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A young person is in the middle of the photo smiling while looking at another young person to the right. Another young person sits on the left looking at the young person in the middle. They are all sitting in a park with trees in the background.

Impact Report 2021

Our vision is clear: we want to see a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health.
Explore our report
Explore our theory of change

We're needed now more than ever

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There’s no getting around it: last year was tough. Tough for society. Tough for frontline workers. Tough for charities like ours. And tough, perhaps most notably, for young people.

Covid-19 was devastating in so many ways, and young people and their mental health were hit hard. Endless disruption to schooling, long periods of isolation, losing support networks and struggling to access services have all had a huge impact. We saw the needs of those young people who were already struggling drastically worsen while many more experienced mental health problems for the first time.

Despite all of this, we ended the year feeling a genuine sense of optimism. We hope that as you make your way through this report you will share in that feeling with us. That hope is driven by the fact that, when young people needed us more than ever, and despite the challenges we faced, we were able to adapt and step up.

We also launched our ambitious new strategy: You Matter. That strategy aims for a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health and we truly believe we can achieve this.

Our optimism is also built on how you, our supporters, have responded to these new circumstances and our new plans. We raised more funds than ever before and we couldn’t be more grateful for your support.

Our mission is clear – for all young people to get the mental health support they need, when they need it, no matter what.

Doing so can prevent an emerging mental health need becoming a crisis.

The year we’ve just had has proved that, no matter how hard things get, we can keep getting closer to achieve this mission and having the impact we know we need to have for young people.

Our theory of change

Young people's mental health needs are not supported early enough, and often only when they have reached crisis point

This is the problem we want to solve.

To solve this problem we are prioritising these needs for young people:

  • Young people need to understand their emotions...

    and how to take care of themselves and how to find help.

  • Young people need better mental health support...

    including when their needs are first emerging.

  • Young people need society to change...

    so that it tackles the things that impact their mental health.

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By addressing these needs and working with young people, our work will lead to these strategic outcomes:

  • fewer young people need crisis or emergency support
  • young people are able to get the help and support they need quickly and receive a high-quality service
  • there’s a reduction in things that lead to young people struggling with their mental health and needing support

These outcomes mean we can achieve our mission and ultimate goal.

Our mission is for all young people to get the mental health support they need, when they need it, no matter what.

Our ultimate goal is to stop young people's mental health reaching crisis point.