Young people in Greater Manchester to benefit from improved mental health services

Thousands of young people in Greater Manchester will benefit from new mental health support including counselling, mentoring and arts programmes in their communities backed by a multi-million pound Government investment this year.

New investment to expand four local projects supporting children and young people’s mental health.

Innovative forms of support include access to arts programmes, training for parents and peer support 
Projects focus on reaching minorities and providing early intervention, supporting the NHS Long Term Plan’s ambition to transform mental health care.

Thousands of young people in Greater Manchester will benefit from new mental health support including counselling, mentoring and arts programmes in their communities backed by a multi-million pound Government investment this year.

As part of the government’s commitment to transforming mental health care through the NHS Long Term Plan – backed by an extra £2.3 billion a year - Mental Health Minister, Nadine Dorries and Public Health Minister, Jo Churchill today (Tuesday 20th August) announced an investment of a further £3.3 million in 23 life-changing projects across England.

Earlier this year the government pledged to overhaul society’s approach to mental illness via better access to education, training and support across communities.

This included a commitment to train all teachers to spot the signs of mental illness in children, making sure they can intervene before issues escalate.

The projects includes four projects in Greater Manchester to allow more children and young people aged 25 and under to access local services to support their mental health, with early intervention for those at risk of mental health problems. 

Minister for Mental Health Nadine Dorries said,“We know children and young people today face many pressures at home and in their social and academic lives but giving them easily accessible mental health support at an early age can help them thrive later in life. 

“That’s why the government is investing billions every year to transform mental health care and giving more money to innovative, community led projects run by people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to supporting young people by providing them with the tools and means they need to manage their own mental health”

Minister for Public Health Jo Churchill said,“It’s only right that children and young people are able to access mental health support, not only through the NHS, but in the heart of their communities, schools and homes where they spend the majority of their time. 

“The voluntary sector has a hugely important role to play in delivering these kinds of services and our Health and Wellbeing Fund is leading the way in ensuring government plays a role in cultivating the most effective, innovative and successful forms of community support – backed by an extra £2.3 billion a year to improve NHS mental health services too.”

The projects receiving funding in Greater Manchester are, 42nd Street will be given almost £300,000 to expand its digital services supporting young people aged 11 to 25 years with their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

It has been piloting a project in Salford over the last 10 months and offers therapeutic support to help young people access opportunities to learn, develop new skills, be creative, have fun and demonstrate they are able to recover and achieve their full potential.

The Proud Trust will be given £23,100 to continue supporting LGBT young people through life-changing events, including discovering their sexuality/gender and coming out. The expansion will support a greater number of trans people by matching them to a trained peer who will act as their mentor and support worker.

Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind will be given £237,599 to provide earlier one-to-one support and counselling to young people with mental health needs.

Visyon will be given £154,000 to expand their services to support children as young as eight to 18 with mental health needs. Visyon will intervene earlier to provide firm foundations to improve children’s life chances and reduce the likelihood of needing statutory services or of developing an enduring mental illness as they grow older. 

Kathy Roberts, CEO Association of Mental Health Providers, said,“The NHS Long Term Plan made a number of promises for mental health in the next ten years, including the much-needed scaling up and improvement of support for children and young people. 
 
“The voluntary sector has a key role in transforming mental health care and offers a range support for children and young people. The sector is innovative, has reach into communities, and there is huge potential to expand and scale up its offer.

Association of Mental Health Providers therefore welcomes the Health and Wellbeing Fund’s focus on this important area and the funding of 23 exceptional Voluntary and community sector projects.”

The funding will come from the Health and Wellbeing Fund, part of a programme of
government investment in the voluntary sector. The projects will be fully funded through the
scheme in their first year and additional joint funding from local commissioners will be agreed for two years afterwards.

Mental health services are being transformed through the NHS Long Term Plan - backed by an extra £2.3 billion a year - so that 345,000 more children and young people have access to mental health support by 2024 including via mental health support teams in and around schools. This will significantly improve early intervention and prevention.

This significant funding boost follows last summer’s historic funding increase to the NHS budget which will see the health service receive an extra £33.9 billion more every year by 2024 to support the NHS Long Term Plan.

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