Young people discuss mental health and how mental health care can be improved at the APPG 

On Wednesday 4 June, the APPG was delighted to welcome over 80 young people to Parliament. With a focus on mental health, both the panel and young people spoke on what the Government should do to improve mental health for young people, their own experiences of mental health, and the importance of young people’s voices in policymaking and change. The upcoming Government 10 Year Health Plan was also touched on as an important next step in tackling the steep rise in mental health conditions since the pandemic.  

The APPG on Youth Affairs is unique among APPGs, as it is dedicated to bringing young people to Parliament and giving them the opportunity to speak directly to MPs and to share their views. On Wednesday, five young people were selected from a range of organisations to give presentations on mental health. They were nominated by the following: Croydon Drop In, LifeLine Projects, Fair Education Alliance, St Giles Trust and Girls’ Brigade. All spoke about their experiences with their nominating organisation and with mental health, giving powerful stories about how mental health should be prioritised and how young people’s voices, often ignored, should be at the centre of change.  

Chair of the APPG, Natasha Irons MP, welcomed the young people, encouraging them to speak confidently about their own experiences and give their views. She was joined by APPG Officer Dr Lauren Sullivan, MP for Gravesham, and Josh Dean, MP for Hertford and Stortford. All MPs in attendance engaged with the young people and spoke about how powerful and inspiring their contributions were.  

Additionally, the panel consisted of: Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair and Founder for the Centre of Young Lives; Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition; Charlotte Kume-Holland, Deputy Director of Mental Health Strategy and Delivery at the Department of Health and Social Care. The panellists spoke about the need to focus on prevention, the need for work to be done across Government to prioritise mental health and to make it everyone’s business, and the importance of early intervention and school support for young people.  

The presentations given by young people on Wednesday, as well as other comments and questions, will be taken forward and shared with the Department of Health and Social Care as examples of how young people’s mental health should be prioritised and addressed. It is important that young people’s voices are heard in Government and that their experiences are taken into account when developing policy and implementing change.