Bucks Youth Summit 2024 – Mental Health

Format

 

  • The Mental Health conversation space was hosted in a large room called the Norman Bragg studio.
  • Young people from the CAMHS Youth Forum Article 12 helped to plan and facilitate this conversation space.
  • It had different stations for young attendees to interact with, including creative activities like collaging and vox pop recording. There was also information available about different mental health challenges.
  • The activities were supported by young people in Article 12 and professionals from the Mental Health Support Team, CAMHS Social Prescribing team, Aylesbury Youth Action, and Buckinghamshire Council’s Educational Psychology and Public Health teams.
  • 160 young people visited The Mental Health Space across the day.
young people sitting at a giant blue poster

What did young people say?

Key messages

The key messages that young people shared in The Mental Health Space 2024 are:

  • Schools are not giving us enough education on mental health, coping with anxiety etc.
  • Too many people offer us “quick fix”/generic solutions which don’t work.
  • We find the mental health teams and staff in school to not be supportive enough for us.
  • CAMHS and schools need to work together better to offer us early intervention strategies.
  • More guidance about life after school would help us with our mental health.
  • Lunch clubs for talking would be helpful.
  • We want more youth provisions.
  • We enjoyed coming to the mental health space!
  • We like podcasting as a format for capturing our voices – especially for boys / young men.
Young people and adults at tables in a workshop

How can schools help?

Part of the Mental Health space explored how schools could support young people’s mental health. Young people shared these ideas:

  • Lunchtime clubs and spaces – quiet spaces and socialisation spaces
  • Teacher approach and education – more education for teachers, more respect and open communication
  • Teaching / communication on mental health – practical information
  • School environment – reduce pressure, increase breaks
  • 1 to 1s and specialist support – confidential, 1 to 1 spaces with teachers and/or external professionals
  • Less homework and exams!
  • Other teaching and learning –  mental health resources, life after school, bullying

How can schools support young people’s mental health? [PDF, 507kB]

Jasmine, Young Adult Facilitator in the Mental Health Space and member of the CAMHS Article 12 youth forum, said:

“The Youth Summit was a fantastic event, and something I wish had been available to me when I was in school – the opportunity to talk about topics that matter to young people, without the awkwardness or embarrassment of it being someone you know so well is crucial. The Mental Health space had a great variety of services and organisations providing information, activities, or gathering feedback, and I know that we learnt so much from the young people that visited our space.”

speech bubble speech bubble

So what?

 

  • The ideas young people shared about how schools can support their mental health have been stitched together into a poster for schools.
    This will be shared via the Mental Health Support Team newsletter.
  • Information and insights from the day have been shared in various team meetings in CAMHS, the Mental Health Support Team, Buckinghamshire Council, and Aylesbury Youth Action, including the key messages listed above.
  • Aylesbury Youth Action are collating the vox pop audio recordings taken on the day into a podcast about the language that mental health professionals use. This will be made available as a resource for professionals.
  • Positive feedback has been passed on to the young facilitators who helped to plan and run this space.
“I want to personally thank and praise [young facilitators] Jasmine, Keira and Bella who did an amazing job throughout the event, engaging in conversations, listening and supporting the young people who visited the Mental Health Space.
They are amazing ambassadors for Article 12… I was in awe of them!”
– Juanita, Team Leader Bucks MHST and facilitator in The Mental Health Space 2024

 

  • If you are a young person interested in sharing your voice to improve mental health services for young people, consider joining the CAMHS Article 12 Youth Forum!
  • If you are a young person aged 11-18 in Buckinghamshire, you can access free, safe and non-judgmental counselling and emotional wellbeing support from Kooth.
photo of an art board with cards stuck to it

Return to Bucks Youth Summit 2024 summary

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