You Said We Did – Waiting for Wellness
Healthwatch Lancashire conducted a project with children and young people from October to December 2023, titled Waiting for Wellness. The project aimed to understand the key mental health challenges they face. Our findings revealed that many children and young people were unaware of where to seek support. Additionally, they raised concerns about long waiting times for support, and the availability of support for neurodivergent young people.
What Healthwatch Lancashire Did
Healthwatch Lancashire Senior Engagement Officer Emmy Walmsley partnered with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) to work on a campaign called Action For Wellness. This initiative seeks to provide information, support, advice, training and workshops across Lancashire to support professionals, young people and parents to ensure they are equipped with the right support.
Action for Wellness launched in October 2024, and we have gathered feedback from parents, professionals and young people to understand what support people want around mental health. On the back of this, two ‘lunch and learn’ sessions are taking place in January 2025 to help provide professionals with information on what is available in terms of mental health support for young people. Similar sessions for parents will take place in March 2025.
In addition, on 9th February 2025 we will be launching an event in Chorley aimed at young people, which will be attended by other mental health organisations and local service providers. This will provide an excellent opportunity for young people to learn about mental health support and get any advice they need. We will also be running a competition to get young people to express what mental health means to them, with the winner getting a prize at the event.
We hope Action for Wellness will serve as an important step in improving awareness of and information on issues around young person’s mental health, and of the services available to young people who need support.