A NEW peer mentoring project aims to support young people in Warwickshire.
Coventry and Warwickshire Mind (CWM) has been appointed by Warwickshire County Council (WCC) and Coventry City Council (CCC) to manage and deliver the year-long project which launched earlier this month.
A team of staff and volunteers will work alongside over 150 18-to-25-year-olds who are transitioning between children and adult mental health services.
The project will also support those who may need a mental health intervention and young adults leaving care who are more vulnerable to developing a mental illness.
It will work across all communities and with people from all backgrounds.
Many young adults fail to seek advice and support early enough, and the aim of this project is to enable a smoother transition into adult support or community services.
Using a combination of peer support workers, peer leaders and experts by experience – somebody who has current or past experience of living with a mental health problem – CWM will provide one-to-one support, both face-to-face and virtually, tailored to the individual’s needs.
Their guidance aims to motivate and empower them to set personal goals and make small but significant steps towards change. This might include understanding early warning signs and symptoms of mental health difficulties, accessing information and following up on support, and building confidence to talk about their mental health.
As the leading mental health charity across Coventry and Warwickshire, CWM has been developing and delivering services with, and for, people with a lived experience of mental illness, for over 50 years.
In the past year, CWM has supported 38,000 adults and children, across a range of mental health services.
WCC health spokeswoman Margaret Bell said: “This is great news for Coventry and Warwickshire and I am thankful to our partners in health for providing funding to set up this support for young adults.
“The project will be welcomed by many who will benefit from extra help at a critical time to ensure their mental health needs can continue to be met as they transfer from children to adult services. Importantly, young adults have been central to the project’s development and will be directly involved in delivery – helping one another to improve their mental health with bespoke packages of support.”
