Evaluating Project Future’s work at Bruce Grove youth club
Androulla Harris, Dr Huong Le, Zoë McHayle & Dr Yasmin Ahmadzadeh
How could embedding psychologists within a youth club impact young men’s mental health?
For two years, psychologists from Project Future worked two days a week at Bruce Grove youth club in Haringey, supporting young men with their mental wellbeing and providing training, advice and support to the youth workers there.
This early intervention pilot aimed to use Project Future’s psychological expertise to support young men’s mental health and wellbeing within the existing system of the youth club.
Always there for us, our evaluation of the pilot, finds that Project Future’s work was highly valued and brought a wide range of benefits. Placing mental health workers in a youth club enables them to reach young people who would not normally trust mental health services. By using game-based activities to engage and educate young men about their wellbeing, it creates an openness about mental health that traditional approaches cannot achieve. And by bringing the complementary skills of psychologists and youth workers together, it takes the stigma away from mental health.
After working with Project Future, young men reported having greater understanding of mental health and wellbeing, and increased confidence to discus their emotions and seek help. They also gained access to a safe space to discuss anxieties and concerns about gangs, racism and school pressures. The additional psychological knowledge and expertise from Project Future staff elevated the youth club into a therapeutic space.
The report recommends that Project Future should have a regular presence at Bruce Grove youth club, as this would benefit young men, both directly and indirectly through supporting staff. It also recommends that providers of children’s and young men’s mental health services should reach out to youth clubs to provide easy access to psychological support, building upon Project Future’s model with sustained relationships and engagement. It calls for long-term and sustainable funding to ensure this vital work can reach marginalised children and young men, and run without interruption.
After working with Project Future, young men reported having greater understanding of mental health and wellbeing, and increased confidence to discus their emotions and seek help. They also gained access to a safe space to discuss anxieties and concerns about gangs, racism and school pressures. The additional psychological knowledge and expertise from Project Future staff elevated the youth club into a therapeutic space.
The report recommends that Project Future should have a regular presence at Bruce Grove youth club, as this would benefit young men, both directly and indirectly through supporting staff. It also recommends that providers of children’s and young men’s mental health services should reach out to youth clubs to provide easy access to psychological support, building upon Project Future’s model with sustained relationships and engagement. It calls for long-term and sustainable funding to ensure this vital work can reach marginalised children and young men, and run without interruption.
