Children and Young People’s Service: Annual Review 2021 – 2022

Our Children and Young People’s Service (CYP) offers a mix of counselling, mental health support in schools, peer support and advice. That combination makes a difference.

During this year we expanded our counselling model to enable volunteer counsellors and those needing a placement to support our part-time counselling staff to offer 892 counselling sessions. We have also offered our volunteer counsellors support and training to make their time with us a positive experience. The psycho-social model of Manchester Mind is seen as “an important and unique part of the service” and counsellors have valued being able to recommend other services, to the young people who they are working with, such as peer support.

Our work as part of Thrive in schools also expanded this year and we delivered 1282 one-to-one sessions, with young people in 6 schools across Manchester.

Being able to offer support close to where young people are has made a difference.

“It took a few weeks for me to open up with the School Mental Health Practitioner (MHP), but I began to trust her. This was because they were patient and friendly, I felt like she actually wanted to get to know me. I liked how the MHP would remember little things about what I’d said in previous sessions. This helped me to realise I was making progress and showed me my anger was getting better”

Year 11 student

Young people have also said “the best thing is the approach. No judgement” and “the notion of personalisation”. This is probably best reflected by one person who said “I’ve spent a very long time trying to figure myself out and understand why I’m making the decisions I am, and to change things, but failing. For the first time in many years I feel like I’m in a place where I’m comfortable with myself”.
Young person accessing counselling

Sometimes when people come to us they are in a bad place as one young person told us “when I started counselling my headspace was a bad place and I tried to end my life a few times, but with some support I have managed to overcome some of my old habits and trying to make a better life for myself”.

Find out more about our services for young people