This week thousands of children and young people from the Isle of Wight are having their voice heard in the Island Youth Mental Health Census, a survey designed to provide a snapshot of the mental health experiences of 5-24 year old’s across the Island.
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week (8th-24th May), the Isle of Wight Youth Trust has teamed up with schools and community groups across to directly ask young Islanders to share their views and experiences of mental health.
Youth Trust Executive Director, Mairead Healy, said the Census was an excellent opportunity to understand the many challenges to mental health, young Islanders might be facing:
“The Island Youth Mental Health Census has been amazingly well received so far and young people we have been speaking to have been eager to take part.
“Altogether, 15 schools across the Island are participating, which we think is a fantastic endorsement. We’ve also been encouraging young people to get involved, by completing our census online at www.iowyouthtrust.co.uk/census. More than that, this is proving to be a great opportunity to start conversations with young people around mental health to break down the stigma which currently exists. At every school we visit, are delivering a talk on mental health and the free-to-access support the Youth Trust provides for young Islanders who may need our help.”
As previously reported by Island Echo, Southern Vectis have supplied the Isle of Wight Youth Trust with a ‘Census Bus’ to travel around in.
Mairead added:
“During Mental Health Awareness week, we see a lot of statistics thrown around; 1 in 10 children are diagnosed with a mental health disorder, the Isle of Wight has the highest rate of bullying in the UK and so on, but we rarely dig deeper to find out how mental health concerns are felt by our young people. This census is about trying to find out what our young people are feeling and thinking, and how we as a community can better respond to their needs.
Article continues below this advertisement “We think it’s time we heard young people’s voices. As an independent charity dedicated to supporting young Islanders, we at the Youth Trust have decided to undertake this project to hear directly from our young people, what are their needs and what are their experiences of accessing support in their hour of greatest need. We will be making our findings public, in the hope that it will set the tone for improvement.”
