Mental Health UK

Young People’s
Programmes
IMPACT REPORT
2022–2023
 Contents
1. Introduction p4
a. About Mental Health UK p4

b. About our Young People’s Programmes p5

c. Our Achievements p5

2. Our impact at a glance p6

3. Our outcomes and goals p7
a. Young people are more aware of their resilience p7

b. Young people are confident in their understanding of mental health p11

c. Young people are better able to support their family and friends p15

d. Educators and facilitators feel confident to support young people p17

e. Educators / facilitators feel capable of having conversations p21

about mental health with young people

4. New developments p24

© Mental Health UK, 28 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7GR.

2 Impact Report 2022–23 Registered Charity no. 1170815 Impact Report 2022–23 3
Introduction
We have two young people’s programmes, Bloom and Your Resilience. Both
programmes aim to equip young people aged 14-18 with knowledge and tools to
maintain their mental health resilience through life transitions but are delivered in
different contexts: Bloom in schools and colleges and Your Resilience in community
settings, Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), and elite sports.
→ The number of children referred to emergency
About Mental Health UK mental healthcare in England has soared by How We Work
more than 50% in three years.
With 50 years’ heritage, we are the only We offer a range of options to suit the needs of young people and the organisations we work with.
→ NHS England found that up to 1 in 4 young
mental health charity working UK-wide, people suffer from probable mental ill health
delivering both national and local services in 2022. This is incredibly alarming; however,
that empower people to understand and
Co-Delivery Lite workshops Staff training
the picture becomes even more concerning
manage their mental health in a person- for young people from minority groups or
centred and empathetic way. We provide
support and services for some of the biggest
deprived areas. 8 week programme: • 1 off workshops for young • Tools and guidance for staff
→ 70% of young people are also currently • Staff training people e.g. Exam Stress, supporting young people in
societal challenges that pose a threat to
experiencing anxiety around money as a result Social Pressures a range of settings
people’s mental health and challenge the • 7 student workshops
causes of poor mental health, providing
of the cost-of-living crisis. • Resource packs provided • Elearning through our
people with the tools they need to live their Our goal is to fortify resilience early on and for staff Bloom on Clic online
best possible life at home, school and work. prevent the escalation of mental health challenges support platform
through prompt and tailored support. We strongly
believe in empowering young people with the
knowledge and tools to build their resilience
It’s remarkable to witness our Young and find solutions to cope with life’s challenges
People’s Programmes reaching huge independently, both now and in the future. This Our Achievements
numbers across the UK. What’s is only possible if they are given the right mental
Both Bloom and Your Resilience continue → Empowering young people to seek further
particularly notable this year is the shift health support in the right place, at the right time.
to make a significant contribution to the support for their mental health
towards more equitable programmes,
mental wellbeing of young people across → Addressing stigma to make young people feel
prioritising support for young people
the UK, as this report demonstrates. Our more confident in talking about their mental
with the greatest need. At the heart
of this approach is co-production and
We do this by: programmes have made an impact by: health
the creation of innovative initiatives to → Delivering evidence-based prevention → Supporting those least confident in discussing → Equipping a range of professionals – from
support emerging needs. programmes designed with involvement their mental health by providing them with a teachers to youth workers – to confidently
from young people. safe space. support young people’s mental health.
– Deidre Bowen, Director of
National Programmes → Approaching our work holistically by → Expanding our reach to underserved
supporting those who engage with young communities and addressing the determinants
people and working flexibly with them in a of poor mental health
About our Young People’s wide range of settings to ensure they feel

Programmes confident in supporting young people with

their mental health.
Rates of mental ill health in young → Securing a legacy by training professionals
people have continued to rise, with who are already supporting young people,
complex societal challenges affecting enabling them to deliver our programmes
young people across the UK. independently.
→ Identifying emerging needs and co-
producing programmes to address these
needs through a proof-of-concept model.
4 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 5
Our Impact at a Glance Our Outcomes and Goals
We evaluate our programmes through • End surveys after Lite/one-off workshop

1,616 772 surveys with young people and

professionals in a number of ways: •
delivery.
Through surveys completed by professionals
teachers facilitators • Through baseline and end surveys at the start at the end of training.

trained through Bloom trained through Your Resilience and end of our 8-session co-delivery, where • Through focus groups and in-depth interviews
we match responses to measure change with young people and professionals who have
and also focus on individual aspects of the taken part in our programmes.
programme.

25,571
young people
reached with Bloom
8,617 Outcome 1
young people
reached since
September 2022 Young people are more aware of their resilience as a
result of applying skills learnt, knowledge of mental
191 health and resilience tools.
individual schools
and colleges
reached
69 Goal
individual
organisations In raising awareness of individual resilience
1,540 reached through Your Resilience with young people, we focus on ensuring
they feel equipped to approach life with a
Bloom and Your better overall understanding of resilience
Resilience workshops and mental health, supported by resilience

5,506 visits
delivered across the four UK nations building tools.
between September 2022 and
December 2023: 882 Bloom
and 658 Your Resilience to the Bloom resources library

Our programmes
have been delivered in

80 counties
across the United Kingdom
6 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 7
 Bloom Case Study:
We saw an improvement in young people’s understanding of resilience having
participated in our workshops.
Supporting school staff and
students at Marden High,
North East of England
Table 1: Matched Base and End Data for Young People, Bloom
Please rate how confident you feel in the following areas:

100%

90%

80%

70%

60% Baseline
(before)
50%

40%
Post
30% (after)
20%

10%
By providing training for school and
0%
college staff in delivering our programme, They would reiterate positive
Managing Dealing with Maintaining Managing Making Understanding Feeling
studies exam stress positive social decisions what resilient we seek to create strong legacy affirmations we talked about in
friendships pressures about the resilience is outcomes in every school we work with. class to show they were using their
future
The most in-depth training is provided ‘inner coach’. They also became an
in our 8-week co-delivery programme, amazing support system for each
From surveys focused on individual aspects of the programme: in which our expert trainers deliver other. During their GCSEs not even
workshops to young people jointly with one of them experienced a major
• 79% of young people report feeling they have • 82% of young people liked the content of the
school staff. This has been particularly anxiety attack or failed an exam
a better understanding of resilience after workshop
popular in the North East of England. by walking out and this was a big
taking part in a workshop • 64% of young people rated the co-delivery worry with this cohort, many had
• 80% report feeling they can use some of the aspect of the programme as good or excellent
Jennifer Cronin, a social, mental and emotional
walked out of mocks due to being
health specialist at Marden High School in
tools learned in their lives overwhelmed.
North Shields was recommended to Bloom by a
friend. “Bloom seemed a brilliant fit. I hoped that
the programme would help our students gain
In our post-delivery survey, 87% of the students
some perspective around resilience, particularly
said they felt very / somewhat confident in
getting them to reduce the pressure they put on
understanding resilience after taking part and
themselves”.
Jennifer has observed that the programme has
The Year 11 group we worked with had been also led to wider changes in the school culture.
struggling with anxiety before taking part. After “Delivering the programme has encouraged
the 8 weeks, Jennifer could see an improvement positive conversations around mental health and
in the group. supporting the students,” she says.

8 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 9

 Your Resilience Outcome 2
From surveys focused on young people’s experience of individual aspects of the programme:
Young people are very or somewhat confident
• 90% of respondents reported a better • 93% felt the discussion during the
understanding of resilience sessions was good or excellent of their understanding of mental health.
• 92% felt they think they could use some of • 92% found our workshop content was
the tools they learned in their lives good or excellent
Goal

Table 2: Young people rating their experiences of Your Resilience Building young people’s
confidence in understanding
Please rate the following areas
their mental health, we support
The number of sessions 82% 14% 4% them in applying individual
How long the sessions were 81% 17% 2%
agency to improve their
resilience and provide them with
Discussions during the sessions 93% 7%
the skills and tools to feel able to
Having someone you already know deliver the sessions 76% 22% 2% normalise conversations around
The person / people who ran the sessions 97% 3% mental health.
The workbook 58% 35% 7%

What the sessions covered 92% 8% 1%

Good or excellent Fair Very poor or poor

Bloom
Table 3: Young people’s understanding of mental health having
participated in Bloom
Very confident

5% Somewhat confident
6%
Not so confident

38% Not at all confident

I liked having the opportunity to talk openly
about the pressures we feel and express our From end surveys from our Bloom Lite
thoughts and feelings with the group. This 51% workshops, 89% of young people reported
would be good to do again. feeling very or somewhat confident in their
– Community workshop participant, Scotland understanding of mental health having
attended a Bloom workshop.

10 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 11

 Table 4: Improvement in confidence level amongst young people Your Resilience
We saw the most significant changes in young people that reported the lowest levels of
From surveys focused on young people’s experience of individual aspects of the
understanding in these topics at the start (at baseline). We are delighted to see that our workshops
programme, our data shows an increase in young people’s confidence in their
are having an impact supporting those young people who are showing less confidence.
understanding of mental health.
Baseline survey End survey • 62% of respondents felt very confident in • 72% said they would know where to go all
understanding what resilience is. of the time or often if they had a problem
Understanding of resilience Feeling resilient
Understanding of resilience Feeling resilient • 63% reported being very or somewhat and wanted help.
27% increase confident in dealing with exam stress. • 81% rated the overall programme as better
Understanding of resilience Feeling resilient
17% increase 27% increase
• 97% of young people said they were than they had expected.

33% decrease very or somewhat confident in their

17% increase understanding of mental health after
33% decrease taking part in a workshop.
49% decrease

49% decrease

Very or somewhat Not confident Very or somewhat Not confident

confident or not sure confident or not sure Table 5: Young people’s overall experience of Your Resilience
Very or somewhat Not confident Very or somewhat Not confident
Dealing with exam stress
confident or not sure Making decisions about the
confident future
or not sure
Was Your Resilience better or
Better than expected
Dealing with exam stress Making decisions about the future
29% increase worse than you had expected?
Dealing with exam stress Making decisions about the future About what I was expecting
44% increase 30% decrease 1%
29% increase 30% decrease Worse than I expected
18% 23%
44% increase 30% decrease
30% decrease

81% 77%

Very or somewhat Not confident Very or somewhat Not confident

confident or not sure confident or not sure
Very or somewhat Not confident Very or somewhat Not confident
confident or not sure confident or not sure

A huge positive is the fact that it normalises anxiety. 13 out of the 19

students have since accessed external agencies for mental health.
It’s made them more comfortable with talking therapy and having the
confidence to do that as an individual – getting support.

– Gemma Mordue, Jarrow High School, England

12 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 13

Case Study: Outcome 3 Goal
Supporting young Young people are Enabling young people to feel
people to manage social better able to support comfortable in having supportive
pressures through family and friends. conversations about mental
the National Citizen health, focusing on equipping
Service, England Bloom them with resilience skills and
tools they can share confidently
with family and friends.
Table 6: Young people’s
confidence in supporting
family and friends
Having attended the workshop, do you
feel better able to support your family and
friends? You’ve got young people coming
forward and saying ‘do you know
1% what, I’m not coping with this, who
Young people today are faced with many Of the 4,560 young people who took part, 88% of can I talk to?’ when two years
18% 23%
pressures, from social media to academic young people felt they had a better understanding ago when they wouldn’t even
stresses and the pressure to meet the of resilience, 90% felt they could use some of the acknowledge that they might be
expectations of family and friends. In tools they learnt in the workshop and 85% said struggling for fear of the stigma.
order to equip and empower young people they felt better able to support family and friends I walk across the playground and
facing such diverse challenges, we were after attending the workshop. 77% hear them saying ‘I found this new
81%
asked to deliver our social pressure app last night and this is what this
The impact of this large-scale delivery went
workshops via Entrust at the National does,’ [to support mental health]
beyond the workshops. Many youth leaders
Citizen Service (NCS) residential summer and that has only come from
across the network of camps observed far greater
experience camps. launching something that they’re
numbers of young people seeking support for the
all in together.
The camps consist of a five day stay away from first time following the workshops. Yes No
home, where young people take part in activities – Emma Legge, St Andrew’s
At Bibby’s Farm, Chorley, where we delivered
centred around independent living. Catholic School, England
workshops to over 700 young people, youth
Over 38 days, we delivered 228 social pressure leaders observed that in the evenings following
workshops to 4,560 young people from a range our workshops, young people were much more
of diverse backgrounds, providing the opportunity prepared to open up and talk about the challenges Your Resilience
for participants to explore social pressures, mental they were facing in their everyday lives.
health, and resilience in a safe environment. From surveys focused on individual aspects of the programme:

We transformed tents and open spaces into It allowed us to question aspects of our • 88% said they feel better able to support during the delivery of the programme was
vibrant learning environments where participants lives that cause stress or pressure. It family and friends good or excellent, showing young people
could fully immerse themselves in the workshop opened our eyes and allowed us to see • 76% stated that having someone they valued that familiarity and the co-delivery
moving away from traditional classroom delivery that we have a support network. knew (sports coach/facilitator) present model (post delivery data)
and embracing open air discussions and activities. Participant, Bibby’s Farm, Chorley

14 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 15

 Case Study:
Outcome 4
Educators and facilitators trained feel very or
Building peer support somewhat confident they can deliver the programme.
for young people with
CAMHS, Northern
Ireland
Goal
By supporting educators and facilitators
with training, co-delivery and practical,
easy to use resources, they will feel
confident to continue delivery of the
programme ensuring there is a legacy of
independent delivery.

MindWise began working with Northern

Ireland’s South Eastern Trust CAMHS
(Child and Adolescent Mental Health taking part. The group discussions we facilitate
Services) in April 2022. with setting staff are critical to achieving this
outcome. Many of our activities ask young people
‘CAMHS young people can often be isolated from
to consider how they might advise a friend facing
their peers,’ explained Amy Stothers, Children and
particular issues which we know typically impact
Young People’s Coordinator for MindWise. ‘Many
young people’s mental health and then discuss
are not attending school or other social spaces.’
their ideas with the workshop group, encouraging
Delivery began in September 2022. Most of a culture of mutual support amongst peer groups
the young people attending the programme and giving young people the confidence to share
were experiencing isolation and did not have our resilience-building tools with their friends, as
any peer support. The programme gave them well as applying them in their own lives.
the opportunity to make friends while building
These discussions often lead to the establishment
resilience skills.
of healthier group dynamics and support young
‘I really enjoyed working with a group who people in building new friendships. ‘I have made
know what I am going through,’ one young friends for life,’ one CAMHS Newry participant
person shared in the final week. ‘This group is commented on completion of the programme.
powerful, so it is.’
The CAMHS staff who received training and
Our data shows that 88% of young people who worked with our team to deliver the programme
participate in Your Resilience workshops feel to young people are now planning to roll out Your
better able to support family and friends after Resilience to future groups.

16 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 17

 Bloom
From surveys focused on individual aspects • 72% feel very or somewhat confident in Case Study:
of the programme: delivering training on Bloom content to

• 94% of teachers report feeling very or

other teaching colleagues. Supporting
somewhat confident in delivering the • 96% feel very or somewhat confident in
educators in
Bloom programme creating a supportive environment around
mental health at their school. South Wales

Table 7: Educators’ confidence in delivering our programme after

training
Delivering the Bloom programme 44% 50% 3% 3%

Delivering training on Bloom content

to teacher colleagues 30% 42% 21% 7%
In Wales, we work strategically with the Welsh
Answering young people's questions
on mental health resilience 49% 48% 3% Education Consortia. For 2022/ 23, we focused
on the Central South Consortium, which is a Joint
Having conversations about mental health
resilience with young people 64% 35% 1% Education Service for five local authorities:

Having conversations about mental health • Bridgend “High-quality training and resources, as well as
54% 36% 8% 1% highly effective ongoing support through the
resilience with colleagues • Cardiff
Bloom co-delivery model, has provided staff with
Creating a supportive environment around
57% 39% 4%
• Merthyr Tydfil
the confidence to deliver and plan an engaging,
mental health at your school
• Rhondda Cynon Taf
sustainable, and flexible programme to meet
• Vale of Glamorgan the needs of all learners. The interactive nature
Very confident Somewhat confident Not very confident Not confident at all
The consortium acts on behalf of the five local of the workshops has ensured young people
authorities to develop a school improvement are comfortable when sharing experiences
service which challenges, monitors, and supports surrounding their mental health and wellbeing.”
schools to raise standards and provide the best 75% of the Central South Consortium educators
provision for all learners in the region. who took part in the programme said they felt
Nearly one third of all Wales’ school age children more confident in supporting young people with
are in schools in Central South Consortium, with their mental health resilience afterwards. 62% felt
just over 152,000 learners. that the programme also contributed to a more
supportive environment around mental health in
their individual school or college.
“Bloom has provided schools
across the region with an invaluable The consortium subsequently launched an enquiry
programme of wellbeing activities to project, where practitioners trained to deliver
support students in their transition Bloom could share their experience of developing
into post-16 education,” explained and embedding the programme. This has in turn
Emma Lloyd, Area Lead for Post- increased school to school collaboration and the
16 Education, Central South sharing of strategies to support wellbeing at post-
Consortium. 16 across the region.

18 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 19

 Your Resilience Outcome 5
In end surveys, we found:
Educators and facilitators feel capable of discussing
• 73% of facilitators said the quality of • 100% of facilitators felt confident in
the training they received from Training delivering the programme after taking mental health resilience and wellbeing.
Associates was excellent. part in our training, with 55% feeling very
• 64% said the quality of discussion during confident and 45% feeling somewhat
the workshops was excellent. confident.

Goal

Table 8: Your Resilience Facilitators’ confidence in delivering the In supporting educators and facilitators to feel confident in discussing
programme from baseline to end. mental health resilience and wellbeing, we focus on equipping them
with the knowledge and tools to respond appropriately to young
Not at all confident 16% people, and also engage in conversations around mental health with
colleagues, creating an overall supportive environment.
Not very confident 19%

Somewhat confident 43% 45%

Very confident 22% 55%

Bloom
Baseline End We found it helpful to sample some
From end surveys of teachers after
of the activities ourselves, which
Bloom co-delivery training:
in turn supported with our delivery.
• 94% of attendees feel they have an The Bloom sessions are now a part
This was insightful increased knowledge of how to support of our service offer and we regularly
and I have seen things young people’s mental health having signpost schools towards the training
through a different completed our training and resources.
perspective.
• 96% feel better able to support young
– Lily Hawkins, Whole-school
– Young person trained people in their school or college around
Approach Coordinator, Somerset
by us as a peer mentor, their mental health resilience
Mental Health Support Team
Northern Ireland • 96% feel their confidence has improved
in supporting young people’s mental
health resilience after our training

20 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 21

 Table 9: Your Resilience facilitators’ confidence in having
conversations about mental health with young people from
baseline to end Case Study:

3%
Equipping council
Not at all confident
staff to support
Not very confident 7% school-leavers in
Somewhat confident 59% 18%
West Lothian

Very confident 32% 82%

Baseline End

The Your Resilience team in Scotland team reported immediate benefits from the Your
worked with West Lothian Council to Resilience workshops and the tools they learned,
address post-pandemic mental health from breathing exercises to time management
challenges among young people. techniques.

West Lothian Skills Training Programme supports

school leavers aged 16+ to move into employment ‘I was a bit nervous to start with as
or training. Young people not in employment wasn’t sure what to expect. I found
or education often experience mental health the activities really good and I will
problems and for many this has been exacerbated use them in the future,’ one young
by pandemic disruptions. person commented.

‘So many of our young people who have started

our programme since the pandemic have Following our training and joint delivery of
presented with a lot more mental health issues, the programme, participating staff at West
and due to demand there is a lack of resources Lothian Skills Training Programme have said
and services available to help,’ said Lynne Wishart, they felt confident in continuing to deliver
Skills Training Programme Officer. the programme independently and having
supportive conversations with their young people
The skills training programme fosters personal
about mental health. They also all felt that the
growth through a range of personal, core, life and
programme had contributed to the creation of
employability workshops. Your Resilience aligns
a more supportive environment around mental
with the training programme’s objectives by giving
health within their service.
young people practical resilience strategies to
cope with day-to-day demands, enabling them ‘These tools and lessons will be put to good use in
to maintain their mental health and progress into our delivery moving forward,’ one member of the
further education, training or work. team commented. West Lothian Council plans to
roll out the programme independently, delivering
The school-leavers who took part in workshops
to up to 50 young people annually.
we delivered jointly with the Training Programme

22 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 23

New Developments
We are committed to continuing to evolve our programmes to ensure we
can provide young people with the right support in difficult times.
2023 has seen three major developments in our work: an expansion in our Your
Resilience work in community settings across the UK, a new focus on young people
experiencing hardship - who don’t always get the support they need - and the launch
of a brand new programme to support young people experiencing anxiety around
money due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Co-Production Me & Money seeks to increase young people’s

understanding of the interconnections between
As we expand our work in community settings, we
Supporting young people We have been working in collaboration with our
research partner, Making Impact Matter, to better
are embedding Co-Production with young people
money and mental health.

experiencing hardship with understand the needs of the following key groups
at the heart of our work. The Me & Money pilot launched in September
2023 across the UK and has so far reached more
Your Resilience of young people, who have an increased likelihood
of experiencing poor mental health:
No one knows better than a young person who
has experienced hardship, poor mental health or
than 1,000 young people. Initial findings from the
pilot show that of those young people:
Evidence shows that there are deep-seated additional barriers to accessing mental health
1. Young people living in areas experiencing
mental health inequalities for many young people support what kind of support they would find → 86% report having a better understanding
economic hardship
in the UK. Recognising that young people’s lives most beneficial. about the connection between money and
are shaped by multiple, intersecting factors 2. Young people from minority ethnic mental health, and a better understanding
We define co-production as an active,
— such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, communities about how attitude towards money can
collaborative partnership between Mental
geography and more — allows for a more nuanced influence our thoughts and behaviours.
3. Young people from rural communities Health UK and young people / the supportive
and effective approach to providing mental health → 75% found the workshop useful.
adult professionals in their lives to ensure that
support to those who need it the most. Together with Making Impact Matter, we have
the programmes we offer meet their needs, are → 60% would be interested in learning more
conducted a Needs Assessment with input from
accessible and effective. about the topic of money and mental health.
more than 700 young people, which will shape the
Mental health, like all other ways we deliver our Your Resilience programme in We seek to go beyond involvement and move Young people who took part in the pilot told us:
aspects of health, is significantly communities. towards a model in which young people become
influenced by social determinants... our co-decision-makers. We will work creatively
“I feel that I understand the thought
If someone’s mental illness is and flexibly with them to learn from their
process that goes on when someone
caused or exacerbated by the experience, explore new ideas and improve
is suffering anxiety on money.”
social determinants of health, a our programmes. This collaborative approach
doctor’s ability to provide care is will support the ongoing development of our “Made me feel more comfortable
compromised...doctors feel they are programmes and we are committed to building and talking about money.”
working with patients for whom the sustaining this partnership into the future.
“I now understand how to prevent
odds are stacked against them.
bad mental health and money
– ‘It’s Broken’ Report, British Me & Money cycles.”
Medical Association, 2024 In response to the rise in money anxiety amongst
young people, we co-produced a new pilot Now the pilot has been completed, Me &
programme, Me & Money, which seeks to support Money will now be scaled to support young
young people with their anxieties around money. people UK-wide.

24 Impact Report 2022–23 Impact Report 2022–23 25

Thank you to all the teachers and other professionals who
supported and participated in our programmes. Most of all, our
thanks to all the young people who took part – thank you all for
your openness, honesty and resilience.

If you are interested in finding out more about our Young Peoples
Programmes, please contact Bloom: [email protected]
and Your Resilience: [email protected]

Delivered by:

www.mentalhealth-uk.org

We are enormously grateful to our funders,

Lloyds Banking Group, the Allan and Gill Gray
Foundation and Houlihan Lokey. Without
their generous support, these achievements
would not have been possible.