I Was Able to Ask for the Help I Needed: Our Partnership With the Prince's Trust

More than 350 young people in South and East London have been supported through an innovative partnership between The Prince's Trust, Mind and the Berkeley Foundation.

Between 2017 and 2020, young people were offered 1:1 counselling and group wellbeing sessions at Prince's Trust centres, delivered by expert mental health professionals from the charity Mind.

Prince's Trust supports young people across the UK to build their skills and make the most of their potential. As many as a quarter of young people experience low-level mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression. The 2021 Prince's Trust Youth Index shows a significant difference between the overall wellbeing of young people who are in employment, education or training, and those who are not.

By working with Mind to put support in place in Prince's Trust centres, this project aimed to improve young people's wellbeing and increase their chances of moving into employment or further education.

Over the partnership's three years, 790 hours of one-to-one counselling was offered to young people. In the final year, 76% of young people at the two participating centres moved on into work or education. 

Toby signed up to help him move forward with his career goals:

"I had been battling mental health problems for a few years before I joined the Prince's Trust programme. Having a mentor to guide and support me meant I was able to ask for the help I needed. Within days I had been offered six weekly counselling sessions.

I noticed the positive impact after just a few weeks. Walking out of the last session, I really felt like myself again."

The programme also provided bespoke mental health first aid training for frontline Prince's Trust staff, giving them vital skills to help them better support the young people they work with.

Young people's mental health remains a key focus of the Berkeley Foundation's work - you can find out more about our other mental health partnerships here.