Mental health support for youth hub users
Poor mental health is something we all experience from time to time and it can be really challenging to navigate complex personal barriers when you are feeling emotionally overwhelmed or unsupported. Over the years, we’ve seen more and more young people disclosing poor mental health to us on entry to our support services; in 2025 it was 72% and this year that figure has risen again to a whopping 87% of our service users so what are we actually doing to address this need?
Barriers to access can often be a problem and we’re on a continued mission to build a bridge between the non-clinical offer we have in our youth hubs and critical services like NHS Talking therapies and GP’s. Most importantly, if you don’t have a GP or are unsure about where you can be seen, we can support you with this. We can help you to find your nearest GP practice, complete registration paperwork, book appointments and even accompany you to the doctors if a friendly face in the waiting room would help.
Next we want to ensure that you’re not left on your own as you figure things out. Being out of work and college often leaves us feeling isolated in our struggles so we encourage you to use our youth hubs as a safe space to relax and connect to the community we’re building. Our free daily youth activities can give you a reason to get out of bed everyday; helping you feel productive as well as helping you to make friends and tackle loneliness. Whether you choose to come in or stay home though, we’ll also do regular check ins with you and can talk through anything that’s causing you to feel stressed or dysregulated. Our hub is intentionally designed to include lots of confidential spaces and by talking openly, we can help you develop strategies to get you through when you’re feeling low.
We also have lots of useful resources available on the Hub Online which can be accessed 24/7 to remind you of techniques you may have covered through your programme and pop up events are also scheduled into our hub activities to help connect you with specialist services. We’ve already had visits from domestic abuse charity NIDAS and NHS Talking therapies and have a brilliant wellbeing event planned for the 2nd December which will be packed with organisations running interactive activities to help you widen your circle of support.
If you feel you’re in or reaching a crisis point with your mental health, there are additional layers of support available and we’ll stand with you during these most challenging times to get you the support you need. Crisis lines are routinely shared with our young people so they know how/who to reach out to and our Designated Safeguarding Leads will liaise with other services until such time that you are safe from harm. Remember your wellbeing is our most important priority and we’re committed to supporting you to move forward with dignity, respect and care.