The Pilgrim Trust set up the Young Women in Mind programme (previously the Young Women’s Mental Health programme) in 2021 to help improve the mental health of young women 16-25 in the UK. We fund charities that understand young women’s distinct, intersectional needs and make sure their activities are gender and trauma-informed and age-appropriate.
1. Youth workers gaining a greater understanding of experiences and challenges faced by young women
Youth workers reported that young women often present with multiple and challenging needs, for example, long periods of isolation, high levels of anxiety, risk-taking behaviours, lack of family support and parenting difficulties. By having an enhanced understanding of these challenges, youth workers have adapted their approach and programmes to be more engaging and accessible to young women.
2. Trauma-informed support is key
The links between trauma and mental ill health are well established. Young women are more likely to have experienced some form of trauma, such as through gender-based violence and/or adverse childhood events, and therefore projects have recognised the importance of having trauma-informed support and services for young women.
3. Young women have a safe and exclusive space
All projects noted the benefits of having support and services dedicated to young women. Providing young women with a safe and exclusive space helped young women to feel seen and valued, which encouraged them to open up.
“Having some guys in that space, we won’t get to the issue. …... You may get to have a conversation, but you would have to pull back so many layers, you also have to work with the guys, and it’s just a different type of work. But with this (gender-specific approach) you can focus a lot more with young women and their initial feelings about things and unpack it with them” – M13 Youth Project Project Lead
4. Young women get immediate and consistent support
‘Taking a gender and age-specific approach to support allows more young women to have immediate support for their mental health, whether that is one-to-one or group support. […] it was important that they were able to access support whenever they are ready to engage, which can be quite challenging with the traditional referral route to mental health services.’ – Centre for Mental Health
Many of the young women also reported that having immediate support and skipping waiting lists was one of the most helpful parts of the support they received. Further, the support offered was flexible, meaning young women could access the support when they were ready – in comparison, traditional mental health services demand young women engage within a certain time frame to avoid losing their spot.
5. Creating a peer support network of young women
Young women reported how much they appreciated spending time with other young women and that the diverse group activities they did together made them feel much more relaxed.
6. Creating a collective network of support for young women
The project leads noted how their networks have expanded by taking a more age and gender-specific approach. They have signposted and/or worked with other support services to help meet the diverse needs of young women, such as finance, housing and (un)employment support. Overall, they felt it allowed them to provide more complete and holistic support for young women’s mental health problems.
7. Offering support at a more individual level
The report shared that young women previously had experienced poor mental health support, such as low capacity of staff/resources, limited awareness of available support or a perceived lack of personalised treatment. Comparatively, the grantees’ projects had higher capacity and offered tailored support and services for young women – overall meeting young women’s needs better.
You can read the First Year Evaluation Report If you would like to learn more about our age and gender-specific approach, reach out to us to have a chat at info@thepilgrimtrust.org.uk.