WHY young people’s
mental health?

In 2022, 22% of young people aged 17-24 in England had a probable mental health disorder (NHS Digital 2022).

Rising cases of mental health disorders in young people can be attributed to the rapid pace of technological and societal change with many young people feeling increasingly lonely, isolated and disconnected.

The majority are unable or are unwilling to access traditional mental health services. If they do, they might have to wait months or even years to be seen. Many do not reach the threshold to be seen at all. NHS mental health services for young people are simply overwhelmed by the demand.

Without appropriate intervention, a large number end up isolated, excluded, homeless, in prison or, in some tragic cases, dying by suicide.

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WHAT ARE SOCIAL INTERVENTIONS?

There is no silver bullet to mental health. Talking therapies and medication are traditional first lines of help but are not ideal or accessible for everyone.

There is growing evidence that non-pharmaceutical interventions, known as social interventions or social prescribing, can have a huge benefit on people’s health and wellbeing.

Social interventions give people the space to explore their emotions while their mind is on other things. For many young people, this can be less daunting than the sometimes uncomfortable setting of a therapy room.

Social prescribing is about getting people to discover or rediscover a sense of joy and purpose and help them reconnect with life-affirming activities, the community and ultimately themselves.

The NHS has put social prescribing at the heart of its long term plan.

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What we fund

Our mission is to invest in charities that combine the arts, nature or sport with psychological and emotional support to connect with young people struggling with their mental health.

Our aim is to provide sustainable funding to a select portfolio of charities with the ambition and capability to develop their programmes, expand their reach and mature their evidence base.

We made our first grants to 9 organisations at the beginning of 2023. We are now on the look out for other charities to be part of our next grant giving round in early 2024.

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CHARITY PARTNERS

We prioritise charities which:

combine the arts, nature or sport with psychological and emotional support to connect with young people struggling with their mental health;
that can show statistical evidence of the impact they have on the positive mental health of young people;
that have the ambition and capability to expand the reach of their activities to allow more young people to benefit from their services.

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WHO WE ARE

The Chimo Trust was established in 2022 to support young people experiencing poor mental health in the UK.

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CONTACT US

info@chimotrust.org

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Support US

Make a donation

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