Health / mental health
Campaigning for better youth mental health in Bristol
“We are striving to create a city where every young person accessing mental health support has an experience that encompasses all the rights that they deserve,” says Evie Basch of We Deserve.
The new grassroots campaign is aiming to improve and standardise the experience of how rights are upheld in youth mental health services.
“We are a group of young Bristolians aged between 18 and 23 who have experience of accessing local mental health services,” says 21-year-old Evie.
is needed now More than ever
“Whilst our experiences are varied, we all recognise that often young people’s rights are broken or ignored in services, which can break trust and make it more difficult for young people to reach out for the support they need.”
We Deserve, which launched in October 2020, is advocating for the city’s youth mental health services to be fully rights centred, meaning that the laws and regulations that state how young people should be treated in mental health services are practiced.
Most of the group met through Off The Record’s Mentality Project, a youth activism group that campaigned on a range of social issues.
“We were empowered by the training and support at Off The Record to create our own grassroots campaign to continue the work we had started within the organisation,” says Evie, who lives in Eastville.
The group was formed over the course of several years and through many discussions, finally launching in October 2020 following training from Campaign Bootcamp.
Currently We Deserve are speaking to young people across Bristol to ensure that the campaign reflects the many needs of young people in the city.
“We would love to hear from any young people who have experience of accessing mental health services and invite them to complete our survey” says Evie, who is an artist and illustrator. “This is an opportunity for young people to have their voices heard and to play a part in creating positive change.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGpQ7wLj00f/
The group, Evie, Liv, Emily, Lili, Derek, Zadok and Maddie, are developing a training and resource pack to explore a way for young people to work alongside professionals, which could be one way to ensure that organisations are making decisions that truly reflect the needs of those they are supporting
“Young people are the experts of their own lived experience,” Evie says. “Their voices often aren’t heard since they aren’t given a space at the table.”
Aiming to be a metaphorical space at the table for other young people and create meaningful change in Bristol, We Deserve will continue until all of the city’s youth mental health services have become fully rights centred.
Main photo: Aphra Evans
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