Agenda and draft minutes
PDF 155 KBVenue: Committee Room, Bowling Green Road, Kettering, NN15 7QX
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Agenda Minutes: AGENDA & DRAFT MINUTES YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL: 11th February 2025 Committee Room, Bowling Green Road, Kettering, NN15 7QX: 4:30 pm – 5:50 pm Attendance Finley Howitt Also in attendance Brian McLaughlin
Youth Work Co-ordinator
Items: 1. Welcome and apologies. Nine YAC members were present for the meeting. Apologies were received from Alfie Richards.
2. Matters Arising. No matters arising from previous minutes. Minutes for January 2025 accepted in full.
3. Kerri Marshall-Duckett Project Manager - CYP Mental Health Front Door. (Youth Works) Kerri explained that she was new in role and was exploring issues around mental health and access to services. As a result of research, Kerri will be seeking help / support with the project with a view to setting up a project that could potentially be co-produced.
Some questions were asked by Kerri to help develop an understanding of what is available and accessible in relation to mental health.
a. How do you currently access mental health support? Use the NHS website and phoneline and walk-in centres. Contact CAMHS Call Childline Contact a friend Moderated chatlines where you can be anonymous Information found in libraries Contact Shout Counsellors in school ‘Wednesday Waffle’ (talking with peers and chance to off-load) Soulout App (peer support community) Open University
b. When seeking information on mental health support, what words do you use? Mental health.
c. Do you know what websites to access when seeking help or support for mental health? As above in a. General discussion: Accessing some of the services such as CAMHS can take a long time. Although you may be assessed relatively quickly, there waiting list, once assessed is extremely long and counted in years. Childline was generally liked by all and everyone present at the meeting was aware of the service. Members of the Council were aware of people who had used ‘Shout’ as a potential source of support, but overall there were mixed reviews over how effective and responsive it was. There was an acknowledgement that the information online was good but some people awaiting contact from the Shout Team were left ‘hanging for up to 8 hours’. Soulout was an app that people could use to seek support for mental health. It was not known widely by the group. Soulout is a peer support community site where users can rate the support received or experience. Abusers are blocked. Wednesday Waffle is something set up by colleagues working together as an opportunity to discuss whatever is happening, good or bad. This is open to colleagues on a weekly basis. Discussion took place over people feeling judged about their mental health or seeking support for their mental health. How do people overcome this? One suggestion of ‘normalising’ mental health was ... view the full minutes text for item 1. |