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No health without hope - new report from YASP

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We're fortunate to have some fantastic third sector / civil society mental health organisations here in Manchester. One of these - YASP - which works with young people experiencing mental health problems, has just released a report about the huge challenges that young people accessing YASP services face. As well as drawing out the many difficulties that these young people including poverty, homelessness, debt and frequent harassment, young people talk about their difficult backgrounds including abuse, domestic violence and needing to seek asylum. Despite all of this, one of the biggest problem young people identify is loneliness.

“It’s about lack of friends, lack of confidence, feeling singled out, paranoia about people, don’t know what people are thinking or thinking you are weird” – YASP Service User.

“I have had no contact with my family in Angola and at first I was terribly homesick, and I still think a lot about things that happened to me in the past, but with the support and friendships at YASP I am now learning to live with this”.- YASP Service User.

Through RMCIA I know parents whose children have accessed YASP services and found them a huge help. Let's hope that the cuts don't see services such as this suffer.

To read the full report visit the YASP website.
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