YMCA responds to new measures, announced by the Prime Minister today, to provide better support for mental health patients.
Denise Hatton, Chief Executive of the national council of YMCAs in England and Wales, said: “Today’s announcement is a positive step towards tackling the mental health epidemic young people are currently facing.
“We welcome the Prime Minister’s review into the quality of mental health services and look forward to sharing what young people have told us.
“We know from working with young people across the country, that some have been on waiting lists to get help for their mental health difficulties for several months, while others who transitioned from children’s mental health services to adult mental health services didn’t receive the support they needed.
“Furthermore, our research into mental health stigma, as part of our #IAMWHOLE campaign, also showed that 38% of young people with mental health difficulties felt they were stigmatised, with 56% of them saying it made them less willing to ask for professional help. It’s crucial that we talk more openly about mental health difficulties and today’s announcement of training for secondary schools is a welcoming step to normalising mental health difficulties and tackling stigma.”
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YMCA runs a number of early intervention mental health services across England and Wales, including the Young Mental Health Champions project, Talk-2-Us at YMCA West Kent and the schools counselling service at YMCA Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.