Young people are turning to digital spaces more than ever to understand their mental health, feel less alone, and find support that reflects their lives. This year, we focused on growing our reach and relevance, ensuring that when young people find YoungMinds, they see themselves, feel heard, and can access trusted support that meets them where they are.
From launching a new youth-led brand and website, to expanding our digital content and targeted campaigns, we worked to amplify young voices, challenge harmful narratives, and stand alongside young people as they navigate the issues shaping their lives and mental health.
Every young person who needs us can find us quickly and easily.
Every young person we engage with feels more hopeful about their mental health and can do something positive to improve their situation.
Every young person who wants to be a source of support to their friends can come to us to gain the skills and confidence to do so.
In April 2024, we launched a new brand and visual identity shaped by youth-led research, putting young people at the heart of everything we do. They told us they wanted a brand that amplified their voices, reflected their values, and felt relevant to their lives and mental health.
The rebrand introduced a new website, a refreshed look and feel, and a stronger focus on storytelling from young people often excluded from mainstream mental health conversations.
At its core, the new brand stands in solidarity with young people, offering hope on the issues that matter most – from trans rights and the General Election to harmful mental health narratives and the rise of far-right rhetoric and racist violence.
The new brand is a key tool in the success of our new organisational strategy. It empowers us to strengthen strategic communications, attract more and ever more meaningful partnerships and ambassadors, and enables us to keep offering relevant, timely support to every young person who needs it.
This year, millions of people accessed expert, trusted advice about young people’s mental health through our website. All our content is PIFTICK certified, meaning it meets the highest standards for quality and reliability.
Over the last 12 months:
Real stories by and for young people
Through our Blogger’s Programme, we published 65 blogs written by and for young people. That's more than one a week, on urgent and relevant topics, like ADHD diagnoses, Blackness and womanhood, self-care during Ramadan, and living with fibromyalgia.
This year, we used targeted marketing to connect more young people with trusted mental health support. We focused on reaching young people with support that reflects their lives, experiences and mental health needs.
In partnership with M&S, we ran our first paid, targeted marketing campaign aimed at young people. We created content that met young people where they are, including videos, guides, blogs and practical advice. Alongside this, a dedicated AJEDI campaign helped build a strong foundation for future, more targeted support.
As a result, more young people accessed our support and engaged with our content.
Over 12 months, the M&S campaign reached 1,978,048 young people, driving 111,907 visits to our website.
Through a dedicated AJEDI campaign, we reached 530,887 young people from Black or racialised communities, generating 6,869 website visits.
Ads aimed at Black and minoritised young people saw a click-through rate of 2.82% – more than double the wider audience (1.07%).
After a successful year in 2023/24, we ran another Writers Programme this year. The culmination was a zine on The Art of Vulnerability. Seventeen young people contributed first-person pieces, exploring how vulnerability can be a strength that connects us.
Participants took part in monthly workshops led by guest speakers, which covered identity and autobiographical writing, symbolism, and how writing can be a powerful tool for change.
15 young people took part in the workshops, with 80% saying the programme helped them feel better about themselves.
I feel the Writers Programme has massively improved my mental health, confidence, social life and outlook.
Across 2024 / 25, we have gone further to amplify the voices of underrepresented young people through AJEDI-focused content.
Funded by the Born This Way Foundation, we commissioned and published new work from 21 Black Disabled, Muslim, and Queer Disabled young people. This content, available through the website, has provided essential support through the telling of real-life stories, providing representation for people with intersecting identities and lived experiences of mental health.
As well as informing our content, this work has been integral to our own understanding of how identity shapes mental health journeys.
These stories gave life to a new podcast mini-series this year, focusing on Black Disabled young people and creating a dedicated space for them to discuss experiences and share advice through open and in-depth conversations. The young people focused on highly relevant topics, including the impact of disability on mental health, navigating services as a Disabled person, and empowerment through identity.
Our focus for the next 12 months will be to strengthen our foundations, deepen our audience connections and increase awareness of our work.
We know our web content is helping young people feel less alone. Over the year ahead, we’ll continue to provide high-quality, trusted support by reviewing our PIFTICK processes, expanding our panel of content experts, and upgrading our CMS to support long-term sustainability.
We’ll optimise our brand and digital support to meet new goals for reach and impact, supported by a refreshed marketing strategy designed to grow our audience and strengthen engagement.
Anti-Racism, Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion will continue to underpin our work. We’ll deepen support for Black and marginalised young people through the next phase of AJEDI-focused content, helping those most affected by inequality feel less alone.
