The first Youth Board meeting of 2024 took place on 21st March and focussed on mental health, identified by young people as one of the three key priorities for young people in Sutton. Subsequent youth board sessions will focus on the other two key priorities for young people, inequalities and the cost of living, and safety. 

The Youth Board brings is together young people along with relevant key partners and professionals, in an inclusive, accessible and flexible setting, where ideas can be shared and young people feel empowered and listened to.   

For this session, we were joined by representatives from Kooth, Off the Record, Everyone Active and the Sutton Education and Wellbeing Service (part of Sutton CAHMS).  

As an ice breaker, every person in the room introduced themselves and shared a personal tip for how they support their own mental health. Tips included gaming, baking, gardening, walking, spending time with friends, exercise, art, playing the ukelele, getting enough sleep, playing the flute, reading and… Taylor Swift! 

Three young people presented the findings of their young person-led survey on mental health. This recent survey was designed to find out:

• What the main the concerns of young people in Sutton when it comes to mental health?
• What help and support are young people aware of?
• What would young people like to see to help improve mental health and mental health support? 

Representatives from organisations then each talked about the services they provide and what they are doing to raise awareness of their support with young people. We were also guided through a grounding exercise, known as the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, and we definitely all felt calmer afterwards! 

Two of the young people attending, Hattie and Safia, said “It was really interesting. We didn’t know about some of the support available. We’re going to talk about it in our form time.”. 

Here's the Young Commissioners' Instagram post on it.

To find out more about the Youth Board, please contact Natasha Blok, Organisations & Youth Participation Officer on natashablok@vcsutton.org.uk. 

To read the key report from the Sutton Youth Board Meeting March 2024 click here.

To download the Young Commissioners' presentation click here.

To download the Kooth slides click here.

To download the Talk Off the Record slides click here.