We do all this and more using our youth participation model, which means our team of dedicated young people (who meet weekly) have an input in everything. They come up with ideas, design our materials, help deliver workshops and decide what/how we do next! This is so we can make sure everything we do really is for young people.

Everything that YMCA Right Here does is produced by a team of 16-25 year olds who volunteer in order to carry out vital research, produce award winning campaigns locally and nationally, make films, design posters, deliver workshops to other young people, train GP’s and other professionals. We have a mix of volunteer opportunities from local to national, long term or short term.

“I think the workshops overall promote mental wellbeing and invite young people to think about ways of being mentally and physically well. The feedback we’ve had has been really positive and generally seems to meet the aims of the workshops. Like Lucy said, once you get started delivering it’s not nearly as scary as you first think and I have definitely improved my confidence in standing in front of large groups of people. Developing the social media workshop as part of a team has also been a fantastic learning experience for me in terms of trying to incorporate all the aims into an hour and a half and developing everyone’s ideas.”

“I volunteer for Right Here and I have found it very valuable as I have become more knowledgeable about mental health and young people. This has further strengthened my CV and given me a lot more confidence that I knew I never had. Through volunteering I have also been involved in interviewing various candidates for jobs at Right here and the YMCA this helped me to overcome my nerves at interviews and has helped me to get a job. Volunteering has also confirmed why I want to work with young people with mental health conditions once I have completed my degree in psychology. Thanks to everyone at Right Here and the amazing team.”