UK Youth awarded £75,000 for youth mental health support

A not-for-profit organisation, National Initiative for Creative Education in Hull, has been awarded £75,000 to provide mental health support to children and young people in Hull and East Riding.

The funding is being provided by the UK Youth Fund – Thriving Minds, a new programme being delivered by leading national youth work charity UK Youth.

Earlier this year UK Youth, working in partnership with the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, launched Thriving Minds, an ambitious fund for projects to improve mental health support and provision for young people through youth work. Organisations will be supported for three years, both with funds and a tailored package of extra support including workshops, training and by building communities of best practice. The initial £10m pot provided by Julia and Hans Rausing has been boosted by an additional £1m from the Westminster Foundation.

National Initiative for Creative Education is a non-profit organisation serving multi-cultural and multi-ethnic communities in Hull and East Riding. Through creative projects and programmes, NICE brings people together, improves community cohesion and increases equality and diversity. MindUs is a new mental health project that supports young people from ethnic minorities on their journey in understanding their mental health.

MindUs aims:

  • to improve mental health of BAME youth by offering regular sessions with a qualified Youth Worker and bilingual translators
  • to help young people to understand their emotions and to deal with different feelings
  • to lead series of creative workshops with local artists to teach young people creative way of expressing feelings
  • to create an online platform led by young people and supported by the Youth Worker to help others in our region.

In July 2020, the prevalence of mental health problems in 5-22 year olds went up to one in six, up from one in nine in 2017i. This comes at a time when support for young people is suffering. Children are waiting up to three years for access to mental health care in some parts of the UK. In the last decade more than 4,500 youth work jobs and 760 youth centres have closed, as over £1bn funding has been cut from the sector.

Ndidi Okezie, Chief Executive of UK Youth said: “Youth workers can spot the signs that a young person is experiencing difficulties and can support them to open up, talk through what they are going through and seek help if they need it. With a youth support system already on its knees post pandemic we know the numbers of young people that need support from a youth worker are only going to rise as we face the biggest cost of living crisis in a generation. UK Youth are delighted to be able to help fund National Initiative for Creative Education in Hull, one of almost 100 organisations across the UK improving support for young people over the next three years through their incredible work with young people.”

Magda Moses, Artistic Director from NICE said: “We are delighted to have secured support from the UK Youth Fund – Thriving Minds. As an organisation supporting young people, we have seen first-hand the impact of the pandemic and other issues on the mental health of children and young people, especially those who come from different countries. More and more young people are reaching crisis point and turning to us for support. This funding will allow us to support them appropriately, with great resources and professional and bilingual staff.”

For more information about the UK Youth Fund – Thriving Minds, please visit www.ukyouth.org.uk/thriving-minds

For more information about NICE, visit www.nice4all.co.uk

About UK Youth

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of over 8,000 youth organisations and nation partners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we are focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, visit the UK Youth website.

For more information, please contact communications@ukyouth.org

Website: www.westminsterfoundation.org.uk