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Is it November already? This month has flown by! It’s been a busy month and we have lots coming up in the run up to the Christmas break…

One million children experienced destitution in 2022

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published their latest report on Destitution in the UK. It makes for sobering reading. A million children experienced destitution in 2022, around three times higher than in 2017. What kind of future is this promising our young people if they believe that those in power don’t care enough about them to keep them warm, dry and fed today? They have produced an interactive map of destitution. Local to us, Brighton & Hove has a high destitution rank of four (five is highest). 

We support JRF’s recommendations of “a bold and ambitious programme of action to address destitution and its corrosive impacts” and their call for the government to increase financial support to “ensure everyone has a protected minimum amount of support”. 

Get out in nature for free!

🌿 We spotted the news that the RSPB is opening up its reserves free to 16-24-year-olds from 6 November in order to encourage more young people to connect with nature. We love this – we’ve long advocated for young people to get outside for their mental health. 

Raising Teens explores mental health issues affecting young people

We’ve just finished recording our fifth series of Raising Teens. It’ll be broadcast on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey in the new year. It’s another fascinating series covering access to mental health services, trauma, eating disorders, the transition from teen to adult, mental health and neurodiversity, and support in schools. In each episode, presenter Clare Cowan hosts a panel of experts listening to young people talking about their experiences. It’s packed with insights, advice and information about where to get support. We’d like to add a huge thank you to all the professionals and young people who gave their time, along with the brilliant team at BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey. And to the team at NHS Sussex for supporting it. We can’t wait for you to hear it!

If you missed any of our previous Raising Teens series, you can find all the links here.  

Our Daisy at the Brighton Summit

Daisy was invited to be MC at this year’s Brighton Summit. I was a very proud sister, seeing her up on stage entertaining the audience and keeping the show on the road. Daisy has written a blog post about her experience, so treat yourself to her round up here. It was an amazing event and as always a great place to make new connections. We’ll be back next year – as will Daisy as MC!

Coming up…

The Catalyst programme is running new creative workshops in November and January. If your young person fancies making a punk protest banner, step this way! The Catalyst gives young people the opportunity to work with creative artists and sign up for a mentor who will offer career and wellbeing support and advice. We’ve had some amazing feedback from previous participants describing how they feel more confident and have made new friends after attending Catalyst workshops.

We’re running a Christmas Holiday Club in December with the amazing folk at Dragon Drama and the South Downs National Park. The club is for young people in receipt of free school meals – and is free. All the details and link to sign up are here. 

Au revoir Lola!

Our big news is that our amazing Lola Ray is leaving us in November (that’s Lola at the top of the page) and heading to Australia. Among Lola’s many roles at Make (Good) Trouble, are young reporter for our BBC radio show, Raising Teens, and Most Significant Change story collector for The Catalyst project. We’re excited to see how she gets on in her next adventure. Lola will always be one of our Trouble-Makers, and we hope that she’ll be able to work remotely for us on new projects. Our aim at Make (Good) Trouble has always been to provide a springboard for young people to jump into their future armed with new skills and resilience. Good luck Lola!

That’s all for this issue. If you have any suggestions or news you think we should include in next month’s round up, please comment below or get in touch. 

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Last Friday, I had the pleasure to be the MC at the Brighton Summit, held at the prestigious Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, at the University of Sussex. The theme for this year was HUMAN. My mission was to capture the hearts of around 400 delegates and move them smoothly through the excellent line-up of speakers, workshops and experiences, curated by the brilliant team from The Brighton Chamber of Commerce. 

If you haven’t been to the Summit before, I highly recommend it. It’s where collaborations and partnerships start and businesses are born. Back in 2017, I was a keynote speaker at the Summit and gave a talk about my experience running Liberty842, a London-based social media content company. My business life was thriving, but my home life was not. My daughter’s mental health was plummeting, and as a result, so was mine. 

So, at the end of my talk I pitched the idea of creating a new company – one that addresses the complexities of mental ill-health and puts young people in the driving seat of change. I counted 36 business cards from talented humans who wanted to collaborate. Make (Good) Trouble was born at The Brighton Summit.

The theme for the summit in 2017 was “Embracing the Unknown” – with a pandemic in the middle of our journey – we certainly did that. 5 years on and Make (Good) Trouble has worked with thousands of young people, parents and carers and professionals. We have secured long term partnerships with Public Health, Sussex Police, five local authorities, The NHS and most recently Save The Children.

So, it was on a nerve-wracking Friday morning, putting my makeup on in the dark, that I recited my lines or what I could remember of them, in preparation of holding court as MC for the day. I wanted to entertain, inform and cajole the audience into making good connections, ensuring they felt totally at ease whilst doing so. When asked what HUMAN means to me by one of the chamber organisers, I thought about our work in mental health. 

I decided to open with an adlib about having undiagnosed ADHD. Having ADHD is my superpower – it gave me the gusto to get on the stage and be vulnerable and funny (hopefully) at the same time. I asked the audience what would happen if ChatGPT had ADHD? Would it start writing, stop mid-sentence and start going on about something completely different? Marvellous!

The exemplary keynote speakers showed their humanity, through emotional, funny and uplifting stories sharing their journeys to success, including Jens Knoop, from Knoops (best hot chocolate I have ever tasted!), forensic scientist and author Professor Angela Gallop, CBE and finally Lord Simon Woolley, author, cross bench peer, Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge and one of the UK’s most high-profile campaigners for social justice, co-founder of Operation Black Vote. I was bowled over by Simon’s humanity as he held my hand on stage and thanked me, which took me by surprise and made my day! 

I learnt so much on Friday that will further inform our business going forward. I ate delicious food and made loads of connections which are still flooding into my inbox as I write. 

Do come to the Brighton Summit next year, where I’ll be on stage again as MC, making more good trouble.

On-stage selfie at the Brighton Summit 2023: Karen Dobres, Lord Simon Woolley and Daisy Cresswell. And Daisy introduces Simon onto the stage at the Brighton Summit – and is surprised (and delighted) as he holds her hand to thank her for her support.

Main image courtesy of The Brighton Chamber.

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First up, apologies for the missing August round up. Holidays got in the way! The good news is that we’re back and have a bumper issue for you covering the news over the last few weeks! So grab a cuppa and dive in…

In this month’s post:

  • Teen wellbeing is still declining, with the cost of living crisis and post pandemic fall-out likely to blame. 
  • School absences are on the rise – perhaps it’s time to listen to young people?
  • Being human – why we’re really looking forward to the Brighton Summit

How are our teens?

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks talking to young people for our upcoming series of Raising Teens (broadcast on BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey this autumn). Every conversation we have with a young person gives us a better understanding of their needs and issues. It means we can work together to find ways to help. We’ll have more details in next month’s post.

As I was putting the finishing touches to this post, the Education Secretary announced that they’re planning to ban mobile phones in schools in England. They say it’s to address behavioural and mental health concerns. Much of the news about children and young people in the last couple of months has centred around a drop in happiness and wellbeing. The effects of the pandemic and cost of living crisis has been huge. The BBC published a poll last month that highlighted many of their concerns. It made for fascinating reading. 44% of girls and 24% of boys said they feel unsafe on the streets, over a quarter said they feel anxious most or all of the time – exams, school and peer pressure were the top 3 reasons. On the plus side, 66% said they felt positive about the future. 

We covered some of these issues in previous episodes of Raising Teens – and young people and professionals shared some great advice. Listen here: Raising Teens: Personal safety and Raising Teens: Anxiety.

School absences are on the rise

There were plenty of news articles about the rise in persistent school absences. 

“22.5% of pupils were recorded as ‘persistently absent’ (defined by the Department for Education as missing 10% or more of possible school sessions). This equates to around 1.6 million pupils.” (House of Commons Research Briefing, 29 September 2023) 

When looking for reasons why, some point to a change in parental attitudes since the pandemic. Schools Week reported today that there’s been a rise in home schooled children that perhaps points to disaffection with the school system. Whatever the reason, many families are struggling to cope and it’s hitting the poorest hardest – “37.2% of free school meal eligible pupils were persistently absent compared with 17.5% of pupils that were not eligible” – with a knock-on effect of lower attainment for those absent pupils. A recent IPPR paper looked at the need for wholesale changes in education to make it fit for 21st Century needs. In particular, they argue that a shift is needed in our school system – one that moves from “a system that disempowers young people” to one that “gives young people voice and agency.” We agree that it’s time to listen to young people. Their feedback is vital to inform the future of education. 

If you’re worried about your child’s school attendance and need help, take a look at Not Fine in School. It’s a great resource for parents and carers worried about their children’s school attendance. It was set up by parents who have experienced these issues. 

Human: Looking forward to the Brighton Summit

It’s been 5 years since we started Make (Good) Trouble (five years! Time flies). It started from an idea Daisy (my sister and co-founder of MGT) put to an audience at The Brighton Summit. We had an overwhelming response. Five years on, and we’re back at the Summit with Daisy as MC! It’s a great event and we’re really excited about this year’s theme: Human. The focus is on human resilience, courage and kindness, on human centred businesses. This is at the heart of MGT, building human connections between young people and parents, carers, families and the professionals who are trusted with their care. We’ll cover some of the debates, issues and ideas in next month’s round up.

Help and advice

We’ve been adding to our Help & Advice pages over the summer, so if you need somewhere or someone to turn to, take a look. The pages are full of great resources and organisations, many of whom we’ve worked with over the past 5 years. If you have any great resources you think we should add, let us know.

Till next month! Keep well. x

P.S. The image at the top of this page is from our August summer club – participants had been helping with pruning and conservation in the South Downs National Park. The SDNP team, MGT and participants showing the fruits of their labour. ♥️

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Where did the summer go? This week, we’re out in our wet weather gear in the beautiful South Downs National Park for our summer holiday club. That’s a soggy Team MGT in the above pic on day 1. Over the next couple of days we’ll be exploring the countryside and paddle-boarding so keep an eye on our socials to see what else we get up to! 

BBC Raising Teens to look into access to services

As part of our research for the new series of BBC Raising Teens (coming later this autumn!) we’ve been looking into the issues young people have in accessing services and support around mental health and neurodiversity.
 
Waits of up to seven years have been reported in some parts of the UK for those wanting assessments for Autism and ADHD. And it can be complex if frustrated parents opt for a private assessment, as this letter to the Guardian shows:
“We reluctantly sought a private diagnosis, at considerable cost, and our child is now medicated, with improved behaviour. But we have now encountered another problem: our request for a shared care agreement with our GP – where the GP assumes responsibility for prescribing – has been refused. We are told that it is the policy of our GP consortium never to enter into shared care arrangements when diagnosis was initiated in the private healthcare sector.”
 
We’d love to hear from you if you have an experience to share. We’ll be asking experts for their tips and insights on the programme, so if you have a question or story, find out how to get involved here.

We’ll be looking into the following topics over the series:

  • Mental health and wellbeing services – how young people get access to help and support and what are the issues they’ve encountered along the way?
  • Trauma and complex needs – how can we better understand young people who have experienced trauma or who have complex needs? 
  • Eating disorders – what can we do to help those who need help?
  • From teenager to adulthood – the challenges of having a teenage brain! This episode will cover drugs, alcohol, sexuality and sexual health.
  • ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – what’s it like at school for young people with ADHD and ASD? What support is out there and how easy is it to access?
  • Support at school and social prescribing – what is your experience of mental health support in school? Social prescribing is increasingly being offered to young people who have mental health challenges. How does it work and what difference does it make?

#NoStoppingMe

Our friends at charity Sound Waves Foundation (SWF) are running a brilliant campaign called #NoStoppingMe, which aims to “dispel the myths and break stereotypes surrounding disability and in particular deafness”.

Their wonderful video features keen 11-year-old surfer Elyana who is profoundly deaf, talking about why she’s deaf and proud. Do give SWF a follow on their socials!

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Celebrating Deafability (@sound_waves_foundation)

⚽️ World Cup fever

It’s a year today since the Lionesses won the Euros (I was at Wembley for that unforgettable match) and we’d just finished a fabulous project, Goal Power, working with artist Lindsey Smith and Brighton Museum. We created a series of podcasts, co-produced with a group of footballing girls who discussed their experiences and hopes for the future. They also got the chance to interview some legends and professionals of the women’s game. Their conversations were both enlightening and inspiring and I thought, with all the excitement around the World Cup, it would be a great time to re-share their wonderful podcasts which show just how far the women’s game has come in the past few decades – and how far it still has to go. Enjoy!

We hope you enjoy Make (Good) News

If you have any suggestions or news you think we should cover next month, send us a line! 

The Make (Good) Trouble team x