Mental health therapy to help jobless young people find work

Innovating Minds, a social enterprise that offers therapeutic support to young people, has joined The Progress Partnership, a £2.8m initiative that works with Neet 15- to 24-year-olds across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Innovating Minds will offer mental health support to the 225 young people the partnership is working with through a £75,000 a year deal.

Services to be offered to the young people includes tailored psychological support, such as cognitive behaviour therapy, to help tackle issues such as depression and anxiety that are among barriers to gaining work or training.

"It's vital that young people - especially those who face the biggest barriers in life - have the right care and guidance around them to help promote a positive mental health outlook," said Graham Duxbury, chief executive of Groundwork UK, the charity that leads the partnership.

"Youth mental health is a key issue that many organisations and charities are tackling head on.

"We are pleased to welcome Innovating Minds to the Progress partnership to help ensure that all young people enrolled on the programme have access to any mental health and wellbeing support they should need."

The partnership is part of the Building Better Opportunities programme that is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund to help unemployed young people find work.

Innovating Minds chief executive Dr Asha Patel, added: "We are honoured to be a part of this partnership as this lets us provide specialist psychological support so young people with emotional and mental health difficulties can achieve their dreams."

A study published last month by think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research and charity Business in the Community highlighted the importance of permanent secure jobs for the mental health of young people. 

Their reseach found that younger workers with flexible employment status were 29 per cent more likely to suffer poorer mental health than those in secure work.