Southwark becomes first council to back mental health hub campaign for young people
18 November 2021
Southwark Council is proud to pledge its support to Fund the Hubs - a national campaign for early mental health support for children and young people.
The council joins Stephen Fry, Dr Alex George and Sir Norman Lamb to call on government to fund a network of early support hubs across the country. Such hubs would provide young people with mental health support when their problems first emerge - before they hit crisis point.
A coalition of mental health and children's charities is behind the campaign, including the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, Mind, YoungMinds and The Children’s Society.
Early support hubs already exist in some areas. The campaign wants to build on these successful examples to expand the hubs nationwide and strengthen those that already exist, including The Nest in Southwark.
The Nest demonstrates the power of early support hubs to respond to local needs. Two in three of their referrals are from young people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds. This maps onto the demographic of Southwark's young people as a whole.1 Trust plays a major role in its success - the majority of referrals to the hub come from young people themselves.2 Of the young people accessing support through The Nest:
- 66% feel more confident
- 73% feel happier
- 78% feel they have an increased sense of wellbeing
Cllr Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Education, said: "We are backing Fund The Hubs because we have first-hand experience of the difference early support hubs make to a young person’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.
"Children and young people continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic’s devastating impact on mental health. They deserve to get support as soon as they need it, on demand, without a referral or long wait. We have accepted nothing less for those in our borough.
"We are incredibly proud of The Nest as a trusted early support hub. We are acting as early as possible to meet the mental health needs of all our children and young people. But our ambition and that of our fellow Fund The Hub campaigners needs to be met by consistent, long-term funding from government."
In 2018, Southwark Clinical Commissioning Group and the council undertook a review of mental health services for children and young people aged 0-25 in Southwark. This highlighted a gap for those who need extra support for their mental health and emotional wellbeing, but do not meet the criteria for more specialist services. The review also showed that mental ill-health was more prevalent among Southwark’s young people than the national average.
In response, Southwark Council consulted with young people and parents to develop The Nest as a free drop-in mental wellbeing advice and support hub. The service is a key component of the council’s commitment that 100 per cent of their children and young people have access to mental health support. Southwark was the first council to make such a commitment.
The Nest is funded by Southwark Council and delivered by the charity Groundwork London. The team had anticipated opening the doors of their Peckham-based hub in May 2020. But they quickly adapted in the face of the pandemic and launched initially as a remote service instead. Since then, the team has delivered over 1,700 hours of support.3 Last summer the centre opened physically and now offers face-to-face drop-in sessions for those aged 0-25 and parents/carers.
Despite only being in its second year, The Nest is expanding further.4 In August this year, the council approved £200,000 to take the mental health service into schools. The Nest recruited a dedicated team to deliver a package of mental support directly to students, their families and teachers.
Amid a record number of entries, The Nest was shortlisted in the Children’s Services category of the 2021 LGC Awards. At the awards ceremony, which celebrates excellence in local government, the service was highly commended by the judges.
Hannah Kashman, manager at The Nest, said: “We're delighted that our funder, Southwark Council, is backing the Fund the Hubs campaign. We hope that their support will encourage other councils to follow suit in a bid to ensure that there are more open access services like The Nest for children, young people and their families across the country.”
For more information about mental health support in Southwark for children and young people, call free on 020 8138 1805 or visit www.thenestsouthwark.org.uk.
Notes
- 64% of referrals to The Nest are for young people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds. In Southwark, 62% of children and young people aged 0-18 years old are from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds - GLA (2017) Population Projections - Custom Age Tables
- During the period May 2020 to September 2021, the Nest received 439 referrals; 25% came from young people, 11% from families and 16% from schools.
- From May 2020 to September 2021, The Nest has delivered 1,761 hours of support in person and over the phone, via video call and online chat to young people.
- The Nest has leveraged its place as an effective and trusted mental health service within Southwark to secure additional funding from the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit. This funding will deliver a Parent/Carer Champion Network, and support for parents and carers of young people of Caribbean and mixed ethnicity who are at risk of exclusion. Alongside this, a number of additional work streams have been undertaken to strengthen the service and meet identified needs:
- Developed a partnership with Goldsmith’s University to have students undertake their placement at The Nest, one of which has returned after their placement as a volunteer.
- A monthly peer-to-peer support group for young people with Autism.
Page last updated: 18 November 2021
