About the campaign
Hundreds of thousands of young people are struggling with their mental health – and too often they can’t get support when they first need it.
We know that the earlier a young person gets support for their mental health, the more effective that support will be. That’s why we are calling for a network of hubs across the country, which would provide early support for young people’s mental health when their problems first emerge.
Early support hubs already exist in some areas, and we want to build on these successful examples. We also need to ensure they have consistent, long-term funding.
What is an early support hub?
An early support hub is a mental health and wellbeing service that provides open access, flexible, early support for young people under 25 in their communities.
Watch this short video to find out more:
Did you know?
- In July 2020, data from the NHS suggested that 1 in 6 young people now has a probable mental health disorder, up from 1 in 9 in 2017
- YoungMinds surveyed young people in 2019 about their experiences of early support; two thirds said they could not find support when they first needed it
- Three-quarters (78%) of young people in the same survey said that they had had to manage their mental health on their own when they couldn’t find help elsewhere, but only 17% felt confident in their ability to manage their mental health by themselves.
What we’re calling for
We want young people under 25 to be able to go to a hub without an appointment or referral and get advice and support for their mental health and other issues that are affecting them, before they hit crisis point. We also need to ensure they have consistent, long-term funding.
We’re calling for this funding to be in addition to more investment in specialist NHS mental health services and in youth services, as well as better support in schools.
