Be a young person's cheerleader | Spotlight Stories

Author: Aaliyah

Topics mentioned: talking to young people about mental health, anxiety, university

Aaliyah is a co-founder of the youth-led social enterprise 'Dipped In Creativity Engagement'. She is also a youth worker who provides information, advice and careers guidance to young people.

*Names in this blog have been anonymised.

When it comes to mental health and wellbeing support for young people, I believe everyone needs a cheerleader! And that’s one of the many roles you could play in a young person’s life to show your support.

I met Anna through my Progression Routes youth work role – where I support young people to progress onto their next step despite any challenging situations. I provide the right support, Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) to access relevant career and education opportunities and pathways.

I believe everyone needs a cheerleader! And that’s one of the many roles you could play in a young person’s life to show your support.

I had the chance to cheer Anna on over the course of 2022 when she engaged in our service. Anna reached out to me to get 1:1 support and wellbeing advice/guidance after disengaging in our service for a few months. We would meet weekly in person to have a mix of wellbeing check-in sessions as well as Progression Routes support which included providing a space to come in and do her college work at the time.

A very happy young girl smiling at her mum on the sofa

Get creative with support

During our support time Anna enjoyed using art as a way of expressing her feelings, thoughts, and emotions. Knowing this was important to Anna, I was able to tailor some of her sessions around art and wellbeing where she would create artwork based on how she was feeling and/or a situation that was currently happening and she would share it back with me to talk throughout the session.

Explore all the options

Struggling to complete her first year of university after coming out of lockdown, she shared her thoughts about leaving her course. She was struggling with her depression and anxiety, which were affecting her motivation, and routine and were disrupting her communication and relationships with friends and family. Hearing Anna’s experience, I felt it was important for her to explore her options to remain at university as she was feeling very overwhelmed and under pressure. It was also important for me to make sure she was aware of the different types of mental health and wellbeing services and support available in her local area, including art therapy, counselling, and wellbeing support.

I was able to tailor some of her sessions around art and wellbeing where she would create artwork based on how she was feeling and/or a situation that was currently happening and she would share it back with me.

Create safe spaces

One of my key values as a cheerleader for young people is to make sure they feel safe, heard, reassured and empowered!

I was able to help Anna by providing a safe space where she could:

Talk openly about her career and study options, and explore her feelings around these. This included exploring and mapping out her career journey in a creative and visual way, and creating artwork which communicated how she was feeling while also making her feel she had the power to make her own choices.

Develop her photography skills, experience, and confidence through unpaid and paid work opportunities in local communities which she resonated with, as well as gaining new experience working with local youth charities.

Ask for help with her university options and support needs. This included inviting me to advocate on her behalf to her course tutor (with her being present) to see how her work was going, to explore her options and see if an action plan could be created to break down her journey of completing her work.

Encouraging Anna to speak to her tutor in confidence about how she felt about her course gave the tutor more insight and understanding into her mental health challenges. With further support, Anna realised she was not as behind as she thought, and she decided to stay at university and go on to attend her second year.