AlisonGowman, chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trustcommittee shares what is needed to fund services in London that will helpits young people thrive …
“Mental healthis a significant issue for many people today, not least young people.
Research showsthat over half of mental health problems in adult life- excluding dementia-start by the age of 14 and 75% by the age of 18. For certain conditions, the periodbetween mental ill health and diagnosis (and therefore support) can amount toseveral years.
Itis clear we need to do more in this area and reducing the stigma is a veryimportant element, as is increasing access to professional support and, particularly,to early intervention.
Thevoluntary sector plays an ever-increasing role in helping people with mentalhealth problems, especially at a time when NHS services struggle to meet thelevel of demand.
Thevoluntary sector’s ability to help and support in this area has certainlyimproved significantly over the years, which is definitely a step in the rightdirection.
CityBridge Trust is London’s largest independent grant giver, making grants of£20million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital. For us as a funder, it is important that wesupport organisations within the non-statutory sector that have the rightexpertise, qualifications and professional networks to help young people. Theyneed to be in a position to offer the best possible support to the youngindividual in need coming to them for help.
Weneed, also, to recognise the pressures faced by voluntary sector organisationsin the UK’s current economic climate – so it’s great that funders and charitiesare stepping forward and helping, and we hope more will follow suit.
Therehave been considerable and well-meaning attempts by governments in the past fewyears to address the issue of poor and fragmented mental health services foryoung people.
InAugust 2015 the government announced £133m in funding over five years, inaddition to the £1.25bn to improve children and young people’s mental health.The first part of the programme is £30m to improve eating disorder services.
Itis great news for the sector that the issue has been raised by the government-putting more money in and consequently raising awareness. By having more publicawareness it has reduced the stigma around mental health, which is onlypositive.
Ouremphasis as an independent funder is on recognising the importance of expertiseand professional support in the voluntary sector and where possible giving themthe tools to continue and develop their work.
Wehave made 199 grants totalling £17mill specifically for mental health worksince 2008.
Wegive as much support as we can to organisations in London that help people withmental health needs. Young people with mental health issues need to be helpedas quickly as possible, support at an early age is key to enabling an individualto live a happy, independent life.
Dismantling barriers and reaching out to those mostvulnerable is fundamental. When we ourselves look to develop a fundingprogramme it is important to learn from young people themselves and find outwhat is working for them, what sort of support they need and best practice.
Itis also clear more needs to be done to help people with mental health issuesgain and sustain employment. We recognise that the barriers to employment facedby young people with mental health issues can be multiple and complex, but manychallenges can be overcome with the right support at the right time.
Todaythere is more awareness amongst employers about mental ill-health and how tosupport employees but of course there is more that can be done.
Wewill always encourage employers to be supportive to enable any person withmental health issues to thrive in their job and to live their lives as fullyand independently as possible.
Havinga meaningful job can be a real boost and a key factor for helping young peoplemove forward with their lives.
Thisyear we hope to introduce a new £1.5million programme called Bridge to Work,which will help young Londoners with mental health problems bothinto work – and whilst in work – with plans to work with the Centre for MentalHealth and to offer Individual Placement & Support – a recognised model ofgood practice.
We will befunding work which will give employers the support, skills and resources theyneed to increase opportunities for young people to gain employment and to stayin it.
Havingthe City of London Corporation as our trustee opens a wealth of opportunitiesin the City due to its influence and access to businesses- a network in whichwe will tap into with the Bridge To Work scheme.
Currentlyacross London, trusts, foundations and Livery companies are already doing lotsin this area for young people, including; Trust for London, Big Lottery, ComicRelief, Clothworkers and Mercers.
Therole that the non-profit and private sectors play in working towards the publicgood is especially important when public finances are under pressure.Charitable giving has perhaps never been more vital than it is now.
It’sthe responsibility of us all to create a fairer, more inclusive and sustainablesociety.
Thework the voluntary sector has been doing for many years here is invaluable andchanging lives for the better – work which is reliant on all of us as funders.”
