Healthy Young Minds

The Healthy Young Minds Project, commissioned by Cheshire East Council, is a five year programme that will offer accessible, inclusive support to children and young people in Cheshire East, helping to build resilience and achieve positive emotional wellbeing.

If you would like to be kept informed about Healthy Young Minds and opportunities to get involved please share your details here to join our mailing list, or if you would like to find out more about the project please contact Ange Richardson CVS Sector Development Officer at: ange.richardson@cvsce.org.uk 
 

What is Healthy Young Minds?

Healthy Young Minds offers an accessible, inclusive service aimed at building resilience in children and young people (CYP) and their families, to address emotional wellbeing issues, at the earliest opportunity, to enable CYP to live their best lives in the future.

Healthy Young Minds will run from 2024 to 2029 (with an option to extend to 2031). A digital offer, to provide virtual support for CYP and their families, will form part of the wider Healthy Young Minds service, following further procurement.

The service model was extensively co-produced with an wide range of stakeholders, including children and young people, parents/carers, education providers, professionals (including health, social care, and police) - with thirty-six focus groups, comprising over 300 participants. Children and young people will continue to be at the heart of Healthy Young Minds.

The Healthy Young Minds service was initially launched to schools on 18/6/24 at a Senior Mental Health Leads Network meeting and will provide integrated support, in partnership with children and young people, their families and professionals and help to reduce future demand on a wide range of specialist/statutory services.

Two providers, Just Drop In (operating in the North of Cheshire East) and Visyon (operating in the Central and South of Cheshire East) will offer a flexible service supporting CYP, which gives CYP choice and control over their care.

These services will target the upper quadrants of the Thrive model (Thriving, Getting Advice and Getting Support).

The Healthy Young Minds project also includes the establishment of a Healthy Young Minds Alliance; where providers will work together, towards a shared ambition of building resilience in CYP and their families, to achieve consistency and equality of delivery, address gaps in services as a collaborative and provide a mechanism for channelling funding, to enhance the impact of early intervention.

CVS Cheshire East will be responsible for establishing and chairing the Healthy Young Minds Alliance with the key deliverables below.

Logo and Values Competition

Calling all creative young minds! We’re excited to announce a fantastic opportunity for primary and secondary school pupils to showcase their creativity.

Healthy Young Minds Announcement

A ground-breaking new initiative, Healthy Young Minds, is putting the mental and emotional wellbeing of children and young people (CYP) at the forefront.

This collaborative effort, co-produced by CYP themselves alongside families, professionals, and local organisations, offers a comprehensive approach to building resilience and preventing future struggles.

Commissioned by Cheshire East Council, Healthy Young Minds aims to reduce the need for specialised services by providing early intervention and tailored support.

Katy Ellison, commissioning manager at the council, highlights the service's potential for long-term impact: "This service is a catalyst for change. By working together, we can empower young people with the tools they need to thrive."

Healthy Young Minds will be delivered by Visyon and Just Drop-In, two highly respected local providers known for their dedication to CYP wellbeing. Their combined expertise and established community connections ensure seamless service delivery.

Both Visyon and Just Drop-In prioritise CYP voices.

Sam Ruck, head of therapeutic services at Visyon, emphasises, "Young people are central to everything we do. We work collaboratively with parents, schools, and CYP to create a supportive environment."

Ann Wright, chief officer at Just Drop-In, underscores their commitment to accessibility: "We offer early help and prevention, making services available when and where they're needed most – for CYP and their families."

Healthy Young Minds fosters collaboration through a CYP mental health alliance facilitated by CVS Cheshire East. This alliance ensures all stakeholders, especially CYP, have a voice in decision-making.

Aoife Middlemass, sector development lead at CVS Cheshire East, explains, "The Alliance strengthens partnerships, allowing us to learn, develop, and celebrate successes together."

This innovative service represents a significant investment in the mental and emotional wellbeing of Cheshire East's CYP. By working together, professionals, families, and young people themselves are building a brighter future for generations to come.

Healthy Young Minds is officially launched - 11th September 2024, in partnership with the Senior Mental Health Leads Network 

The launch of the Healthy Young Minds service at Congleton Town Hall, was a very well supported event with over 100 delegates, exhibitors and guest speakers from both schools, the public sector and voluntary sector, all coming together in alliance, to share information, best practice, service provision and join forces for the next steps with Healthy Young Minds.  

Heartfelt thanks go to three young people, who joined us on the day, to share their experiences of mental health and wellbeing support, by video and face to face. We have received much positive feedback from your excellent presentations and hope to see you again at future events.  

Thank you also to Kathryn Sullivan CEO CVSCE for your introductory welcome and to the speakers on the day, for your informative and insightful presentations:-

Dr Susie Roberts, Consultant Public Health – Key recommendations for emotional and mental wellbeing need in our children and young people across Cheshire East arising from the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.  
Ange Richardson, Healthy Young Minds Sector Development Officer CVSCE – Creating the Healthy Young Minds Alliance. 

Jane Henry, Cheshire Mental Health Support Teams in Schools, Clinical Lead – Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - Key features of successful service provision, working together, as an Alliance and an update on key areas of Access (MHST & Hub).    

Lisa Carden Doorey, Trauma and Mental Health Practitioner & Wellbeing for Education Coordinator, Family Help Service Cheshire East Council - Senior Mental Health Lead Network update and latest information for the iThrive framework implementation.      

Ann Wright, Chief Officer Just Drop In and Sam Ruck, Head of Therapeutic Services Visyon – Healthy Young Minds service provider's update. 

Speakers’ presentation slides can be found here

We also appreciate the attendee’s feedback as to the challenges to be addressed and priorities for the Healthy Young Minds Service. A summary of the Mentimeter survey can be found here

And finally thank you to the exhibitors, for sharing information about your services. A link to two documents from the Family Hubs stand can be downloaded here and here. We know delegates were interested in receiving. If there are any other exhibitors who wish to share information, please do get in touch. 

Next steps - To be updated

For schools in Cheshire East, there is an opportunity for you to submit entries to a competition, to design the Healthy Young Minds logo and values – closing date 25th October for entries and more details please see here. 

In the coming weeks, a small Steering Group, instrumental in the coproduction of Healthy Young Minds, will create the Terms of Reference for the Alliance. 

Following this, we will establish the structures for the Alliance and opportunities for involvement. 

There will be quarterly Healthy Young Minds Alliance partnership meetings (a mix of online and face to face).  

Short- and long-term priority activities will be agreed, and an implementation plan will be developed in discussion with Alliance members and young people.  

Task and Finish sub-groups may be formed to work on specific work. 

Should the need arise, the Alliance will also respond to the emergence of new themes, challenges, or issues, by facilitating discussions at extraordinary Alliance partnership meetings.  

We also plan to have annual events such as this, to make sure as many people can learn about key achievements and share in the success of the Alliance.  

In summary, the mental health of children and young people has never been more important, nor more challenging to safeguard. Pressures from all angles are weighing on systems, designed to support children and young people to take control of their mental health and get access to the right measures, at the right time. The work already underway by colleagues across education, public health, the NHS and the VCFSE Sector continues. The launch event marked the establishment of the Healthy Young Minds Alliance in Cheshire East, a model to support future collaborative systems - with the shared goal of making the lives of all children and young people immeasurably better.  

Over the next five years of Healthy Young Minds, there will be challenges to face and overcome. But together, we can help to create a future where every young mind is healthy, every voice is heard, and every individual child and young person can thrive. We look forward to working together to make Healthy Young Minds a beacon of hope and support.

Healthy Young Minds Providers

Solihull Approach FREE Online Courses

As part of the HYM service, Just Drop-In and Visyon are pleased to announce that they have partnered with Solihull Approach to provide FREE online evidence-based courses, developed by psychologists and professionals, for all partners and practitioners of Cheshire East’s Children’s Workforce. These courses can be accessed anytime, anywhere:

• Understanding brain development: insights into the science behind children's brain development and emotional health, helping families make informed decisions that support healthy cognitive growth.
• Understanding trauma: specialist education on trauma recognition, processing and recovery
• Understanding attachment: strategies for open and effective communication that will strengthen the parent-child bond and promote emotional well-being.

You can access these courses by visiting the webpage here following the simple registration process, and entering the access code WHEATSHEAF-PRF.

We have a thought leadership piece going into more detail which can be found here.

Resources

Visit the Healthy Young Minds resources page to see potential funding sources for charitable organisations and social enterprises along with the NHS Cheshire & Merseyside Children & Young People's Mental Health Plan 2024 - 2026 and more.

Other Sources of Support

Urgent Support