For young people, by young people: MFT launches new website for CAMHS

New mental health service website launches to support children and adolescents across Manchester, Salford and Trafford.

Accessing support for mental health can be a difficult experience for anyone, especially for children and young people aged up to 18 years.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have just launched a new website – designed for young people, by young people – to ensure that all information is available to service users, parents and carers, and healthcare colleagues.

MFT CAMHS is a specialist NHS service that helps children and young people across Manchester, Salford and Trafford who are experiencing mental, emotional or behavioural difficulties that interfere with their daily lives.

The website features designs and ideas from CAMHS service users and is fully co-produced with young people.

Ashlea Sands, an Engagement Worker for CAMHS, worked closely on the project. She said: “One of our participation priorities is to ensure our services are easy to navigate and accessible, to make CAMHS make sense so the website project was key to drive this”

“As an Engagement worker, I was involved in a lot of outreach work from speaking with our inpatients to working closely with the Trafford college’s emotional health and wellbeing society, to ensure a diverse range of voices were heard and to understand what makes a good website, for our young people across Greater Manchester.

“I want participation to be open and accessible, I think it is so important to ensure individuals are empowered to have a say and make change, if they want to”.

Created with Dynamite, partner website developer, the site ensures that the information is clear, accessible and engaging for young people and parents and carers. The website contains advice on wellbeing, mood and mental health, and neurodiversity; and information about the range of MFT CAMHS services and how to access them.

Vicki Dunham, Head of Early Intervention and Prevention at CAMHS, said: “One section that I’m particularly proud of was inspired by a young person who said that having autism feels like sitting in your own brain. They drew a brilliant sketch to illustrate this, which is now featured on the website.

“The team worked incredibly hard to make sure that the voices of our young people were heard, and you can see this throughout the website”.

Visit the new MFT CAMHS website.

If you would like to get in touch about taking part, you can email us at: camhsparticipation@mft.nhs.uk