IMPACT
REPORT
2012
INTRODUCTION
Our Annual Impact Report is vitally important to YoungMinds as we are openly reviewing with
you how we have done in the last year against our mission to improve the emotional health
and wellbeing of children and young people in the UK.
“Following a call to YoungMinds
Parents’ Helpline I received a call
back from a professional which was
The insight and guidance offered
helped me to respond appropriately
to my daughter’s attempted suicide
just one week later. That one hour
was the most singularly important
part of this intense experience.”
– Mum of a 15 year old
Measuring impact is of course very complex as so many organisations and factors influence
children’s lives, so in this report you will find measurement of outputs against targets, quotes
and commentary to give you the best picture we can of the range of our work and activity in
the last year alongside the quality, demand and difference it has made. We are now studying
how we can measure the wider impact of our work and will incorporate our new model of
measurement into our next Strategic Plan 2012–15.
In contrast to many charities, last year was one of growth and development and we
introduced different delivery models with great success. We now have a full and busy
programme of internships, a full range of online services and social media communication
and large and very successful capacity building projects with schools and the voluntary sector
nationally (BOND).
Staff have risen to the challenges of the last year with characteristic enthusiasm, hard
work and commitment, supported by our active Trustees and funders, well illustrated by the
contents of this report.
– Sarah Brennan, Chief Executive
YOUNG
PEOPLE’S
VOICES
YOUNGMINDS pioneering work with young people is spearheaded by the award winning VIK (Very Important Kids)
project funded by The Big Lottery. Over the last three years we estimate that 127,000 children and young people have felt
the impact of our groundbreaking work.
OUR PURPOSE
•S
kill up and support young people to directly influence mental health policy, commissioning and service delivery.
•C
hampion the participation of young people at local, regional and national levels in education, training, service development and policy.
•E
nsure that young people’s voices are at the heart of YoungMinds policy and campaigns.
OUR IMPACT
Young people have delivered training to 334 Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and addressed issues such as location
of services, accessibility, waiting times and suitability of waiting areas
resulting in improved design, delivery and evaluation of services.
YoungMinds is at the cutting edge of
participation work with young people.
When young people talk about their
experiences, and explain first hand
their needs, it is hard to not be moved.
Young people’s voices are the most powerful
tool in changing attitudes and behaviour.
Young people report they have increased self confidence, skills,
self esteem and improved peer support networks. 42 young people
delivered peer-to-peer work in schools.
35 young people are members of health committees that set
standards for CAMHS, for instance, The Royal College of Psychiatrists
have redeveloped their curriculum for trainee psychiatrists.
YoungMinds Participation team enables young people to be central in
the shaping and designing of the Department of Health’s new Children
and Young People’s ‘Improving Access to Psychological Therapies’
(IAPT), a national CAMHS transformation programme.
85 young people have presented their unique perspectives at
conferences informing and influencing professionals on subjects
ranging from self-harm to young people’s participation.
Development of shared decision making materials for children and
young people to ensure engagement and understanding through the
‘Closing The Gap’ project.
Our ‘State of Mind’ Young Londoners Manifesto generated a
movement of young people across London, connecting them to
decision makers to develop joint solutions and caused NHS London to
fund an online interactive map to help young people access support for
their mental health needs.
Work with commissioners and policy makers has shaped commissioning
practice and mental health services in over 10 locations.
Increased volume and weight of mental health coverage in the media,
almost once a day over the last year.
THE FUTURE
YoungMinds is immensely proud to be the national expert in the field of young people’s participation for mental health but there remains a
meaningful agenda to be tackled if we are to secure children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and good mental health for the future.
We have a strong foundation and we will continue to develop and grow, capitalising on relationships and opportunities already created.
We look forward to sharing our exciting plans with you in the coming year.
“For the past three years, VIK has given me and my family support, it’s given young
people a voice and it’s given professionals and the media an insight into what
mental illness is really like.” – Gemma, 22
PARENTS’ HELPLINE
YOUNGMINDS PARENTS’ HELPLINE provides practical advice,
“I have spoken to many parents and carers
who are desperate to talk to someone
about their concerns. YoungMinds Parents’
Helpline is a unique and hugely valuable
service which parents all over the UK can
access without having to do more than make
a phone call or send an email.”
A quarter of our callers are non-white, less than a third are in full-time
employment and nearly half are single parents. The very vulnerable children and
young people we are called about are often victims of abuse and rape, neglect,
violence/physical assault and bullying. We are seen as a trusted, all-embracing,
non-judgemental service, and as such we hear from the hardest to reach groups.
– Carole Easton, Chair,
YoungMinds Board of Trustees
support and guidance helping parents who are concerned and often distressed
about a child’s emotional wellbeing.
This year saw major developments in the delivery of our services
for parents. With support from the Department for Education,
we have expanded the telephone helpline to incorporate a range
of online practical help, support and information, with web chat,
email assistance, a parents’ forum and improved downloadable
information and new leaflets.
This year we helped 7486 people through our Helpline, web chat
and email services, that’s 18% more than last year. These essential
services offer worried parents, who are often unable to talk to
anyone else, a lifeline at times of crisis. 30% of callers also received
further free advice from our professional advisers.
Top 5
issues of concerN
#1 D
isruptive,
aggressive
or antisocial
behaviour
#2 Anxiety
#3 B
ehaviour
management
#4 Depression
#5 Self-harm
The guidance and advice given by the Parents’ Helpline often
negates the need for our callers to use a government service.
But where they still need to pursue further help, they tell us they
feel better informed and more confident accessing those services
to achieve better outcomes.
Volunteers are the backbone of the Helpline. Over 30 committed
and passionate people have successfully completed our 55 hour
comprehensive training programme, many going on to get paid
employment – a couple of them with us!
“I really enjoyed working on the Helpline. It’s given me valuable work
experience and skills.” – Meera, a volunteer
“After getting nowhere with my GP, I felt hopeless.
I called the Helpline and they gave me the confidence
and guidance to go back to my GP and get the help
my son needed.” – Parent of a 10 year old boy
YOUNGMINDS IN SCHOOLS is improving outcomes for children and
young people with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties through the
provision of online learning resources for educational professionals.
The project stands out from other school training programmes by taking a whole school approach
to improving emotional wellbeing and mental health.
In other words, it works with parents, teachers, headteachers and support staff alongside all
pupils, not just those children identified as having behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.
YoungMinds in Schools is a two year project working collaboratively with four clusters of schools
and the services that link to them, in Tottenham, Southwark, Burgess Hill and Weston Super Mare,
funded by The Department for Education.
The training we deliver is unique: it supports children’s emotional wellbeing within the context of
the curriculum. Training course topics cover Attachment Theory, Neuroscience and Learning,
Psychological Perspectives on Behaviour, Therapeutic Storywriting and Story Links.
Professionals that attended YoungMinds in Schools training evaluated it as very useful (80%)
or useful (20%).
“I’ve seen changes; teachers have
approached me about children in the
group, saying ‘I’ve really noticed the
difference in this child, her behaviour
is improving, she seems calmer, she
seems happier.’” – Niamh Gorman,
SENCO, Bruce Grove primary school
“YoungMinds programme has been absolutely
brilliant. Most important was the training
offered to the staff. I learnt things I didn’t
know in terms of student behaviour and
emotional wellbeing and have been able to
cascade this to other staff. The training for
me has been invaluable.”
– J uliet Coley, Deputy Headteacher
at Gladesmore Community School
In November 2011 YoungMinds in Schools launched a comprehensive
range of online resources which can be downloaded from our website.
They include books and research as well as practical strategies to
support emotional wellbeing in the classroom and four wonderful
films: ‘Whole School Emotional Wellbeing’, ‘Involving Parents in Pupils’
Learning’, ‘Therapeutic Storywriting’ and ‘Mindfulness in Schools’.
Moving On
Looked After Children are a priority to YoungMinds because of their high levels of
mental health problems (60%). This year we have been able to develop and deliver training
tailored to their needs for professionals and foster carers with support from Comic Relief.
Participants have explored the experiences of Looked After Children and how these can
affect mental health, ways to reduce risk when a child comes into care and build resilience.
Facilitated reflective practice sessions enable participants to explore ‘live’ issues in practice
and discover new perspectives.
Foster carers have told us they find it very helpful to explore the reasons behind some
children’s behaviour and this has changed how they would work with them in the future.
A free toolkit of training resources can be found at the YoungMinds website.
Exploring stigma
LOOKED
AF TER
CHILDREN
“If I told someone I heard
voices or saw things, I thought
they’d lock me up or I’d end
up in a straight‑jacket like
a prisoner.”
– A young person in care
‘ Stop treating us
like aliens and
treat us like
everyone else’
–A
Looked After
Young Person
YoungMinds conducted a research project into the mental health stigma faced by
Looked After Children funded by The Network for Social Change. A group of 50 young people
took part in a variety of creative workshops exploring experiences of mental health stigma at
school, in placements and with mental health services. Participants came from foster care,
residential child care placements, secure settings and also those leaving care.
Young people told us:
• They want schools to understand their experiences but not to single them out as different.
•M
ental health services often don’t meet their needs and that there is stigma attached to
these services.
• They
talk about their worries and feelings to people they have good relationships with,
often foster carers, residential workers and participation/children’s rights workers.
Conclusions
• T here needs to be more widespread understanding of what it means to be a Looked After
Young Person. YoungMinds training packages now incorporate these seldom heard voices.
•D
iscussions in school around equality and diversity should include conversations about
where young people live.
•P
articipants repeatedly stated that the only representation of children in care that others
know is the TV character Tracy Beaker and that they are tired of telling peers that they ‘are
not like Tracy Beaker’.
•N
ormalising the idea of care, including foster and residential care, will help alleviate some
of the stigma attached to children growing up away from home and improve their overall
wellbeing and mental health.
YOUNGMINDS IN THE MEDIA
APRIL 2011
MAY 2011
JUNE 2011
JULY 2011
AUGUST 2011
September 2011
YoungMinds has been ‘Kerrang!’s charity
partner for the last 4 years. They support
YoungMinds’ work through regularly
featuring our top tips for mental health
and wellbeing in their magazine.
YoungMinds raised concerns on
BBC Wales about the number of young
people committing acts of self-harm
following reports of an increase in the
number of children being hospitalised due
to self‑harm in Wales.
We warned in the Daily Mirror about the
dangers to the mental health and wellbeing
of two year old girls being forced to
participate in beauty pageants.
A mother of a VIK member spoke
to Woman magazine about how her
daughter had struggled with depression
and had found help and support
through YoungMinds.
Following the tragic shootings in Norway
The Times featured our advice on how
to help children cope with seeing horrific
events in the news.
The work of our Parents’ Helpline was
profiled in The Sun and Candis Magazine.
YoungMinds spoke to the Sunday Express
about the Prime Minister’s launch of the
happiness index.
The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph
reported that our Parents’ Helpline had
received a record number of calls due to
exam stress.
The work of YoungMinds Parents’ Helpline
in supporting over 6,000 parents a year
was featured in the Times Educational
Supplement as we urged parents to seek
help at an early stage for their child.
The Voice featured our concerns about how
cuts to CAMHS could impact on children and
young people from minority backgrounds.
We raised our concerns in The Daily
Telegraph that exam pressures placed on
young people will lead to an increase in
mental illness as they struggle to cope.
Our regional campaigning highlighted the
effects of cuts by Birmingham City Council
to CAMHS in the Birmingham Post. In the
Plymouth Herald we highlighted some of
the shocking waiting times for children
and young people in Devon.
October 2011
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
We launched the London Manifesto ‘State
of Mind’ on World Mental Health Day at City
Hall, encouraging young people to lobby
politicians and service providers to make
young people’s mental health and emotional
wellbeing a priority. BBC London covered the
launch interviewing two young people from
the VIK project.
Sky News and The Guardian reported our
concerns about the prevalence of self-harm
amongst young people.
YoungMinds warned in The Independent
that 100,000 children a year would be
hospitalised due to self-harm in 2020 if
current trends continued.
We revealed in The Sun that the number
of children and young people hospitalised
due to self-harm increased by 68% in the
last ten years.
The Observer profiled our work on revealing
the extent of cuts to CAMHS. Our analysis
revealed over 50% of CAMHS had reduced
their budgets in the year 2010/2011. Some
local authorities reported cuts of up to 30%.
The Sunday Telegraph featured the work of
our Parents’ Helpline in providing support
and advice to adults concerned about the
mental health or emotional wellbeing of a
child or young person.
We spoke in the Daily Mirror about the
effects of eating disorders on young people
and offered advice to parents in getting
appropriate support.
Together with ChildLine, SelfHarm.co.uk and
YouthNet we led a campaign focused on SelfHarm Awareness Day 2012. The campaign
drew the backing of N-Dubz and X-Factor
star Tulisa and featured in The Sun, Daily
Express and The Independent on Sunday.
The Sunday Times reported our concerns
about children accessing pornography via
their mobile phones.
We commented on the Daily Mirror’s story
about children as young as 3 being treated
for anorexia.
The BBC covered our support for the
Department of Health’s announcement that
an additional £22 million would be given
towards the Children’s Improving Access To
Therapy (IAPT) programme.
Megan, a young person on our VIK panel,
spoke to Yasmin Alibhai-Brown on BBC
Radio 4 about the impact of divorce on her
mental health. The programme featured
a 15 minute interview with Megan talking
about her experience growing up.
PATIENT VOICE
As part of a children’s charities alliance,
led by NCB, YoungMinds is playing an active
role in working with the Government on the
roll out of the new NHS structures and is
campaigning for children and young people’s
voices to be heard in the new landscape.
A YoungMinds survey revealed that 80% of
local government health scrutiny chairs did
not know how children and young people
could be involved in Health and Wellbeing
Boards or HealthWatch. The Government
will now review the role children and
young people’s participation plays once
HealthWatch has got underway.
ANNUAL DEBATE
CAMPAIGNS
& POLICY
“Without YoungMinds support I don’t
think we would have come as far as
we have, as quickly as we have. I
would like to thank them for their
drive and support.”
–P
aul Burstow, Minister of State for
Health, speaking at The House of
Commons debate on mental health.
BBC Home Editor Mark Easton chaired our
Annual Debate that looked at whether ‘Our
target driven school system was damaging
children’s wellbeing’. Panellists included
schools campaigner Fiona Millar, Matthew
Taylor from the RSA, Adele Eastman from
the Centre for Social Justice, Ian Morris from
Wellington College and Karen Robinson from
the National Association of Teachers.
CLOSING THE GAP
We are partners with the CAMHS Evidence
Practice Unit in this ‘action learning’
research project which has now recruited its
five CAMH services. The aim of the project,
started in Jan 2011, is to support CAMHS
clinicians in the participation of children and
young people in all aspects of their treatment.
ONLINE CHILD
PROTECTION INQUIRY
YoungMinds has warned of the dangers of
children and young people having unchecked
access to pornography. We gave evidence to
the Independent Parliamentary Inquiry into
Online Child Protection and have continued to
lobby with others for internet service providers
to show greater responsibility.
CUTS
As part of our continued campaign to protect
CAMHS, YoungMinds wrote to every council
leader and chief executive with a copy of our
briefing on cuts. We received many supportive
responses, which form the basis of an alliance
against further cuts.
CHILDREN AND YOUNG
PEOPLE’S MENTAL
HEALTH COALITION
As part of our continued involvement in the
Children and Young People’s Mental Health
Coalition we led a policy task group looking
at improving mental health training for Health
Visitors. Some of our recommendations are
now featured in the Department of Health’s
(DH) guidance for training Health Visitors.
We also co-hosted a thematic day with the
DH and The Afiya Trust which looked at the
implementation of the Mental Health Strategy
and its role in improving mental health
provision for children and young people.
SELF-HARM
YoungMinds is working in partnership with
the Cello Group on a groundbreaking research
project as part of their CSR ‘Talking Taboos’
programme. This will capture the views of
parents, teachers and healthcare professionals
on self-harm and lead to the production of a
range of resources for these groups.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
We have been commissioned by The Barrow
Cadbury Trust to lead a research project with
City University and The Centre for Mental
Health on the links between mental health
and offending. We look forward to publishing
our findings in the coming year.
LOOKING FORWARD
The Children and Young People’s Health
Outcomes Forum will publish their report
showing clear aims and aspirations for
improving the mental health of children and
young people. Release of the Mental Health
Strategy Implementation Framework by the
DH. YoungMinds welcomed the Mental Health
Strategy’s commitment to children and
young people’s mental health through early
intervention, robust support mechanisms
and identifying key stress points such as
when transitions occur. We now need to see
these commitments turned into a reality so
that children and young people get the right
support as soon as they need it and that
mental health promotion is a vital ingredient
in every community.
Early intervention is vital in preventing young people’s mental health problems
becoming more serious and entrenched in adulthood, that’s why we need to act now.
BOND is an ambitious, voluntary sector capacity building project that will
ensure children, young people and families receive quality assured early
intervention mental health support services in schools and other settings,
funded by The Department for Education.
BOND will:
• Test new approaches to joint working, providing intensive support,
through workshops, one to one coaching, action learning sets,
for voluntary and community sector organisations (VCSO),
commissioners and schools in five pilot areas.
• Develop and disseminate quality standards and accreditation for
voluntary sector delivery of mental health services.
• Support the increase in the range of early intervention mental
health services offered by voluntary sector providers.
• Support schools and commissioners in their procurement of
mental health services to ensure: high quality, an increase in
choices for young people, value for money and evidence based
effective services.
• Be a vital resource for schools, local authorities and the NHS to
support local determination of priorities, a strengthened voice for
service users and the increased role of the VCS.
“We are very excited to be a part of the BOND programme
and working with schools… We are pleased to be part of
this pilot which we believe will lead the way in developing
new and effective ways of working to improve children and
young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health.”
– Gill Rollings, Director of Children, Family and Learning
at Middlesbrough Council
YoungMinds leads this exciting programme on behalf of a consortium of national leaders and experts. BOND’s members include:
Youth Access and Place2Be, specialists in VCS delivery of children and young people’s mental health services in the community and schools.
The Mental Health Foundation and EBPU (Evidence Based Practice Unit) provide unrivalled expertise in research about effective mental
health services, quality standards and accreditation. FPM brings a strong track record of capacity building across youth VCS organisations.
Specialist CAMHS commissioning expert Lisa Williams and online CAMHS support provider: Cernis. The partnership is advised by The Afiya
Trust which brings expertise, networks and knowledge of BME communities.
ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE
In March 2012 we held Best Practice Exchanges in nine areas of England. These brought together
commissioners, schools and voluntary sector organisations with an interest in the mental wellbeing
of children and young people. Of the 500 people who participated 92% said they would like further
involvement with BOND. 98% of commissioners said they were more likely as a result to commission
VCSOs to deliver early intervention mental health services for children and young people.
THANK YOU
YoungMinds extends it heartfelt thanks to all our funders and supporters without whom we would not be able to continue our vital work.
Our gratitude goes to the Government, trusts, foundations, corporate partners including Capital Generation Partners, Rakuten’s Play.com
and The Bank of America, individual donors and of course our army of enthusiastic fundraisers.
“Through YoungMinds I was given the
to speak up at the House of Lords and be the
voice for myself and the many other young
people in the mental health system. As a young
person who suffers from mental health problems,
I found being able to get involved in a cause so
close to home has really helped towards my own
wellbeing and rehabilitation. Most importantly
I’ve been able to meet other young people I can
relate to and share experiences with, and
FINANCE
Expenditure Categories
Sources of Income
£
%
145,497
Donations
7
1,796,668
Projects & Services
84
74,304
Training & Development
3
77,613
Membership & Publications
4
40,497
Other
2
2,134,579 Total Income
%
£
2
38,600
Training & Consultancy
4
79,894
Membership & Publications
23
437,304
Parents Information Service
35
655,350
Participation Projects
28
Support for Professionals and Organisations 528,665
2
37,450
Policy, Information & Research
5
85,423
Marketing & Fundraising
1
13,532
Governance
1,876,218
Total Expenditure
Balance at end of Year: Reserves of £441,450
Extract from Annual Report
because it has given me the chance to make
new friendships and meet some of the most
inspirational young people across the nation.”
– Monique, 21
wearebwa.co.uk
YOUNGMINDS IS THE UK’S
LEADING CHARITY COMMITTED
TO IMPROVING THE EMOTIONAL
WELLBEING AND MENTAL
HEALTH OF CHILDREN AND
YOUNG PEOPLE
T: 020 7089 5050
E: ymenquiries@youngminds.org.uk
A: Suite 11, Baden Place, Crosby Row, London, SE1 1YW
W: www.youngminds.org.uk
Registered Charity No: 1016968
Company limited by guarantee No: 2780643. OSCR No: SCO39700