4 Years of the Coalition
Listening to Young Peoples’ Voices
4 years ago, we founded the Sir Norman Lamb Coalition for Young People to ensure young people’s voices could be heard
The Sir Norman Lamb Coalition was set up in recognition of the wellbeing support that community organisations have been providing to children and young people to help them feel safe, supported, and happy. As well as providing dedicated funding to support young peoples’ mental health, the Coalition helps groups come together to grow and learn, as well as to ensure that young people’s voices are front-and-centre when it comes to making decisions about their mental health and wellbeing
This year, as part of our commitment to centring our work on youth voices, we provided extra funding for Coalition members to speak to their young people to find out what is most important to them right now, what gaps there are in support they are receiving, and what changes they want to see. Across 14 focus groups, young people shared their thoughts with peers and trusted adults in a familiar setting. We heard from 79 young people aged 9-25 across the county who are facing a range of challenges in their lives that contribute to mental health difficulties, including poverty, disability, displacement, caring responsibilities, substance abuse, and more.
This is what we learnt.
1. They value places to be themselves, feel safe, and access support
In every focus group, young people reiterated the importance of having access to safe spaces with peers, trusted adults, and activities – spaces where they felt they could be “themselves.” The focus groups show that young people are grateful for the youth spaces that Coalition groups provide; spaces that are away from home or school where they can have fun but also access support from people who will listen and be able to help them. Unfortunately, young people also spoke about how there are less youth groups than there used to be in recent years. In 2025, the Sir Norman Lamb Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund will support core costs for open-access and targeted youth spaces to continue to offer these vital spaces.
“it’s just nice being around people who get it.”
“I feel like I can interact with other people and to not feel like such an alien”
“I trust people here and I trust the process to help me be a better person”
2. They are feeling unsafe in their local area
“Not a lot of space to just be”
“When I’ve gone out before, people have stolen things from me like my scooter”
Young people shared how physical safety a big concern for right now. The second most-prominent theme across the focus groups, youth safety and criminal activity came up repeatedly. This included experiences of and concerns about antisocial behaviour, abuse, theft, knife crime, drugs, and dim streetlights. Several young people mentioned that they are aware there is support available if they are the victim of a crime, but they don’t feel like they have anywhere to go to be safe in the first place. The fact that young people are not feeling safe in parks or in their neighbourhoods reiterates the importance of keeping open safe spaces like youth groups. In 2025, the Sir Norman Lamb Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund will support costs associated with delivering a range of interventions to help young people feel safer.
3. They want more opportunities to access fun activities and trips
Young people spoke about the fun activities and trips they have enjoyed accessing through Coalition members and the fact that there are not enough of these. They spoke about the difficulty accessing affordable or free activities and spaces, and would love to see more park equipment, free gyms, outdoor exercise spaces, and community spaces where they can hang out without having to buy anything. As a result of the cost of living crisis, many young people are missing out on the opportunity to try new fun things or access activities they know they like, and as part of this they are also struggling to stay active, with many sports and games carrying a cost. In 2025, the Sir Norman Lamb Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund will support youth spaces that provide access to activities and trips. Our Subs for Clubs fund also helps children and young people to continue to participate in out-of-school activities like sport, art, and uniformed activities.
“places to be able to go where we can just hang out and not have to buy anything”
“There aren’t many activities for people with disabilities, that must be frustrating for them.”
Take a look at the full report
- Discover the impact The Sir Norman Lamb Mental Health & Wellbeing Fund funded had in 2023/4
- Read case studies from the young people who benefitted from local charities we backed together
- Explore how The Sir Norman Lamb Coalition for Young People is making a difference for local voluntary and charitable organisations supporting young people
- Dig deeper into the findings of our focus groups
