Operation Sceptre, which ran from April 26 to May 2, resulted in Met officers seizing more than 400 knives from the street, including machetes, rambo, lock and kitchen knives.
Anti-knife campaigners have also argued that police are “fighting a losing battle” and deadly knives are simply “too readily available” for young people.
In a bid to tackle the issue at source, officers aged between 18 and 25 have been carrying out test purchase operations to check if retailers are following the correct “Challenge 25” policy, with 71 out of 212 retailers selling the knife without seeing any ID.
Commander Murray say, though, that Met data suggests knife crime is falling in London.
May 10 marked a year since the formation of the Met’s Violence Suppression Units, groups made up of local officers who are solely based in their geographic area with the purpose of being alive to specific issues and building vital relationships. The proactive units identify and target the most serious offenders and tackle the key drivers of violence.
In their year of operation to date, they have seized made a total of 6,031 arrests for violent offences, including robbery GBH and murder.
More than 1,000 weapons have also been seized, including 81 firearms, and £1.5million in cash from criminality confiscated.
He adds: “You have to look at the amount of arrests we have made and the amount of knives recovered, coupled with the data. Data is one thing, and is doesn’t take away from the tragedy of people getting stabbed, but in the last 12 months we have 226 less people under the age of 25 stabbed than in the preceding 12 months – that is a 16 per cent reduction.
“There has been a 28 per cent reduction in overall knife crime compared to the 12 months previously. I don’t think it adds up that we are fighting a losing battle, but anyone getting stabbed is unacceptable.”https://get-latest.convrse.media/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mylondon.news%2Fnews%2Fzone-1-news%2Fmet-police-insists-london-knife-20587837&cre=bottom&cip=28&view=web
Newham residents also told My London they were “scared to go out” and that the issue of knife crime was “constant and getting worse” following two fatal stabbing taking place just three days apart.
His message to such residents is that police will “never rest on our laurels” and violence continued to be “the number one priority” for officers.
Commander Murray rounds off with a simple message to Londoners.
If you do not want to listen to police, at least listen to the five mums who have taken part in the Hard Calls Save Lives campaign
The video shows the parents recalling the harrowing moment they found out their family members had become London’s latest victims of knife crime.
He concludes: “If you’re reading this and don’t know anyone that carries a knife, circulate the video and get people talking about it.”
Paul McKenzie is part of the Youth Unity team was part of this amazing project and held a series of workshops working with young people who have mental health challenges. Throughout these workshops Paul coached these young people through expressing their thoughts and feelings through art the outcome, this incredibly deep and thought provoking content.
Well done to South London and Maudsley NHS for driving such an important topic and giving these young people a voice.
During the last year there has been a massive change in most communities across the UK, in fact there has been a massive change globally. These changes have affected the way all of us live and survive.
There is no doubt that the world has changed for us all.
Coming together as a community became the number one priority for us all. Community projects emerged to help social prescribing and signposting people towards creative projects and services that help them with
Mental health * Housing * Food * Child care
For many of us, we have had to change our life styles. With employment being affected, schools closing for months and the overall challenges of us all facing a global economic melt down.
The Pandemic has truly altered what normal means to us all.
A year ago, the very thought that you would have to visit a food bank was a distant reality, the fact that you would have to wear face covering or be limited to visiting friends and loved ones has challenged the way we carry out our day to day lives.
Although these challenges have taken many lives and limited much of the norms we have become accustomed to, one thing that has stood out across the globe is the resilience that people have when faced with adversity and loss.
Communities have started to work together as one. The word community has definitely become the reality for many living and trying to survive challenges such as loss, unemployment, education and mental health. In fact these very presuppositions have become motivational words that enable us to move forward.
Long gone is the comfort zone of life.
Before the pandemic, many of the community values were questionable, with the decline of support and the never ending issue of serious youth violence and unemployment hanging over us, we have discovered that underneath all of the challenges that we face, we can come together in these times to push forward and create a sense of a brighter future.
Projects have started to include the homeless, hungry and isolated. Many of these projects are managed and run on a voluntary basis, to help those in need to connect with the support that will provide them with a glimpse of of hope for the future.
The vision of a long awaited sustainable community is now a reality. Paul Mckenzie
Serious Youth Violence – ONE STOP SHOP Pop Up Intervention Van to help tackle knife crime by offering educational workshops, help advice and signposting
The aim of which is to collaborate with statutory organisations delivery a one stop mobile intervention centre. We will act as a central point for delivery of workshops / focus groups and other activities. Pinpointing is particularly effective in coordinating responses from people with varying backgrounds and experiences, in including those who are usually reluctant to participate. The Detached work: young people are sought in the locations on the street where they usually spend their time. It aims to create contact, council, and provide assistance. Working with groups: a variety of groups that are accessible through schools, through single young people and “cliques”. The ‘mobile youth intervention centre’ that can be used be utilised to transport the event equipment for the pop-up workshops, the filming equipment, along with the general day to day running of the business.
What is the purpose of Mental Health Awareness Week?
Today marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) – a week aimed at providing a valuable opportunity to talk openly about all aspects of mental health, with a specific focus on providing help and advice for those in need.
What is the theme for Mental Health Month 2021?
In 2021, we will continue with our theme of Tools 2 Thrive, providing practical tools that everyone can use to improve their mental health and increase their resiliency regardless of their personal situation.
When is Mental Health Week and awareness starting?
Mental Health Awareness Week runs from Monday 10 May to Sunday 16 May 2021. This year, join the fight for mental health. During this pandemic, millions of us have experienced a mental health problem, or seen a loved one struggle. And we’ve seen that the support we all need just isn’t out there.
You work hard to keep your children safe from so many different dangers, but every day they are exposed to countless threats online. Predators, disturbing content, identity theft attempts, and other things you wouldn’t let them experience in real life are all waiting for them.
Shockingly, 1 in 5 teenager say they have been approached in a sexual way by strangers online; only 25% told their parents.
As a parent, that’s terrifying.
Young people have access to a nearly infinite pool of content thanks to websites like YouTube and Reddit. Worse, the Internet, the rise of smartphones, and the culture of social media allow us to access these things from anywhere. No matter what you think of it or how much you know about it, platforms like YouTube are changing how children are growing up.
While that’s not always a bad thing, kids have more access to new sources of information, some good and some bad. Finding useful information on YouTube is easy, but so is stumbling across harmful or even malicious content.
How can you restrict what your children watch on YouTube?
The answer to this question isn’t simple. Fortunately, there are options available to parents when it comes to controlling YouTube and Internet access.
The number one priority for parents should be to teach their children to protect themselves online and use social media safely. As a parent, you can’t monitor everything your child does all the time, and older teenagers might want (and genuinely need) some digital privacy. Instead, focus on being proactive about their safety while teaching your children how to protect themselves online.
What Children Do Online
In 2015, the Pew Research Center found that 92% of teenagers go online daily and that 75% own a smartphone. An Australian study later reported that 95% of 8- to 11-year-olds have accessed the Internet in the last month.
The most common websites they used were YouTube, Facebook, and online games like Roblox. In fact, email and even text messaging have taken a backseat to social media for many younger users. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and others provide a nearly infinite supply of content.
The Threat of Online Strangers
Sites like Instagram and Twitter not only let you connect with close friends and family members, they also open communication with complete strangers. Nearly half of Facebook users accept friend requests from people they’ve never met before, and most users are familiar with stories of social media or chat requests gone wrong. But did you know that YouTube allows comments on most videos and that those comments sections can contain links posted by predatory adults hiding behind fake profiles?
Parental Controls
Many modern devices, apps, and web browsers offer parental controls that restrict access to certain content for their kids but did you know that many antivirus software already include parental controls? Not all of the top antivirus software in 2021 have parental controls, but the ones that do offer two layers of protection with one installation. Some popular options include:
Bitdefender – the premium version comes with a lot of features, but some of them are intrusive. These features include a webcam filter, activity reports, history and alerts, social media and mobile phone tracking, IP monitoring and blocking, SMS and call monitoring, website and app blocking, and location tracking.
Norton – this household name features time, web, search, social media, and location supervision, protection of personal information, access request, and support for up to 10 devices.
Avast – the website blocking feature is less intrusive than the other options mentioned. Parents can block specific websites and keywords.
A quick search will show you which antivirus software includes parental controls but in our experience, the best way to encourage safe Internet browsing is education and conversation.
Many platforms like Netflix have built-in parental controls that restrict content with a passcode. Netflix supports kid-focused user accounts to block adult-only shows. iPhones also have parental controls in their settings menus.
Some tech-savvy kids can bypass parental controls by installing certain software. Prevent them from doing so by giving them access to non-administrator user accounts on your operating system. Most will only let certain accounts install new software.
Finally, educating your kids on some smart browsing habits goes a long way toward ensuring their safety. You want to teach them to:
Never share personal information online, like your phone number, email, address, or personal pictures.
Think before you post. Your name is attached to everything you say online, so don’t post anything you wouldn’t want a teacher, a friend, a family member, or a potential employer to see.
Understand that their actions online can have consequences in real life.
Take some time to go through the privacy settings on Facebook and other online platforms.
Don’t share passwords.
Don’t meet someone you’ve befriended online without parental permission.
These are just general guidelines. It’s worth looking into the specific services and platforms your children enjoy using the most to see if they offer any customized parental controls.
Facebook
Facebook is still one of the most popular social media platforms, but younger audiences are increasingly turning away from it. Chances are if your child does use Facebook, having a profile plays a huge role in your child’s ability to fit in with friends at school. Not only are the usual online dangers present, but what your child posts can impact his or her livelihood down the road. College admissions officers and job recruiters have reported that content on Facebook and other channels could harm an applicant’s chances.
What does this have to do with streaming videos? Facebook introduced a streaming feature called Facebook Live. These are videos being broadcast to the user’s friends list, but the recording of it can be shared. That means raw, unedited footage of anything the user opted to broadcast can be shared to unconnected users. Unfortunately, Facebook has come under fire for some of these videos, especially ones of gang rape and of the murder of Philando Castile.
YouTube
YouTube modernized access to digital media and this popular video sharing website is used by people of all ages. Many parents rely on YouTube to entertain or instruct their children and while this works for many, there is a lot of troubling content on YouTube that masquerades as kid-friendly.
YouTube has everything: children’s shows, toy reviews, video game footage interlaced with player commentary (known as “Let’s Plays”), and so much more. YouTube’s content creators are more than eager to provide content that appeals to young children. The official Peppa Pig YouTube account, for instance, streams episodes of the show live for free.
But you can’t expect everything to be kid-friendly. Plenty of malicious and racy content can be found on YouTube. While users have the ability to “flag” objectionable videos and YouTube offers a kids’ mode, these solutions aren’t perfect. The only way to ensure safe browsing for very young children is to be aware of what they are watching.
Let them watch without headphones so you can listen in on.
Check their video history from time to time.
Understand the current trends when it comes to questionable content (more on this later).
Encourage them to watch channels that you know are kid-friendly.
YouTube’s Darker Side
Among the kid-friendly channels, it’s important to know how to recognize any questionable content your child might be exposed to on YouTube. There are countless channels that appear harmless on the surface, however, a deeper look will reveal how disturbing the content actually is.
The Logan Paul Generation
Logan Paul is a popular YouTuber with millions of subscribers, including many younger fans. The online celebrity experienced controversy in late 2017 after posting a video of a dead body while exploring Japan’s infamous Suicide Forest.
He was heavily criticized for exploiting the man’s suicide for his online show. Logan eventually took down the video and issued an official apology but it was deemed “too little, too late” by many.
Elsagate
Another YouTube controversy is the Elsagate scandal. Recently, several videos featuring iconic child-friendly characters like Spiderman, Elsa from Frozen, and Peppa Pig emerged in videos that contained disturbing, non-child-friendly themes. These videos were produced illegally without permission from the official owners, yet many children watched them daily.
While some of these videos were clearly fake, others featured standard animation, making it difficult for kids to tell the difference. In these videos, the characters would often:
Inject each other with needles.
Attack, steal, and break things.
Get another one of the characters pregnant. There were countless videos featuring pregnant Elsa and other Disney characters.
Bizarre Disney and Marvel Live Action Content
There are also popular videos in which actors dress as Disney characters and create live action skits. Once again, these videos are full of disturbing content that is far from kid-friendly.
The majority of these questionable videos often ranked well because their creators knew how to manipulate the YouTube algorithm. A simple search for Spiderman or Elsa would often put these videos near the top of the search because they were viral.
Suggested Content
Another issue parents have to deal with is suggested content. Many children are still building their attention spans, and after a few minutes in one video, they might click a suggested video from the sidebar. Suddenly, they’re falling down the rabbit hole that is YouTube’s suggested content feature.
YouTube displays suggested content based on a set of specific ranking factors. If a video is extremely popular and somewhat related, it will be displayed. So, if your children click suggestions after watching a Frozen clip, it won’t take long for pregnant Elsa and Spiderman videos to pop up in their feed. As parents, this means your children are being served content that even adults would find creepy.
How can you stop it? There’s virtually nothing you can do to stop this other than strict parental controls and monitoring your kids’ internet use in real-time.
YouTube Parental Controls
Parental controls exist on YouTube. They are far from perfect and some bad content will still sneak through, but you can minimize the risk that your children will see something disturbing. Here’s what you can do through YouTube’s parental controls:
Block specific content types and creators. If there’s a specific channel you are aware of or a genre of content, you can block it.
Allow approved content only. Parents can also limit what their children watch by approving specific content. Children will only be able to watch this content and nothing else.
Turn the search off. The search function on YouTube can be turned off. This is a great option for parents of children who are able to read and write.
Limit use to YouTube Kids. This is a popular option for parents who want a kid-friendly version of YouTube. While it doesn’t block everything, it does remove a lot of the adult content.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a messaging app for mobile devices where users can send images and videos to friends. The app is popular with teens and young adults, and surveys have shown that 32% of US teens have used Snapchat.
Unlike Facebook, you cannot monitor your child’s activity on Snapchat without having direct access to his or her account. Instead:
Ask your child to open Snapchat messages along with you.
Go into the app’s settings and make sure messages can only be received from friends rather than strangers.
In 2014, Snapchat was in the spotlight after a third-party “snap saving” app was hacked. Over 90,000 revealing photos were leaked on the Internet, many of which contained underage nudity.
Remember, “snaps” can be pictures or videos, so the same concerns you may have about Facebook Live or YouTube content applies to Snapchat.
Online Gaming
Video games have increasingly moved toward an online multiplayer business model where players can interact and communicate with other players. Games like StarCraft, World of Warcraft, PUBG, and Fortnite are entirely multiplayer, while others like Minecraft and Call of Duty offer both single player and multiplayer modes.
It’s important to understand that the ESRB rating system for determining age and content ratings for video games typically doesn’t consider online interactions. So, while a video game like Fortnite may seem child-friendly on the surface with its colorful graphics and cartoony art style, adult players can say anything they want to in the game’s voice chat.
Gambling Online – The CS: GO Gambling Scandal
Video game controversies can be extremely complex. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is an online multiplayer combat video game that offers in-game microtransactions, where virtual in-game items can be purchased using real money. In particular, CS:GO sells “skins,” or spray-painted designs to decorate a player’s weapons or character. Certain skins have been known to cost upwards of a thousand dollars.
It’s also possible to trade skins between accounts. This has led to the creation of websites built to allow players to wager the value of their skins against other user’s skins. Trading websites like these employ famous YouTube celebrities to advertise the service to millions of viewers as well.
Don’t fool yourself, these are gambling websites.
On these websites, players bet and win skins based on random chance and betting on live matches. While this setup is essentially gambling, trading skins manages to dodge the legal definition of gambling by not involving actual money, but rather virtual items that can be sold for money. Nonetheless, the game’s developers have been hit with class-action lawsuits over the possibility of underage players gambling on these sites.
There was even a major scandal in 2016 when popular Counter Strike YouTubers TmarTn and Syndicate, who were famous for creating videos of them gambling on these types of websites, were caught rigging bets on a website they owned. In these videos, the two players would gamble and show players how much they were winning. However, they never revealed to their audience that they were gambling on a website they owned. All of their winnings were staged, misleading their millions of supporters, many of whom were underage, and encouraging them to gamble.
Loot Box Addiction
A similar new trend is the rise of “loot boxes.” In certain games, players can purchase or earn a virtual crate which, when opened, give the player a randomized selection of further virtual items that can be used in-game. Thanks to the randomization factor, loot boxes have been claimed to be gambling in disguise.
In fact, the Belgian government ruled against loot boxes, calling them a form of gambling. Major corporations continue to push loot boxes because of how lucrative they are. In the video game industry, major companies have even coined the term “whales” for users who purchase an excessive number of loot boxes.
You might hear about loot boxes under different names. The video game Rainbow Six: Siege, for instance, refers to them as “Alpha Packs.” The screenshot above shows a seasonal “loot box” from Overwatch.
In-Game Purchases
Mobile phone games usually include microtransactions. These transactions involve any form of transaction that takes place in a game. They typically charge whatever credit card is linked to your App Store or Google Play Store account. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Pokemon Go, and Roblox are a few examples of free-to-play games that include excessive microtransactions.
Parents need to be aware of microtransactions. They can be addictive for your children, and in extreme cases, your child may rack up a large bill on your credit card.
The Takeaway
For the majority of kids and teenagers, the Internet has had a positive impact on their lives. Your responsibility as a parent, though, is to ensure a healthy balance between Internet use and your children’s online privacy and digital security. Talk to them extensively about social media and content consumption, and be prepared to step in whenever issues do come up.
Be an active listener, educate them about the dangers of specific content, and make sure they understand that their actions online can have consequences. Take some time to understand the websites and services your children use the most as well. Teaching them how to engage with others online is integral to succeeding in an increasingly Internet-centered society.
Voices of Covid was filmed before the second big lockdown we went on the streets of Romford and asked the community how they felt about the pandemic, we had some very mixed opinions and views. We also heard some pretty sad stories of isolation and loss.
CAMHS Mentor Volunteer Coordinator Sinéad Brown talks about “Health Information Champions”, an exciting and innovative project that involved young people collaborating with award-winning artists Mark Chilvers and Paul McKenzie. The project was funded by NHS England and Improvement.
“Studies have shown that young people of all communities reported experiencing raised levels of stress and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ‘Life These Days: A Young Person’s Guide to Navigating COVID 19’ creative arts project was designed as part of a winter response to this finding and aimed to ease some of the burdens caused by the pandemic.
“A group of 15 young people came together to volunteer their time in a bid to facilitate a space where young people could access accurate and timely messages about COVID 19 and enable positive health experiences. Most of the young people involved in the project were current or former users of our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
“This co-designed project included drama games and icebreakers, debates and discussions, homework challenges, and several mini-masterclass training sessions in photography and filmmaking. Each participant involved received a film-kit in the post, which caused much excitement and anticipation to kick start the project.
“The project spanned seven weeks, delivering over a dozen workshops and our end product was over 20 co-produced digital posters each with messages from young people, one 30-minute podcast and short film. View the Facebook album here.
“We closed the project with two celebration parties – one for each of the groups (aged 7-12 and 14-18 years), where young people dressed up, brought party snacks and danced and laughed as we brought the project to a close. Each young person was awarded with a certificate of achievement and an e-voucher to thank them for all of their hard work and effort in creating and sharing uplifting and educational messages for other young people.
“Projects like this remind us that despite the difficulties weighed down on us by COVID 19 communities can still come together to support, create, learn, share, and inspire. The flexibility of remote engagement allowed us to reach young people all over South London. Relatives of participants were able to take part, former service users were involved and even inpatients on acute wards could be part of the project.
“The young people said they felt the sessions helped them to cope with the pressures of COVID 19; they also said they felt that the workshops helped them to have good mental health. The project provided the young people with a place to feel heard and recognised, to have fun; but most importantly, it was a space for young people to connect. It didn’t stop there, parents reported feelings of respite from the project, and clinicians felt that it really acted as a supplement to therapeutic sessions of the service users they were supporting.
“Finally, it is absolutely the case that the impact and legacy of this project will continue far beyond the final delivery date. The young volunteers developed their confidence, built friendships, and nurtured a love for art. All things that truly are invaluable and immeasurable.
“The parent of a child aged seven who took part said: ‘He loved it so much. He got so much from it. It boosted his confidence. His self-esteem really improved and just blossomed over the time. After each group [session] he got more comfortable. It touched my heart to see how much impact you had on him.’
“Isobel Mdudu, our Trust’s Volunteer Services Manager, said: ‘The Health Information Champions project has been wonderful. A big thanks to Sinead who succeeded in making this happen in such a short space of time – an imaginative, creative and amazing way to involve young volunteers.’
Nurjahan Ali Arobi, NHS England and Improvement’s policy lead on youth volunteering, and the project’s lead commissioner said, ‘We are delighted by South London and Maudsley’s progress with Health Information Champions, with 96 percent of participants finding the sessions either calming, exciting or inspiring.’
