A group of Sheffield young people have been working alongside Chilypep staff to deliver workshops about mental health and emotional wellbeing for their peers.

The programme, part funded by NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was designed by young people for young people so their voices are really pivotal for the group.

Eight young people have been trained as peer mentors and they have been co-delivering the workshops across the north of Sheffield in schools and colleges, and have spoken to over 100 young people so far.

The workshops and activities are targeted at protecting and promoting emotional well-being and include art therapy, music and food, how to manage stress, along with opportunities to talk about mental health.

Peer mentor, Becky, age 19, said, “I got involved with this project as soon as I heard about it. It sounded like a really exciting opportunity to make a difference in the lives of other people who might be going through the same things I went through when I was younger. I believe that if I had access to a peer mentor when I was around the same age as the mentees, it would have made a massive difference in the management of my mental health and therefore the course of my life in general.

“Being a mentor benefitted my own mental health as it put me in a position of responsibility, which gave me a chance to feel proud of myself and how far I’ve come on my own journey of mental health, and what I can achieve as an individual.”

Sheffield GP, Karen O’Connor, said, “Everyone has mental health and should be supported to look after it on a daily basis to prevent them becoming emotionally or mentally unwell.

“This programme is so important as it offers young people the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and confidence to support each other and speak out around mental health issues, which will help towards reducing stigma and isolation.”

The aims of the project are that young people will have improved resilience and emotional wellbeing, parents and workers will have increased confidence in supporting young people and this will lead to a reduction in the number of young people needing to access specialist and crisis mental health services.

The Children & Young People’s Empowerment Project (Chilypep) aims to ensure that children and young people can be meaningfully involved in the decisions that affect their lives.

NHS Sheffield CCG with Sheffield City Council are responsible for buying and contracting (otherwise known as commissioning) many of Sheffield’s healthcare services.