Youth in Mind
Support for 10 to 25 year olds who are struggling with their mental health because of very difficult, frightening or distressing experiences (also known as trauma).
“It has been a wonderful experience. Specifically that peer support workers have lived experiences they can share to make me feel more comfortable talking about my own.”
– Young person, Youth in Mind 1-to-1 support
Who can get support?
Anybody who:
- Is aged between 10 and 25 (support starts from school year 6)
- Lives, works or studies in Leeds
- Is struggling with their mental health because of very difficult, frightening or distressing experiences (also known as trauma*)
“Youth in Mind has pushed me to create positive thoughts about my future and overall made me become a better version of myself…. I have no words to sum up how meaningful this has all been.”
*About ‘trauma’
Trauma is when we experience very difficult, frightening or distressing experiences that are difficult to cope with or out of our control.
Trauma can be different for everyone.
Trauma could be one incident or happen over a long period of time. It includes a huge range of experiences, such as bullying, family breakdown, abuse, poverty, discrimination, and many other things.
Discrimination means being treated badly because of things like your race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion, class, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or neurodivergence.
Mind has some more information on trauma and the groups who are more likely to be affected.
What is support like?
“The continued support has been the best thing that’s happened to me on my mental health journey.”
Leeds Mind offers free 1-to-1 and group mental health support. You can choose to have group support, 1-to-1 support, or both.
In the Youth in Mind team we all have personal experience of trauma when we were children or young people. When it’s helpful, we talk about our own experiences and what has helped us as part of the support we give. This is called ‘peer support’.
Lots of young people have told us this helps them to feel safe in sharing what’s going on for them, and helps them feel less alone.
1-to-1 support
- Up to 8 sessions of personalised support.
- Can be in person at a venue of your choice, online (e.g. Zoom/WhatsApp call), on the phone, by WhatsApp message, or a mixture of these – it’s up to you.
- Flexible timing with daytime and evening options – doesn’t have to be the same time for every session.
- Can be weekly, fortnightly, or tailored to what you prefer (e.g. starting weekly and then gradually increasing the gaps between sessions)
- Focus on whatever is most important to you (e.g. building confidence at school or work, forming positive relationships, dealing with intrusive thoughts)
Group support
- 6 to 12 months of support.
- Groups are drop-in – there’s no need to book. If you’re not getting 1-to-1 Youth in Mind support, you’ll have one 1-to-1 chat with someone from the team before starting group support.
- A safe space to talk with people who’ve also had very difficult, frightening or upsetting experiences – but no pressure to talk if you don’t feel like it that day.
- A range of activities decided by the group – ideas so far include crafts, games, yoga, trampolining, walking, cooking and more!
Contact our Young People’s team
Email us: youngpeople@leedsmind.org.uk
Call us: 0113 305 5800 (Leeds Mind reception)
Get involved
We’re always looking for new steering group members. This group of young people, parents/carers and professionals works with us to:
- Design Leeds Mind’s support for young people
- Share our young person-led approach with other services and decision makers
- Plan and deliver events
We also have a laugh and eat pizza!
To join, you must be either:
- a young person (aged 11 – 25) who has struggled with your mental health due to very difficult, frightening or upsetting experiences
- someone aged 26+ who had these sort of experiences as young person
- a parent or carer of a young person who has struggled with these experiences
- a professional working with young people in Leeds
At the moment we’re particularly looking for parents/carers and young men.
For more information or if you’re interested in joining, please get in touch: youngpeople@leedsmind.org.uk
“I got so much more than I was expecting from steering group. When I joined I was anxious about meeting in person. I didn’t think I could present, co-create and facilitate workshops, receive an award on behalf of the group, make a video…It’s all really big for me.”
Who designed Youth in Mind?
We’re really grateful that at least 69 people with personal experience of trauma as a child or young person helped to design Youth in Mind, including 59 people who are currently within the age range of 10 to 25. We also had extremely valuable input from parents and carers of young people experiencing trauma. A huge thank you to everyone who helped.
We would also like to thank all the organisations supporting young people in Leeds and beyond who gave their time and experience during the design of the project.
With thanks to the Manny Cussins Foundation, Leeds Community Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for their generous support for this work.
Leeds Mind is proud to be a member of the Stonewall Children and Young People’s Services Champions programme. The programme supports us in our ongoing work to be inclusive, and cater to the needs of LGBTQIA+ young people in the support we provide.
