Join us in calling for a network of early support hubs across the country, which would provide young people somewhere to go when they first start to struggle with their mental health.
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're 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.
We surveyed young people in 2019 about their experiences of early support, two-thirds told us 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.
It’s time for the Government to wake up: our response to the Spring Budget
On Tuesday 6 March, Jeremy Hunt delivered his final Spring Budget as chancellor. Despite his previous pledges to improve child mental health services as Health Secretary in 2016, this time he chose to say nothing.
There was not one mention of mental health.
No new mental health support teams in schools.
No funding for early mental health support hubs.
No mention of reducing waiting times.
Just one week before the announcement, our Activists delivered a letter to the Chancellor signed by 15,000 campaigners, urging him to invest in a national roll out of early mental health support hubs.
This was the Government’s last chance before the General Election to finally make young people’s mental health a priority. It’s time for them to wake up.
The number of young people with mental health problems has almost doubled since 2016. We are in a mental health emergency and we need radical and urgent action to stop young people from suffering.
We stand with our Activists.
We stand with the 15,000 people who signed their open letter.
We stand with the young people at the centre of the mental health emergency.
We won’t stop until every young person can access the support they need, when they need it.
On Wednesday 28 February, YoungMinds Activists handed in a letter to 10 Downing Street where it will be delivered directly to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. This letter calls on him to include a national roll out of early mental health support hubs in the Spring Budget announcement.
We were joined on the day by Dr Alex George, one of the co-signers and a big supporter of #FundTheHubs. A huge thank you to every campaigner who added their name, shared the letter with friends and interacted with our launch video – we couldn’t do this work without your support.
At the end of October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak MP set out the Budget, detailing where the Government would invest money over the next few years. Despite calls from a coalition of charities and backing from thousands of people across the country, there was no funding allocated for early support for young people’s mental health.
In September, our Activists wrote an open letter to Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling on him to #FundTheHubs in the Autumn Spending Review.
An incredible 5,000 young people added their name to the letter, which four of our Activists personally delivered to Downing Street.
Stephen Fry and 53 organisations have backed these young people's call in a letter published in The Telegraph, echoing their plea for a serious funding commitment.
The new Minister for Care and Mental Health, Gillian Keegan MP, went to an early support hub as her first visit as a Minister.
She visited an existing hub in Liverpool and spoke to young people about their experiences of using the service.
Thousands of you emailed your MP asking them to tell the Government to #FundTheHubs. This resulted in over 50 MPs taking an action for the campaign and getting early support hubs firmly on the government agenda.
