Access to mental health support for young people across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay is set to improve significantly with the launch of a new, collaborative service this week.
Funded by NHS Devon, this initiative is spearheaded by Young Devon in partnership with Kooth, Space Youth Services, Encompass South West and Plymouth City Council Youth Service, aiming to provide free, early-access support to thousands of children and young people each year.
- Collaborative, Comprehensive Support: A new service, led by Young Devon and funded by NHS Devon, brings together multiple youth organizations to offer free, early, and diverse mental health support (including face-to-face, digital, and future youth work) for young people aged 8-25 across Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay.
- Addressing a Critical Local Need: The initiative directly responds to significant demand for youth mental health support, with local surveys identifying it as a top concern for young people and national data showing rising prevalence of mental health conditions in this age group.
- Long-Term Investment & Youth-Centered Design: This service is backed by a stable three-year funding agreement from NHS Devon, signifying a commitment to sustainable, preventative care, and is explicitly designed to be flexible and responsive to young people’s expressed needs and preferences.
The service directly addresses a pressing need identified across the region. The 2024 “Make your Mark” survey, which gathers insights from young people including those in Plymouth, highlighted mental health as their top concern (among students in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay).
This local sentiment aligns with a national trend, where over one in five children and young people in England now have a diagnosable mental health condition, and a significant 75% of adult mental disorders are established by age 24.
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These statistics underscore the critical importance of timely intervention during formative years.
Designed to be flexible and youth-centered, the new service offers a diverse range of support options. Young people aged 8-25 can now access well-being conversations, counseling and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), delivered both face-to-face in communities and online. A key component is 24/7 digital access to advice, guidance and online counseling through Kooth’s platform.
Kooth, as the UK’s largest digital youth mental health service, has demonstrated effectiveness, with studies showing significant improvements in users’ psychological distress and self-harm, and 95% reportedly finding the help they need without structured 1:1 counseling.
Looking ahead, a new strand of mental health youth work will be introduced later this year, providing more informal, community-led spaces for young people to explore their well-being.
Young Devon, with its 75-year history of supporting young people and over three decades of dedicated mental health service delivery, leads this comprehensive program. This new three-year agreement, a notable shift from previous annual funding, signals NHS Devon’s long-term commitment to community-based, preventative care.
Young Devon’s established presence, including supporting over 2,000 young people annually through its well-being services and providing more than 40,000 nights of safe accommodation per year across Devon, positions them well to deliver this ambitious initiative. Their recent recognition, including winning the Youth Work Award at the 2024 CYP Now Awards and being named a “World Class Employer,” further highlights their expertise and dedication.
The investment in this service is projected to yield broad benefits. By providing early intervention and building resilience, the program aims to improve educational outcomes for young people and reduce the escalating demand on acute mental health services and emergency departments which highlights a crucial need, particularly in Plymouth, where approximately 17,000 individuals reportedly required mental health support directly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you’re a young person, carer, teacher, or local organisation interested in shaping what this looks like, visit youngdevon.org to keep updated as the service grows.
