MYA YAY is a young peoples participation group that meet regularly each month to ensure that the voices of children and young people are heard and to give them the platform, to help shape services, activities and campaigns all to do with mental health. The group consists of young people who access several different CAMHS services in Liverpool as well as young people who have previously accessed services, young people from local schools and those who are passionate about mental health.
Co-Production
From start: No
During process: Yes
In evaluation: No
Evaluation
Peer: No
Academic: No
PP Collaborative: Yes
Find out more
Leigh Horner (Mental Health Promotion Worker @ Merseyside Youth Assocation)
MYA YAY is a young peoples participation group that meet regularly each month to ensure that the voices of children and young people are heard and to give them the platform, to help shape services, activities and campaigns all to do with mental health. The group consists of young people who access several different CAMHS services in Liverpool as well as young people who have previously accessed services, young people from local schools and those who are passionate about mental health.
The group ranges from ages from 11 – 25! Each month they influence the work that we do and we absolutely could not do the work we do without them. They bring true innovation and enthusiasm to the work we do and are a vital part of our team. Some of the things the group have done so far are outlined in the question below.
– Delivered peer mentoring for mental health to their peers in their school
– Delivered campaigns on mental health in their school to bring about change and make mental health everybody’s business
– Steering groups around all campaigns we do, young people themselves plan, organise and host event with our support – one being the NOW Festival – more info at www.nowfestliv.co.uk
– They consult with local commissioners and NHS England during takeover weeks
– They work with the local mental health consortia on consultations around things such as crisis care for mental health
– The feedback to local services on how they can be imporoved
– They help us to develop lesson plans for educational purposes that we will go and delvier, and if they are available they have the opportunity to deliver with us too
– They meet and welcome new people to the group so that the group is not just a clique, but a welcoming enviroment
– They inform policy and change within Liverpool camhs
– They develop relationships with wider stakeholders and work together to ensure positive and lasting change
– They have fun and feel part of a safe, welcoming, ‘family’ environment!
Outcomes
They support each other, they nurture each other, they run the sessions themselves with little guidance or support from staff members, who just help inform the nature of the session. They influence everything we do as a team and have direct impact on the local CAMHS Partnership.
Is there any other information you would like to add?
This group has been running since May 2015 and month by month is goes from strength to strength. I can honestly say that our MYA YAY group really do help shape our work.
