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A group of young people sit around a table talking to each other. The person closest to the camera as the back to the camera and wears a dark red knitted jumper.

Our Youth Advisors

Youth Advisors work alongside YoungMinds staff, making sure that everything we do is done in partnership with young people. Find out more about our Youth Advisory Group and how they impact our work.

What is our Youth Advisory Group?

One staff member is typing on a keyboard asking the question 'how should we talk to young people about this'. On the other side of the desk is three young people listening to the person with the computer.

The Youth Advisory Group is made up of 15 young people called Youth Advisors. They work alongside YoungMinds staff on lots of different projects, making sure that everything we do is done in partnership with young people.

Applications for our Youth Advisory Group are now closed.

If you're a young person wanting to speak up about mental health and amplify the voices of other young people across the country, sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about upcoming opportunities to join the movement.

Subscribe to our mailing list

What does a Youth Advisor do?

Youth Advisors work alongside YoungMinds staff to champion youth voice and advocate for meaningful participation in everything that we do. They get involved in specific projects across the organisation, offering their knowledge and insight.

Every Youth Advisor has an in-depth knowledge of our strategy, including each of our three programmes and our enablers. Each Youth Advisor focuses on one programme and one enabler.

Read more about our strategy
A group of people at the top of a purple block are helping three others climb onto their block. The text on the big purple block reads 'a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health'.

We want to see a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health. This is implemented through three strategic programmes that focus our work on having the greatest possible impact.

  • Programme 1: Never Alone
    Helping young people to look after their own mental health.
  • Programme 2: Someone To Turn To
    Making sure young people have adults around them who can really help.
  • Programme 3: Powerful Young Voices
    Building a youth-led movement to make sure mental health support is there for anyone who needs it.
two young people have laptops with the third pointing at a board with research on. At the top of the board is YoungMinds.

Our enablers are essential to supporting our people to achieve the aims of our strategy.

  • Enabler 1: Together for income
    Build more predictable and stable income so we can be more confident in planning our work into the future. This enabler includes fundraising, corporate partnerships and grants from trusts and foundations.
  • Enabler 2: Sustainable growth and impact
    All of the things that make an organisation run smoothly and effectively. This enabler includes finance, data, safeguarding, human resources, evaluation, project management and our anti-racism, justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (AJEDI) work.
Three young people writing, drawing and researching different ideas onto a large pink board.

Youth Advisor opportunities

Youth Advisors have the opportunity to work alongside YoungMinds staff on many different projects.

Below are some of the amazing opportunities they take part in.

  • Sit on a project steering group.

  • Do peer research.

  • Help with staff recruitment.

  • Help our service design team to write bids, or our fundraising team to write grant applications.

  • Audit our training courses and give feedback to our training team.

  • Review pages on our website and tell us what you think.

  • Attend external meetings with YoungMinds staff, e.g. for a potential partnership.

  • Co-facilitate a training session or workshop.

  • Sit on a panel to assess pitches from creative agencies.

  • Help to develop tools and resources that support young people's participation.

  • Join the consultancy team for a service design project.

Frequently asked questions

YoungMinds has three programmes for young people: the Activist Programme, the Youth Panel, and the Youth Advisory Group. Make sure to read about each of these opportunities before deciding which is right for you.

Activists share their mental health stories to raise awareness and advocate for change. They help us to plan and run campaigns, and inform our policy work.

The Youth Panel is about the big picture, ‘behind the scenes’ of the charity. They discuss strategic questions like who we are, where we are going, and what we should do.

Youth Advisors work alongside YoungMinds staff on specific projects. They develop an in-depth knowledge of their strategy areas and get involved in projects across the organisation. Youth Advisors always champion youth voice and advocate for meaningful participation in everything that we do.

About half of the spaces on the Youth Advisory Group will be for YoungMinds Youth Engagement Alumni (previous Activists or Youth Panellists). The other half of spaces are for young people who are new to YoungMinds.

Yes! We want to recognise the skills and experience you bring, so as a Youth Advisor you will be paid the London Living Wage. This is currently £11.05 per hour.

So that we can pay you, we will set you up on a casual worker contract. You will need to have documents that show you have the right to work in the UK. It is important to know that workers are different from employees, and Youth Advisors are considered participants in a youth engagement programme rather than YoungMinds staff.

Participating in this programme might affect the benefits you receive. We recommend that you get professional advice about this if you are currently receiving benefits. YoungMinds are unable to advise on this.

Youth Advisors have casual worker contracts. This means you will need to show us that you have the right to work in the UK. You will also need to provide some documents so that we can do a DBS check.

If you have any questions about becoming a Youth Advisor or how to apply, please contact the youth engagement team.

How to join

A group of young people sit around a table talking to each other. The person closest to the camera as the back to the camera and wears a dark red knitted jumper.

Applications for our Youth Advisory Group are now closed.

If you're passionate about making sure young people are meaningfully involved in the systems, services, and decisions that impact them, sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about upcoming opportunities to join the movement.

Subscribe to our mailing list

More opportunities for young people

If this isn't the right opportunity for you, take a look at some of the other ways you can get involved as a young person with our work.

 

  • two young people have laptops with the third pointing at a board with research on. At the top of the board is YoungMinds.

    Join our Youth Panel

    Our Youth Panel discuss the big picture questions about our organisation and shape the future of our work.

  • A person writing in a notebook.

    Write for YoungMinds

    Take a look at the opportunities we have to share your mental health story by writing for YoungMinds.

  • Three people holding a placard which says 'creating change'. The person on the left is holding a small placard 'youth power' with the person on the right in a wheelchair holding a placard 'activating change = youth voice'

    Become a YoungMinds Activist

    Become a YoungMinds Activist so you can raise your voice about mental health and create change.

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