Social Prescribing
In October, Olga Charlestan from Public Health visited Consulting Youth Advisors (CYA) to talk to you about social prescribing for children and young people in Surrey. She asked you how easy it was to access services for emotional wellbeing and mental health in Surrey.
Many of you shared that it can be difficult to access services if you live in rural areas. Some of the reasons you gave included:
- Lack of services in rural areas
- Poor links to public transport
- How expensive it is to pay for public transport
"I was referred on to a group down in Guildford and it's difficult to get to Guildford as you would have to walk really fast to get the train from Guildford and back home."
Many of you also raised that Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) zones in Surrey are making it difficult to attend groups or access services as it can be difficult for some people to pay the ULEZ charge.
"Having ULEZ cameras are making it a lot harder for people, especially older people or people who can't afford the fancy new cars as they will have to worry about paying the ULEZ fine on top of so many things. It's in every corner in certain places which makes it hard."
Your views will be shared with a steering group which has been set up to develop a framework for social prescribing for children and young people in Surrey.
Trip to Chessington World of Adventures
This month, CYA and ATLAS had a joint trip to Chessington World of Adventures to celebrate all the hard work both groups have done this year!
Although we were surprised by a bit of rain, it was a super fun day involving lots of rides, trips around the zoo and searching the aquarium for a green moray eel!
It was lovely to bring both groups together and have some fun after a year of participation, training and consultation work.
Universal Wellbeing Plans
CYA had a visit from Georgia Skupinski and Louisa Surtees from Public Health to discuss the idea of all children and young people in Surrey creating wellbeing plans at school.
You said that you thought it was a good idea for children and young people to be able to complete wellbeing plans in schools.
You said:
"I think this would be really helpful for early intervention when someone starts struggling mentally."
"I agree, I also think depending on the person, it would be more or less helpful."
Although you thought they were a good idea, you had lots of questions about how they might work and who they would be shared with, such as:
"How would they be received, will they give it out at schools?"
"Would every student complete one?"
You suggested that some children and young people might not want to complete a plan at school due to the stigma around mental health and fear of being bullied.
Some of your suggestions for the design of the plans were:
- Having different versions of the plan for different age groups
- Avoiding the use of text boxes
- Use of soft colours
All your suggestions and questions will be shared in a Task and Finish group which has been set up to develop the wellbeing plans.
It was agreed that it would be helpful for Georgia and Louisa to visit CYA again in the future to share any updates about the wellbeing plans and to make sure that you are involved in all stages of the development.
Quick wins for schools and colleges document
It was decided that there will be an additional CYA session arranged for November to work on a document for schools and colleges on quick and easy things they can do to support students' emotional wellbeing and mental health!
Category: CYA
