Youth-Led Solutions: Cllr Claire Mascarenhas and St Neots' Mental Health Initiative

Young people in St Neots were experiencing increased mental health needs and raising concerns about their mental health, along with a lack of facilities for young people. This was identified by a number of Town Councillors including Cllr Claire Mascarenhas who took action to develop a community response, led by the needs and views of young people.  

St Neots Town Council employed a dedicated Youth Worker for the town who was tasked to support young people, develop links with schools and provide evidence for the need for further interventions locally. The initial success enabled further funding to employ another youth worker. To ensure that the right person was employed and the voices of the young people were heard, Claire put together an interview panel of young people where they were able to interview perspective candidates and had a say in the recruitment of the successful candidate.  

Grant funding from the County Council enabled the Town Council to employ two youth workers, and County Council provide supervision and support to the Lead Youth Worker, through the Youth and Communities Coordinator, as well as facilitating relationships and engagement with different partners and stakeholders. Using this funding as a starting point, the town council have been able to bring in more grant funding from other sources.  

The Lead Youth Worker has now implemented a series of interventions that are already in place in the town or in development.  

Love’s Farm Café  

• This café has been taken over by the Town Council with over 70 children and young people engaged with it. The young people come to the café and are given £2.50 to spend in the café, meaning they get at least one hot meal a day during the time of the cost of living crisis.  
• The youth council is engaged with the café and contributes to its planning and approach to supporting the local community.  
• In the kitchen, there is someone leading different aspects of the cooking process and there will be the opportunity for young people to work towards certain accreditations in cooking, volunteering and Youth work in the near future. 
• Young People are also given the responsibility of the Tuck Shop, setting the prices, stock taking and auditing.  
• The community police are also brought alongside to support the practitioners to support young people who have greater challenges. These young people now integrate with their peers in the café.  

Intergenerational project  

• The youth council engaged with a local sheltered housing scheme and a dementia home to support the interactions of children and young people with its residents.  
• A three day event enabled young people and residents to share their areas of priority and concern. For example, some young people were able to open up to residents and talk about feelings of loneliness which the residents were able to empathise with and validate.  
• An organisation called A Mindful Paws were able to facilitate a session around children and young people’s mental health.  
• The young people have been able to develop community connections and a sense of belonging, identifying different ways to express and share their emotions.  
• The town council has since been flooded with requests about replicating this approach in other care homes given the success of the initial approach.  

Community leaders: tattooists – the ARMOUR Project  

• A local tattoo studio owner raised concerns about young people entering their studios with self-harm scars or active wounds and wanting tattoos or piercings. 
• Now, the owner, a number of tattoo artists and strategically placed individuals in the town, have received mental health first aid training and professional self-harm awareness and prevention training and safeguarding training so they know how to support young people they may meet going forward.  
• The tattoo studio itself is used as a community hub to host different events to support young people aged 16-24, the tattoo studio is recognised as a safe place with ongoing monthly events. The cohort of young people that access this tend to be from groups which services don’t always reach such as LGBTQ+ young people.  
• There is clear support in place for the tattooists and other individuals who access support from professionals from the council and health services.  
• The preparation for the implementation of this project has taken over a year to ensure that those involved were ready and prepared to deliver the programme, that the right safeguarding support was in place and that individuals felt ready to provide this.  
• The group are now considering how a similar approach can be rolled out to barbers and hairdressers.  
• The ARMOUR Team presented to the North West Anglia NHS Trust where it received huge support. 

Other activity   

• A range of local links are in place across the community to provide a safeguarding safety network. This means that a series of key individuals have been trained and upskilled in safeguarding and support processes. This includes a tattooist, the manager of a café, and Claire herself who can refer to other support networks for the young people which provide support.  
• A weekly youth café takes any leftover food to the youth homeless shelter which provides an opportunity for practitioners to engage with young people there and start to develop relationships.  
• The youth worker currently works in one of the main secondary schools and runs the Pride Groups and Wellbeing sessions for young people.  
• The Youth Worker has also joined with Targeted Support to provide Transforming Lives sessions and will be involved with transition sessions for young people moving onto secondary school from junior. 

• A partnership approach has been key with regular engagement with the NHS North West Trust about the approach being taken and to ensure that there  
• The Integrated Neighbourhood Board is currently analysing the data to consider how it might impact self-harm figures and access to hospital  
• There are broader links with the British Transport police, the stop suicide campaigns from the county council and alternative provision settings. 
• There had been some parts of the community where relationships had broken down, such as between the youth homeless hostel, and with this new approach and focus on support and understanding, these relationships are improving.   
• The implementation of the dedicated Youth Worker has meant that she has been able to build trusted relationships with not only young people but also local communities and businesses. This has enabled other community partnerships to connect meaning we are creating a safer environment and town through education and awareness. 

Challenges  

• Developing relationships with the local schools has been key, and the youth worker has now been able to deliver on these. 
• The activities are still in early implementation so identifying quantitative data that shows its value is not yet available but feedback from children and young people and the community has been positive so far. 

Quotes from community in relation to the ARMOUR Project 

Such a needed service, amazing, thank you!” 

(Mum of a 19-year-old daughter self-harm for 5 years, 3 suicide attempts)

I'm so socially awkward but everyone is lovely. I will be coming back.”

• The town council want to evidence the impact the positive impact that they are having on children and young people, highlighting the value of this early intervention and the focus on local community. The intention is to ensure sustainable funding to support the projects on an ongoing basis.  
• A small working group is currently gathering evidence and data with the view to providing a Youth Building and also a separate Mental Health Hub for children and young people. 

The approach being taken by St Neots town council shows how a little funding, combined with passion from local leaders and an engaged community can develop a safe place for children and young people, improve their sense of belonging and develop a safety net for individuals.  

Claire Mascarenhas at [email protected] or [email protected]