Young Hearts, Strong Minds

Funded by

Who’s it for

Young people (aged 11-13 and 14-16)

What is it?

Young Hearts, Strong Minds is a 3-year early intervention therapy and empowering youth-led support project delivered in collaboration with Cheshire Young Carers, a trusted partner of Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board. The project aims to increase mental health awareness and provide early intervention therapeutic support for young people in the Ellesmere Port schools.

Key objectives of the project include:

• Increasing mental health awareness among young people to help them better understand mental ill health, coping strategies, and how/where to seek help.
• Providing early intervention therapeutic support through 1:1 mental health sessions with a clinical practitioner, focusing on individual strengths and needs.
• Empowering young people’s mental health (from their perspective) by training and employing young people as mental health advocates. These sessions will equip young people with the tools and techniques to become mental health advocates and meaningfully engage with peers and influence learning with other adults in their lives.
• Facilitating youth-led group sessions where young people share challenges with peers, explore factors contributing to mental ill health, and gain knowledge to improve resilience and self-care. Topics discussed include healthy relationships, family dynamics, academic pressure and exam stress, social media/online safety, body image, self-esteem, and how these issues can negatively influence mental health and lives. Facilitators will educate on coping mechanisms, mindfulness, emotional regulation, etc.

Why take part?

This project fosters positive conversations around mental health on a personal and collective level. Youth Fed has the expertise in delivering mental health support, which contributes to improved academic performance as a result of improved wellbeing. Other benefits include:

• For teaching staff, improved teacher-student relationships and classroom dynamics.
• For students, contribution to the local community, greater awareness of mental health issues, and improved skills and knowledge.
• For the school environment, it removes the stigma surrounding mental health, promotes kindness, empathy, and inclusiveness.

Get involved!

The project welcomes schools into the school community and invites students interested in taking part in 1-hour long group sessions (delivered in groups of up to 20), becoming Mental Health Advocates, and accessing 1:1 support.

Please contact yourmindmatters@youthfed.org or by calling 07938479268 for more information.